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Photo and information courtesy of Army / DoD |
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On patrol in
al Bawi, Iraq, First
Lieutenant Ross Pixler was
in the lead inside his
armored Bradley Fighting
Vehicle on an October day
when the fiery blast of an
IED shattered the daily
monotony. The deeply buried
IED exploded as the Bradley
passed over, ripping the
vehicle apart and killing
three fellow soldiers.
Still dazed by the carnage,
Pixler exemplified the
strength of an army soldier
by ignoring his injuries,
finding his rifle, and
getting to work. Already the
three other vehicles in the
convoy were approaching the
attack site, but Pixler
wasted no time in checking
on the unconscious driver
and gunner, and taking up a
defensive position. He later
reflected, “Everything goes
really fast and I wasn’t
really stopping to think
about what I was doing. I
was doing what I was trained
to do.”
Just as Pixler and the rest
of his unit began recovering
from the attack, scattered
mortar and small arms fire
bombarded the site. Pixler,
rattled by his concussion,
did not hesitate to raise
his rifle and take a key
role in the defense of the
position while assistance
came to recover the bodies
of the Americans.
As the hours wore on, Pixler
and the other surviving
members of his team were
loaded onto another Bradley
and pulled out of the waning
firefight. The safety of the
rescue vehicle was broken
when another IED crippled
it, forcing the men to exit
the vehicle and repulse
another attack.
It would be many hours from
the initial attack to the
time Pixler and his men were
within the walls of an
American base, but during
that time his focus on the
mission and his men never
wavered. |
