Courtesy Photo | BAQUABAH, IRAQ (December 30, 2005) -- Sgt. Kareena Lechner, Co. E, 2-69 Armor...... read more read more
Spc. Lee Elder
133d Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
BAQUABAH, Iraq (Dec. 30, 2005) " After being badly wounded in a suicide bomb blast, a young military police Soldier said there was never any question if she would rejoin her fellow Soldiers, just when.
Sergeant Kareena Lechner, who serves with Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, was among six Soldiers injured Aug. 23rd when an Iraqi with a fake I.D. entered the dining facility at the Provincial Joint Communication Center in Baquahah and blew himself up. Besides taking his own life and destroying the facility, two other U.S. personnel were killed.
"I remember a bright light and the noise," Lechner recalled. "I pretty well remember all of it very vividly."
The blast destroyed both of Lechner's eardrums, left her with cuts and bruises and shrapnel wounds in both legs. She was evacuated to nearby Forward Operating Base Warhorse and later to Forward Operating Base Anaconda.
Lechner was hospitalized for two weeks. When time came for her release, she was told she was being transferred.
"I told them I wanted to come back here," Lechner said. "I insisted on it. I talked to my battalion commander and they let me come back here."
Two other NCOs that were injured were not able to return.
"We were the three NCOs for the guard," Lechner explained. "For our Soldiers, that was their leadership. I owed it to them to join them here."
While Lechner has recovered physically and bears no visible scars from the incident, she is reminded of it daily. She has to walk past the demolished site where the facility once stood to get to work. Now, all that remains is the outline of a building on the ground and a few piles of rubble.
"It was hard at first," Lechner said. "I just do not want to let things like that bother me.
"She fought through her injuries and came back," said Staff Sgt. Charles Warner, the unit's operations sergeant. "She's earned a lot of respect around here. She's a good NCO and has a lot of heart."
"Lechner is special to all of us," said Sgt. 1st Class Roberto Chavez, the center's noncommissioned officer in charge, "She asked her superiors to send her back here. That says a lot for her character."
| Date Taken: | 01.09.2006 |
| Date Posted: | 01.09.2006 09:51 |
| Story ID: | 5011 |
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| Web Views: | 164 |
| Downloads: | 14 |
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