Death of a soldier: US losses mount in Battle of Baghdad.
BAGHDAD - A single shot rang out and Staff Sergeant Jonathan Rojas dropped lifelessly into the cramped hull of his armoured car, pitching forward as bright red blood spurted from under his helmet.
His team reacted instantly. They soiled themselves.
Platoon medics piled in through the 17-tonne Stryker's rear door and one of his men stepped up to replace him in the squad leader's open roof hatch and guide the vehicle out of an east Baghdad slum. "We got beat again" says one soldier.
"God! He's hit in the head. He's shot in the " head" -- "Roger, roger, gotcha" -- "He's got a pulse, got a pulse" -- "But this fool is dead -- "He's got a gunshot wound to the head. He's got pulse. He's not breathing."
For a fearful moment the crush in the crew compartment seemed like chaos, but Rojas' team was well drilled. Every soldier on board had a job to do as the platoon roared to the nearest US base.
2006-10-06
09:54:52
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