'Golden Dragons' foil truck bomb attack on patrol base

Courtesy Photo | A dump truck loaded with homemade explosives sits near the south entrance to Patrol Base Warrior Keep. An alert Soldier of the 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) out of Fort Drum, N.Y., saw the truck turn abruptly toward the gate and fired on it with a machine gun, stopping the truck. The driver was wearing a suicide vest, but was detained before he was able to detonate it.  

PATROL BASE WARRIOR KEEP, IRAQ

06.10.2007

Courtesy Story

2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division Public Affairs

2nd BCT, 10th Mtn. Div. (LI) PAO

PATROL BASE WARRIOR KEEP, Iraq – Soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) out of Fort Drum, N.Y., thwarted a vehicle-borne improvised explosive attack at Patrol Base Warrior Keep, near Sadr Al-Yusufiyah, Iraq.

Spc. Brandon Rork, a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, and a rifleman with the 2-14th was manning a machine gun on top of PB Warrior Keep and spotted a driver in a dump truck loaded with homemade explosives attempting to break through the base's perimeter barriers.

Rork and Spc. Charles Osgood, a native of Chesapeake, Va., a rifleman with an M-4 rifle, both fired at the truck repeatedly, until it stopped.

The driver was removed from the truck and found to be wearing a suicide vest. The vest was removed, and the driver was treated for injuries sustained in the attack.

"The Soldier in the machine gun position was very alert this afternoon and able to engage and stop a dump truck suicide bomber bent on destroying the entire patrol base," said Lt. Col. John Valledor, a native of New York, N.Y., and the commander of the 2-14 "Golden Dragons."

• Date Taken: 06.10.2007
• Date Posted: 06.11.2007 14:26
• Story ID: 10773
• Location: PATROL BASE WARRIOR KEEP, IQ