America's North Shore Journal

By U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Brent Williams
4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division

BAGHDAD, June 9, 2006 — As small-arms fire could be heard nearby the burning vehicle, U.S. Army Spc. Izzy Flores, combat medic, 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, said he thought to himself, “Please don’t shoot me now; I’ve got to finish this.”

The explosion of the vehicle-borne improvised-explosive device sent a wave of searing heat, a heart-rattling concussion and a hail of shrapnel whipping through the air, leaving two soldiers from the 4th Brigade Combat Team faced with the harsh realities of battle May 29.

Quickly assessing the situation, U.S. Army Sgt. Daniel Mootoosamy, squad leader, scout platoon, 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, dismounted from his gunner’s turret to find 11 casualties, many seriously wounded, on the ground and in their vehicles.

Within moments, the noncommissioned officer from Las Vegas, Nev., realized that he was the senior ranking soldier and the commander was on the ground.

According to Mootoosammy, his first thoughts were for the security of the survivors, and once he realized that his soldiers were hurt, his instincts took control.

“As NCOs, as soldiers, we apply the training,” Mootoosamy said of the situation. “As a person, not necessarily as an NCO, I knew people were hurt. I had seen them thrown on the ground, and I knew I needed to develop the situation.”

Upon order from Mootoosamy, U.S. Army Spc. Michael Potter, cavalry scout, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, badly burned and in great pain, manned the M2 .50-caliber machine gun, providing cover for the wounded from the turret of the M1114 up-armored humvee.

On the street, the noncommissioned officer went through a checklist of priorities in his mind and began checking the blocks.

Mootoosamy looked to the combat medic, Flores, a 20-year-old from Monterey Park, Calif., also uninjured in the blast.

“When it first happened, the disbelief, I didn’t want to accept it,” Flores said. “Then I saw Spc. Kenneth Snipes bleeding from his face, and I knew it was happening.”

The medic began the triage for the casualties almost immediately, assessing the most visibly injured from the explosion, pausing only to apply tourniquets and bandages for the severely wounded.

“It was tough to see leaders down,” Flores said, “and being on the site first, I assumed duties as senior medic.”

Once bandaged by his “doc”, Snipes, a driver for the platoon, began to work on the vehicle radios disrupted by the blast.

Meanwhile, U.S. Army Sgt. Ezequiel Hernandez, Jr., despite moderate injuries, worked with Mootoosamy to pull the wounded from a burning vehicle and to safety.

Mootoosamy quickly made the decision, based upon the applied risk assessment combined with enemy threat levels, to wait for support. The sergeant then secured a humvee to provide cover for his medic.

Flores was working on a critically-injured soldier when he heard small-arms fire. Lowering his head, the medic continued the work at hand, “applying tourniquets and plugging holes,” while other soldiers tightened security. Only later was he made aware that the rounds he heard were from the burning humvee, which was “cooking off” rounds.

Since the first day of his military training nearly two years ago, Flores has prepared for the worst possible scenario – mass casualties.

As the supplies in his aid bag were running out, the medic continued to work, looking desperately for assistance.

“Just in my mind there were so many people down. I didn’t have the time,” he explained. “In a perfect world, I would have had the time to sit down and perform a full scope of work on them; I didn’t have that time.”

The support teams arrived, and the additional personnel began to assist in securing the site and treating the wounded.

Flores wouldn’t leave the scene of the attack until all the patients were evacuated; the soldier stayed behind on site pulling security until his team had left.

It is hard for Flores to accept the magnitude of his actions as he remains thankful that some of his leaders, soldiers and friends will live to fight another day.

“To be honest, everyone comes up to me telling me that I did a good job,” he explained. “In my mind, I was just doing my job. I don’t want to accept the depth of what happened, because that is my job.”

The actions of the soldiers from the scout platoon, when challenged with mental and physical adversity, saved many lives that day and prevented a dreadful situation from worsening.

Flores’ actions saved two American soldiers’ lives and one U.S. reporter’s life, said U.S. Army 1st Lt. Mark Schmidt, executive officer and acting commander, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment. Six soldiers were critically wounded when the vehicle-borne improvised explosive device detonated; one will return to duty.

“In the situation they were in, those guys performed to the best of their ability,” said Schmidt, a West Point graduate from Chadron, Neb. “They were all trained correctly. Sgt. Mootoosamy saw that he was the highest ranking guy on the ground and he knew what he needed to get done. Spc. Flores, he knew his job. He jumped up and treated his casualties.”

The events that day turned out to be the biggest test faced by Mootoosamy, who said he looks forward to a successful career in the U.S. Army.

“In my eyes, I passed it,” he said. “I did what I had to do to the best of my ability. It is one of those things that you have to pass; you don’t dwell on it.”

Mootoosammy credits his NCOs and leaders who instilled the Warrior Ethos and raised him according to The Soldier’s Creed, making him the leader he is today.

For soldiers who might and will someday face the same situation, Mootoosamy, who has lost good friends in combat, wants his soldiers to keep hope.

“Keep your head up. Keep focused on what we are doing. Stay strong and persevere,” he said.

“Basically, if we give up now, we get tired and relax and basically are just doing our time; then we have lost,” Mootoosammy said. “Hold that fight; fight that reason to its fullest and hand it off, or basically they died for nothing.”

U.S. Army Capt. James A. Funkhouser, commander, 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, and CBS cameraman Paul Douglas and soundman James Brolan, were killed in the vehicle-borne improvised explosive device attack.