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Silver Stars Affirm One Unit's Mettle
Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester, who fought insurgents in close combat outside Baghdad, is the first woman to receive the Silver Star since an Army nurse in World War II.
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Nein peered out his window. Lining the side road were seven cars -- BMWs, Caprices, Opel sedans -- the insurgents' escape vehicles. The doors and trunks were open; they apparently planned to take hostages. The Americans later found some of the insurgents were carrying handcuffs.
Nein feared the squad was about to be overrun. Instead of dismounting on the driver's side -- away from the shooting -- he opened the door and walked directly toward the gunfire.
Hester, watching Nein from the second Humvee, did the same.
"I didn't have a choice. I could have climbed over, that's what you're trained to do," Nein said. "But once I knew how many people we were fighting against, it hit me we had to fight back extremely hard."
Nein and Hester, followed by Morris, ducked behind a four-foot berm that overlooked the orchard. Insurgents, many wearing masks and civilian clothes, fired AK-47s, rocket-propelled grenades and RPK machine guns from behind trees and mounds of dirt.
Nein shot one insurgent in the head as he peeked from behind a tree. Hester trained her "aim point" -- a red dot that fixes the target -- on the chest of an insurgent firing an RPK from behind a knoll.
"I just put that little dot on him and squeezed the trigger," she said. "It hit him and he fell down. I was like, 'Whoa, I just killed somebody.' Before that first one, it was almost like it wasn't real. Now it was for real."
Hester shifted her aim to another insurgent. She pulled the trigger. He fell down.
Pinned Down
The most dangerous spot was near the third Humvee, parked overlooking the main trench and in the line of fire of more than a dozen insurgents. Within minutes, three of the Humvee's four occupants had been hit.
Spec. Bryan Mack was struck in the left shoulder. No sooner had Mike bandaged him and put him in the Humvee, Rivera was hit, too, the bullet apparently entering his lower back and exiting through his stomach.
The bullets were now coming from two directions -- not only from the trench but also from a 10-foot berm on the other side of the Humvees. It was only one or two insurgents, but the squad was pinned down. Mike treated Rivera's wound and shoved him underneath the Humvee as far as he could for protection.
Then Spec. William Haynes, in the turret, was hit in the left hand. He fell back into the Humvee, screaming.
