bobdina
08-04-2010, 09:58 PM
The IED sat deep in hardpacked Afghanistan earth. So deep that two Marines safely walked over it.
But then a towering grunt, Cpl. Matt Garst, stepped on the device and it detonated, throwing the Marine 15 feet through the air. Beating all odds, Garst got up, rifle-ready and “pissed.” Nice try, Taliban.
Garst, a 6-foot-2-inch squad leader with 2nd Platoon, Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines, was on patrol in southern Shorsurak, Helmand province, on June 23, when he lost radio communications.
To re-establish contact, Garst moved his Marines to a compound on higher ground.
They began clearing the area and checking it for IEDs, but missed one that was buried too deep to register on their metal detectors.
When one of the Marines found a separate pressure plate, he called out to Garst. The squad leader turned around, and that’s when the IED exploded.
Though Garst can’t remember this part, he was propelled so high into the air that Marines outside the compound saw his feet above an eight-foot wall as he soared through the air, according to a Marine news release.
Garst landed on his head and shoulders, but immediately sprung to his feet. That’s when he came to, and gave the following account to a public affairs Marine: “My first thought was, ‘Oh s---, I just hit an IED,” he said. “Then I thought, ‘Well, I’m standing. That’s good.” With the adrenaline pumping, Garst was also angry.
“It pissed me off,” he said, quickly ordering his men to form a security perimeter.
“What the f--- are you looking at?” he told his Marines. “Get on the cordon!” Garst radioed the base and called for an explosive ordnance disposal team and quick reaction force.
“I called them and said, ‘Hey, I just got blown up. Get ready,’ ” he said. “The guy thought I was joking at first.” After the mission was complete, Garst even led his Marines on the four-mile hike back to base.
“I wasn’t going to let anybody else take my squad back after they’d been there for me,” he said. “That’s my job.” It wasn’t until the next day that he felt the pain.
“I’ve never been so sore,” he told Marine Corps Times. “I could barely get out of bed.” But, when examined by a corps*man, there was no sign of serious injury. The only medical treatment he needed was a couple of ibuprofen.
The hard-charging Marine was back in action just two days after the blast.
Garst was likely spared by insurgents’ shoddy work. The IED was not only buried too deep, but it was packed before its explosive materials were totally dry, meaning most of it didn’t detonate.
While he is the first in his unit to get hit, leathernecks in Shorsurak are calling him the luckiest man alive.
Garst, a 22-year-old from Charlotte, N.C., has been in Afghanistan for just a few months, but already has led about 450 patrols.
He and his Marines haven’t taken much small-arms fire, but in the last few weeks they have seized four weapons caches and found seven IEDs. Garst and his fellow Marines still have several months left on their deployment.
When asked about future patrols, Garst showed the same fearless resolve he did on the day a bomb nearly ended his life and said he will just keep doing his job — one step at a time.
http://armytimes.va.newsmemory.com/default.php?token=16965398db7aedbf587f922d8995678e&pSetup=armytimes
But then a towering grunt, Cpl. Matt Garst, stepped on the device and it detonated, throwing the Marine 15 feet through the air. Beating all odds, Garst got up, rifle-ready and “pissed.” Nice try, Taliban.
Garst, a 6-foot-2-inch squad leader with 2nd Platoon, Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines, was on patrol in southern Shorsurak, Helmand province, on June 23, when he lost radio communications.
To re-establish contact, Garst moved his Marines to a compound on higher ground.
They began clearing the area and checking it for IEDs, but missed one that was buried too deep to register on their metal detectors.
When one of the Marines found a separate pressure plate, he called out to Garst. The squad leader turned around, and that’s when the IED exploded.
Though Garst can’t remember this part, he was propelled so high into the air that Marines outside the compound saw his feet above an eight-foot wall as he soared through the air, according to a Marine news release.
Garst landed on his head and shoulders, but immediately sprung to his feet. That’s when he came to, and gave the following account to a public affairs Marine: “My first thought was, ‘Oh s---, I just hit an IED,” he said. “Then I thought, ‘Well, I’m standing. That’s good.” With the adrenaline pumping, Garst was also angry.
“It pissed me off,” he said, quickly ordering his men to form a security perimeter.
“What the f--- are you looking at?” he told his Marines. “Get on the cordon!” Garst radioed the base and called for an explosive ordnance disposal team and quick reaction force.
“I called them and said, ‘Hey, I just got blown up. Get ready,’ ” he said. “The guy thought I was joking at first.” After the mission was complete, Garst even led his Marines on the four-mile hike back to base.
“I wasn’t going to let anybody else take my squad back after they’d been there for me,” he said. “That’s my job.” It wasn’t until the next day that he felt the pain.
“I’ve never been so sore,” he told Marine Corps Times. “I could barely get out of bed.” But, when examined by a corps*man, there was no sign of serious injury. The only medical treatment he needed was a couple of ibuprofen.
The hard-charging Marine was back in action just two days after the blast.
Garst was likely spared by insurgents’ shoddy work. The IED was not only buried too deep, but it was packed before its explosive materials were totally dry, meaning most of it didn’t detonate.
While he is the first in his unit to get hit, leathernecks in Shorsurak are calling him the luckiest man alive.
Garst, a 22-year-old from Charlotte, N.C., has been in Afghanistan for just a few months, but already has led about 450 patrols.
He and his Marines haven’t taken much small-arms fire, but in the last few weeks they have seized four weapons caches and found seven IEDs. Garst and his fellow Marines still have several months left on their deployment.
When asked about future patrols, Garst showed the same fearless resolve he did on the day a bomb nearly ended his life and said he will just keep doing his job — one step at a time.
http://armytimes.va.newsmemory.com/default.php?token=16965398db7aedbf587f922d8995678e&pSetup=armytimes