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Topic Author's Original Post - Sep 30, 2004 - 12:33pm PT
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David W. Johnson
Wednesday, September 29 2004 @ 08:02 AM EST
Contributed by: tomw
Oregonian -- BAGHDAD -- An Oregon Army National Guardsman from Portland has been killed by a roadside bomb near Camp Taji, northwest of Baghdad. He is the third soldier with the 2nd Battalion, 162nd Infantry to be killed in less than two weeks.
Spc. David W. Johnson, 37, of Portland was riding Saturday morning in the turret of the last Humvee in a 14-vehicle convoy headed from Patrol Base Volunteer to Taji in a routine supply run.
The convoy was about two miles south of Taji when a bomb -- called an improvised explosive device or IED -- was detonated by remote control on the driver's side of the Humvee, killing Johnson and slightly wounding the driver.
Johnson, a member of the 218th Field Artillery, was attached to the 2nd Battalion, 162nd Infantry. He worked in the transportation unit, which is responsible for helping secure food, ammunition and other supplies.
His death came 12 days after an IED killed Staff Sgt. David Weisenburg and Spc. Benjamin Isenberg from the battalion's B Company. Weisenburg, 26, was from Portland, and Isenberg, 27, was from Sheridan.
Since the beginning of the battalion's Iraq deployment in April, eight guardsmen have been killed, all by IEDs planted on roads or in vehicles.
Saturday's blast threw the 5-ton Humvee into the air and spun it around, said Sgt. John Larsen, 36, of Drain, who was sitting in the front passenger seat of the vehicle. The explosion destroyed a door and threw shrapnel at the three people inside.
At first, Larsen said, he didn't think anyone was injured. Johnson was slumped in the turret, his arms braced against the sides.
When Larsen climbed out and opened Johnson's door, he realized Johnson had sustained a head wound and was not breathing, he said.
As the other vehicles swung back to the bombing site, soldiers secured the area and medics worked on Johnson. He was declared dead shortly afterward.
"He was one of the nicest people you will ever meet," Larsen said. "He didn't deserve to die in this place."
The driver, Spc. James Richmond of Springfield, sustained swollen ears from the noise of the explosion and a burn from hot shrapnel that landed inside the collar of his body armor.
The scene was hard to take in, said Spc. Derek Rabacal, 39, of Beaverton, who was in the fourth vehicle in the convoy.
Cars were piling up behind the site. Dozens of people, gathered outside shops along the road, watched as smoke rose from the Humvee and medics worked on Johnson. The soldiers were unable to determine who set off the IED.
IEDs have emerged as one of the insurgents' deadliest tools in their fight against U.S. and Iraqi forces. Made from artillery shells or other explosives and connected to a timing device, such as a cell phone, attackers can by remote control detonate massive bombs that are planted in debris along the shoulder of a highway, buried beneath the road or packed into vehicles.
The results have been deadly, not only for U.S. and Iraqi forces, but also for Iraqi civilians.
The random nature of IEDs -- and not being able to discern who is setting them -- has been a growing frustration for soldiers.
"Thirteen vehicles passed the site, and the 14th got hit," said Sgt. James Korpi, 42, of Forest Grove.
"Here you don't know who (the enemy) is, where they are, what's going to happen next," said Sgt. 1st Class Ron Van Vlack, 59, of Myrtle Point. "Especially if you're out on the road, you're vulnerable all the time."
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