2010020409

One Soldier’s Story: Surviving A Bomb In The Streets Of Iraq

By R.Gregg, The Raleigh Telegram

Thusday, February 4, 2010

PORT AU PRINCE, HAITI - When you talk with Airborne soldiers currently serving in Haiti, you don’t have to go very far to find experienced veterans who have already served in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Sergeant Lucas Sabrowsky, who hails from Traverse City, Michigan, is one of those veterans of several tours overseas. A Green Bay Packers fan, Sabrowsky grew up across the water from Green Bay.

Sabrowsky is currently in Haiti with the 407th Brigade Support Battalion as part of the 82nd Airborne’s humanitarian aid missions to the country in the wake of the earthquake in January.

We had a chance to talk with Sergeant Sabrowsky about his experiences at the 407th’s camp at the Port au Prince Airport.

In addition to Haiti, Sabrowsky said that he was stationed in Iraq for four tours over a three year period.

In terms of casualties in the Iraq, Sabrowsky says that his third tour was very tough as it took place during the elections when violence was at its peak and when US Army vehicles were the subject of frequent, almost daily attacks.

“We were taking pools on where we would get shot at,” said the sergeant.

In one instance, Sergeant Sabrowsky said a vehicle he was driving in an Army convoy was almost blown up due to an improvised explosive device, otherwise known as an IED.

Sergeant Sabrowsky said that they left their protected compound in a five vehicle convoy as part of a resupply mission.

As a moving target is much harder to hit, bombers in Iraq will often try to create a situation where an American vehicle will have to slow down or come to a stop. This situation was no different.

“Our convoy came upon a bottleneck created by three stripped down cars,” said Sabrowsky.

Even though the cars were stripped down to their frames and there was no place to hide a bomb in the vehicles themselves, the situation made the convoy uneasy and he knew something was up.

“Our second lieutenant was very good,” said Sabrowsky.

Suspicious of the situation, the lieutenant had the vehicles go through the choke point one at a time to reduce a bomb’s impact on the convoy if it went off.

Soon it became time for Sergeant Sabrowsky’s truck to go through the choke point. He said he had to go around 5mph due to the wrecked cars, but as soon as he was in the clear he gunned his truck to 20mph.

That was when all hell broke loose.

An IED exploded literally underneath his truck as he drove over it, going off underneath the truck’s rear axle.

“I could feel the back end of the truck lift up,” he said.

Sergeant Sabrowsky said he made sure that his fellow soldier in the vehicle was okay. Thinking that the axle was busted, but that he needed to get out of there anyway, he gunned the truck and to his surprise, it kept running.

Sabrowsky says that when the convoy came back through the area, he saw the damage done by the IED.

“I saw a crater in the ground that was up to here,” said Sergeant Sabrowski, pointing to his knees.

In his role with the 407th in Haiti, Sabrowsky is still working with the 82nd Airborne’s big trucks on a daily basis as they deliver food, water, and other materials to different supply points around the city of Port au Prince.

Thankfully, the Haitians have welcomed the American soldiers to their country with open arms.

For many troops, being assigned to this neighboring nation as part of a humanitarian mission is a big change from Iraq, where you have to look over your shoulder all of the time and they have had to adjust substantially.

Although driving in Port au Prince can be tricky with the chaotic traffic circles and scooters cutting in and out of traffic, there are no IED’s here in Port au Prince, making this deployment a little friendlier.

:: END