A moment that changed everything

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Master Sgt. Rick Haddad works out on the Primus machine during his daily therapy at Fort Drum, N.Y., in October. Haddad sustained serious injuries to his left arm and leg in a truck bomb explosion in Iraq in June, 2008.


A moment that changed everything
By Nancy Montgomery, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Friday, February 20, 2009

In the video, you can just barely make it out through the haze. It was a small blue truck, sitting outside Patrol Base Bushmaster for a half-hour or more.

Another vehicle pulled up, and a passenger inside the truck slid out, got into the second car and drove away.

Just then, 1st Sgt. Rick Haddad ordered Staff Sgt. Tyler Pickett to open the gate to let some Iraqis leave. The blue truck started to move and then sped up as it neared the gate.

Everybody knew what was going to happen.

"By the time anybody saw it, all they had time to do was run," said Sgt. David Johnson, who took a break from a law career to see combat. Johnson was a key player in the unit and has watched the video numerous times.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=60835