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Rogue
2/26/2007, 09:19 PM
Now, I won't vouch for the accuracy of my hometown paper, but here's the story.


source: http://www.idahostatejournal.com/articles/2007/02/25/news/local/news02.txt

(For the record, Andy is a "real sniper" :cool: and I have no ideer why he's riding around in the Humvee hole with a .50 cal.):confused:






Local grad escapes Iraq bomb


It’s typical for Karen Frasure to hear from her son, Andy, during the early morning hours.

But when the phone rang at 2:40 a.m. Sunday, the young Marine corporal serving in Iraq detailed a horrifying experience that left Karen both sick to her stomach and proud to be the mother of a war hero. “I greeted him as always. I said, ‘How are you doing, hun?’ He said, ‘I’m going to be OK. Our Humvee hit (a roadside bomb) and it was pretty bad,”’ Karen said.

“Your heart’s sick. You get that sinking feeling in your gut,” she explained. As Frasure spoke, Karen relayed the details to her anxious husband, Rick, who was standing by her in their living room.

Frasure — a sniper manning the .50-caliber machine gun mounted on the armored vehicles’ roof — wasn’t seriously injured during the incident Friday near the Syrian border. He suffered a concussion, a wrenched back and a bruised hip in the explosion. However, the driver, Frasure’s friend and fellow Marine, Cpl. Gray, of Utah, wasn’t as fortunate. The blast tore through the bottom of the Humvee, twisting the steering wheel through Gray’s legs. Frasure told his mother that he lost consciousness for a short time, and when he awoke, the ammunition magazines around his Kevlar vest had been ripped off by the force of the blast. His pistol was also missing — the lanyard connecting it to the holster severed by shrapnel.

Gray was lying in the wreckage with blood pouring from his body. Frasure thought his friend was dead. Rick said his son grabbed a rifle and quickly scanned the area to make sure they weren’t under further attack. He crawled to Gray, and dragging him from the wreckage, realized he was still alive.

Gray started screaming in pain. To stop the blood, Frasure put a tourniquet on one of Gray’s legs and another Marine of the five in the Humvee tied off the flow from the other leg while others radioed for help. When the medics arrived aboard a helicopter, they credited Frasure and the others for saving Gray’s life. Unfortunately, hours later, Gray’s legs were amputated below the knees, and he was flown to Landstuhl Hospital in Germany, where he is still recovering.

Frasure told his father that Gray is married with a 7-month-old daughter. Because of the adrenaline rush, Frasure was conscious until he reached a nearby Iraqi hospital, then passed out for several hours.

“You have that shock and fear that shake you down to the core,” Rick said. “You realize he was close to being killed or maimed for life. That’s not something you want for your kids. The theory is, as a parent you’re supposed to grow old and watch your grand kids. Your children are supposed to bury you, not the other way around. That’s the way it’s supposed to work.” Marine officials declined this week to confirm the incident occurred or even verify the spelling of Cpl. Gray’s first name. A spokesperson in Utah said it is not the military’s policy to report details of attacks resulting in casualties, unless there is a fatality.

Frasure’s commanding officer told him he was not allowed to comment to the media about his experience because he is in a war zone.

Friday’s close call wasn’t the first for Frasure, who is serving his second tour in the war-torn country.

Last March, Karen and Rick got a similar early-morning call in which Frasure explained that a bomb planted in a sack blew him off his feet as he turned to run.

The St. Patrick’s Day incident occurred in Fallujah after Frasure’s squad leader discovered the device while patrolling the volatile city for insurgents. Shrapnel from the blast struck him in the back. As was the case Friday, a Kevlar vest stopped the projectile, leaving Frasure sore, but relatively uninjured — except for a large goose egg between his shoulders.

“That was another time he called us and said, ‘Wow, I sure appreciate people praying,”’ Rick said of his son, adding that Frasure’s brother Josh has also done two tours of military duty in Iraq.

Josh, an Army specialist who has served in Kirkuk and Baghdad, said he is not surprised by his brother’s reaction in the aftermath of Friday’s explosion. He said Frasure’s confident nature combined with his extensive training make him a natural leader on the battle field.

