Meet Staff Sergeant Donald White of Battery B, 3rd Battalion, 29th Field Artillery, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division. While on patrol in Balad, Iraq, SSG White and his team responded to a mortar attack on a nearby village.
“Upon arriving at the scene there was absolute chaos – Iraqis running to and from the explosion site. The driver of a white car was desperately trying to get out of the alleyway next to the house,” said White, patrol leader for Battery B, 3rd Battalion, 29th Field Artillery, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.
Upon seeing the Soldiers a woman exited the car holding a small girl of 8 to 10 years old covered in blood. The girl had been cutting tomatoes when a mortar round hit a nearby water drum, which projected shrapnel into her chest.
Spc. John Sullivan, a medic attached to White’s unit, approached the family to offer care to the limp child.
“I went to check for a pulse, which I couldn’t feel,” Sullivan said. “As I was checking, I noticed holes in her chest where the shrapnel impacted. I knew she was dead.”
The family rushed to the Air Force hospital at LSA Anaconda, where medical staff confirmed the girl died as a result of her wounds.
White and his team stayed behind to investigate the site. They eventually found the mortar’s tailfin, which by its shape and size the Soldiers knew was an enemy round.
SSG White could’ve ended his mission there, but he didn’t.
White and his patrol returned to the home the following day to offer the condolences, and make sure the family knew coalition forces hadn’t fired the round. If rumors spread that the Americans killed the girl, tensions in the area would increase, White said.
“I wanted to return to say ‘I am sorry, I hope to catch this guy who fired the mortar’,” White said. “Words mean so much to these people.”
Your soldiers are operating as warriors, ambassadors, technicians, and humanitarians all within the span of a few hours. I’m proud of you SSG White and your men. This We’ll Defend. Sgt Hook out.
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