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Focused
on a
high
value
target
from a
major
terrorist
group,
the 3rd
Ranger
Battalion,
75th
Ranger
Regiment
was on a
direct
assault
mission
in
Northern
Iraq in
2005.
Enemy
assault
soon
ensued
and
then-Cpt.
John
Detro,
an Army
Physician
Assistant,
went to
work
treating
the
wounded
while
constantly
threatened
by
incoming
rounds.
"Prior
to the
mission,
we had
intelligence
that the
enemy
was
heavily
armed
and
large in
number,"
recalls
Detro.
He
explained
that as
his unit
moved in
hitting
targets
about a
mile
out,
they
could
hear
their
air
assets
relaying
information
about
the
enemy
movements.
They
were
relocating
to roof
tops.
Although
armed
with the
intel,
the unit
still
was not
fully
prepared
for what
lay
ahead.
"We
assaulted
the
building
with a
force of
approximately
50
personnel,"
Detro
said.
"As soon
as we
breached
the
door,
the
first
two men
were
shot. We
all
moved
into the
building
and
received
fire
from
above in
the
court
yard,
from
adjacent
stairwells,
and from
fighters
within
spider
holes."
He
explained
that
spider
holes
were
hiding
places
in
camouflaged
walls. |
