Monday, May 21, 2012
Bravo Company got an early wake-up call just after 6 a.m. Thursday.
Insurgents fired three rockets at Combat Outpost Dand wa Patan from a distant mountainside.
But, I’m happy to report, all three missed.
(I was away form the outpost at the time, accompanying First Platoon on a middle-of-the-night mission to the town of Chamkani, about 15 miles to the northwest. Read more about the First Platoon’s busy week in this weekend’s Maine Sunday Telegram.)
Nobody was hurt in the attack – the first time Bravo Company has been targeted with rockets since the soldiers arrived here in late Mach.
And since all three fell outside the COP’s perimeter, nothing was damaged.
But it got everyone’s attention.
“We’ve been mortared before, but once you hear that rocket – that’s totally different,” said Spc. Kevin O’Brien of Lisbon Falls. “I did see the smoke trail, which was pretty neat.”
At the time the rockets hit, O’Brien was manning a TCP – traffic control point – just outside the base.
Also enjoying (if that’s the right word) a front-row seat were: Staff Sgt. Anthony Marson of Richmond, Staff Sgt. John Anderson of Portland, Spc. Jeffrey Cantara of Biddeford, Sgt. Nikolas Edwards of Livermore, Pfc. Craig Ege of Sanford, Pfc. Jason Chapman of Hollis and Spc. Galen Hisler of Somerville.
Columnist Bill Nemitz is reporting from the mountains of eastern Afghanistan. Nemitz left Memorial Day weekend to join the 152 Maine men who make up Maine Army National Guard’s Bravo Company, 3rd Battalion, 172nd Infantry. Bravo Company is part of the 94,000 soldiers currently in Afghanistan.
Copyright ©2012 MaineToday Media, Inc.
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