I made the decision to re-enlist after spending two years in the army and having previously been deployed in Iraq for eight months. So on June 13 2007, I went with a convoy from the FOB (forward operating base) where we were staying, to FOB Marez for my re-enlistment ceremony.
About half an hour after we left our FOB, our squadron support troop came on the radio. They had run into a problem on their way back to Marez and they needed our gun trucks to pull security, and somebody to take command and control over the situation.
Since our troop commander was the truck commander of the HMMWV [Humvee] I was riding in, as well as the convoy commander, he decided to turn us around. We headed back along the same route we'd come. As we were heading back, our truck was hit by an IED. It detonated on the commander's side of the truck between the dismount door and the rear tire.
The concussion of the blast blew off one of the windows and rattled through the truck, causing all of the doors to blow open. It also bent the buckle on my seat belt, which unlatched, allowing me to be thrown from the vehicle. I was ejected into the road and slid for about 30 metres before coming to a halt.
Unfortunately, I remember every second of it. There is really no way to describe what goes through your mind when you think you are going to die. My life didn't flash before my eyes. I didn't see the "light". There was no time for any of that. The only thing that crossed my mind was that I wanted a chance to kill whoever did this before my final breath.
Once I came to a stop and realised that I was in fact still alive, I couldn't believe it. There was so much adrenaline pumping through my body that I couldn't feel a thing. I patted myself down to make sure that I wasn't seriously hurt. I didn't think I would be able to walk, but I knew I had to get up so I wouldn't get shot, or be hit by a secondary IED.
I sat up and attempted to stand and, much to my surprise, was able to pull myself off the road without much difficulty. When I got up I looked around me, and saw Iraqi civilians harvesting their wheat in the fields like nothing had happened.
Worse than thinking that I was going to die only seconds earlier, was standing up to find that the person who had tried to kill me was still out there, in range of my weapon, and I couldn't do anything about it. He had disappeared into the crowd.
When I couldn't get positive identification on the trigger man, I ran back to my truck to make sure everyone else was OK. I ran to the commander's door first. He was knocked halfway out of the truck and was hanging on by the cables of the radio. I made sure that he was all right, helped him get untangled, and then got him back into the truck.
I could see that everybody else in the truck was unhurt, so I sat back in my seat and tried to close the door, but the blast had wedged my door into the driver's door, trapping him in the truck. My driver told me his weapon had been thrown from the vehicle. It was unsafe for him to get out unarmed, so I went and retrieved his weapon before the two of us pried the doors apart.
All of this happened within minutes, and when was I finally able to sit in the truck with the doors closed, I placed my hand on my left arm, and I felt my uniform stick to my skin. That's when I realised I was wounded.
Unfortunately, at the same time the adrenaline was starting to wear off. I became aware of the pain in my arm and the rest of my body. The driver (PFC Mendez) looked back and saw that I was wounded, and called the medic. The medic cut my sleeve and saw that I had lacerations and a lot of swelling on my left forearm and elbow.
We "self-recovered" and drove the vehicle back to our FOB. Once we got there they took me to the Coalition Cache where I was examined by the Navy Medics. My left forearm was covered in road rash, my knuckles were worn flat, my elbow was swollen and stiff, and my forearm had a knot from landing on my weapon. The medics cleaned my wounds and sent me to the Iraqi Army Aid Station for X-rays to check for bone fractures, which came back negative.
Once I got back to our barracks I reported to the CO to let him know that I was all right. He saw that I was OK and told me he was leaving on our brigade commander's Black Hawk to go to FOB Marez in half an hour. He asked if I still wanted to re-enlist.
I don't know why, but everything that had happened to me earlier that morning made me want to "re-up" even more. I think a big part of it was, and still is, that there are so many people trying to destroy our lives, and our country's way of life, that we need as many people as possible to kill them before they get the chance.
My commander and I flew back to FOB Marez, where they had the American flag pulled out on the landing pad. I stepped off the bird, and my CO re-enlisted me right in front of the flag I am so proud to defend.
I was amazed by the amount of support given to me, from my brigade commander and sergeant major, squadron commander and sergeant major, and my entire troop. Seeing all of them there supporting me made me feel even prouder to swear to defend my nation and constitution for the second time.
I have an amazing wife waiting for me back home. It wasn't easy for her to hear what happened, but she supports me and my decision. I can't imagine what it would be like without her support. It was a big shock to my mum and dad as well, but they too have always supported me in what I do, and it was no different this time.