“I know my brother responds well under stress. He likes to face any problem with his nose into the wind and push forward,” said Josh, who returned from Iraq last October and is now stationed at Fort Campbell, Ky.

In addition to the obvious family ties, being Iraq war veterans is one of many things the brothers have in common. They both graduated from Highland High School, Frasure in 2004 and Josh in 2001. While there, they each participated in wrestling and football. They, along with Karen and Rick, also share a strong faith in God and are active in their church, Living Waters Christian Fellowship in Pocatello.

“I’m proud of my sons, but I do a lot of praying. God has been faithful to keep both of them alive,” Karen said.

Karen explained that Frasure has aspired to be a Marine since he was 4-years old. Back then, in 1988, Karen worked a part-time job on a Marine base in Hawaii. Frasure was captivated, watching them march and listening to their cadence for hours at a time.

“It just got in his blood and he never changed,” Karen said Thursday afternoon while viewing a video Frasure e-mailed her and Rick from Iraq.

In the clip, he explains the reason he is so dirty is because he just spent three hours in a sand storm.

The Pocatello couple have several videos and photos e-mailed by Frasure, including one in which he and his friends are playing pool.

In another photo, depicting Frasure wearing an armored helmet and manning a machine gun, he is partially obscured by a thick steel shield that protects him from enemy gunfire.

Staring at the photo, Karen shook her head and looked to Rick.

“He always has a chew in his mouth,” Karen said.

“Well, he’s a Marine,” Rick replied, adding that in other pictures from the war their son has a cigar in his mouth.

Moments before their laptop computer ran out of juice, Karen saw another photo that caught her eye. Frasure and his fellow Marines are loading gear into a Jeep as they prepare to depart from Fallujah in March 2006, not long after the first bombing from which Frasure narrowly escaped.

Behind Frasure, the walls of a cream-colored building are riddled with bullets holes.

Rick said his son was due home last month, but after President George Bush announced the troop surge, Frasure’s tour was extended. But that doesn’t bother Frasure. Rick said his son would rather stay where he is.

“He wants to go back and when he does, he’ll be a squad leader,” Rick explained. “It’s not about politics. For him, the Band of Brothers is real. You take care of your fellow Marines.”

Since Friday’s close call, Frasure has phoned his parents three times. He told Karen during one of their conversations that he has twice driven past the spot where Gray lost his legs, an experience which he described as “a little eerie.”

As a fellow military man, Josh doesn’t understand what all the fuss back home is about. Frasure was just doing his job, what any other Marine would do for him.

“He was off a day. Now he is back in a Humvee on a machine gun doing exactly what he was doing before,” Rick said.

It was both a horrible day and just another day for a Marine in Iraq.

For Andy’s family in Pocatello, the story told early on a Sunday morning won’t soon be forgotten.

By Casey [email protected]



Rogue
US Army 1990-1993

OUHOMER
2/26/2007, 09:29 PM
Amazing, I dont see how these guys do it day and day out. And then want to stay and do it again. Thank GOD for them. I dont know that i could do it.

jacru
2/26/2007, 11:15 PM
Combat military and police officers have the hardest jobs in the world and I am thankful that they do them.

olevetonahill
2/26/2007, 11:25 PM
Salut!
the only ? i have is why hes telling his folks back home about the Bad shat .
Different Families I guess, I wrote My folks and told em Of all the beautiful scenery and stuff .
Ill Pray for em all till They ALL come home .

jk the sooner fan
2/27/2007, 07:02 AM
god bless them all

and that author has my last name!!!!!!!

Tear Down This Wall
2/27/2007, 10:07 AM
Excellent, Rogue. The youngest cousin in our family is over there, too, near Baghdad. He joined after a couple of years of college.

These are good kids over there. They are volunteering to go fight the muslim scum that would cut all of our throats for simply not bowing to the Baal they call allah.

My wife and I are planning a second child. If it's a boy, he'll be named after my cousin. The kid's got grit.