Two Scouts Under Fire Helped Injured Buddies During Night Battle

As night closed in on February 26, a rugged battle awaited a group of scouts from the 4th Battalion, 32nd Armor.

First Lieutenant James Barker’s Bradley, HQ-21, moved into position on a screen line to the north front of the battalion. Joining HQ-21 were HQ-24 and HQ-26, commanded by SSG Christopher Stephens. To their right rear flank were elements of Task Force 5-5 Cav scouts. The night was overcast and pitch black.

The 4-32 scout platoon had been in position about five minutes when a T-72 came into view on a nearby berm. With his night vision goggles, 1LT Barker could see the Iraqi tank and some dismounted infantrymen as they headed toward Stephens’ track. The tank was part of the Republican Guards’ Tawakalna Division, and the Bradleys were no match for its 125-mm main gun. Stephens spotted the tank, reported it, and fired two TOW missiles. The first missed, but the second knocked off one of the T-72’s roadwheels. The gunners on HQ-21 and HQ-24 then opened fire on the dismounts with their 25-mm, and Barker fired a TOW, which streaked toward the target and popped the turret off in an explosive fireball. The sky lit up as secondary explosions began to engulf the doomed T-72.

What happened next isn’t exactly clear. Platoon Sergeant Dennis McMasters, in HQ-21, said he saw Stephens’ track taking fire from an unseen position.

The incoming rounds caused some of the Bradley’s ammunition to cook off.

DeMasters tried to raise Stephens on the radio, but no one answered. PFC Frank “Ranger Bob Bradish was in the open hatch of HQ-26, reloading TOWS, when the track took incoming rounds. The blasts severely injured Bradish’s right hand, Stephens suffered shrapnel wounds of his head and legs, and PFC Adrian Stokes, Bradish‘s fellow observer on the track, suffered severe abdominal and groin injuries, but was still alive. SGT Donald Goodwin was struck in the chest, but was conscious. PFC John McClure was the only member of the crew who did not have life-threatening wounds.

McClure and Bradish kept their heads, as if they were seasoned combat veterans. Bradish reported, saying he was OK, but Stokes was “hurt bad.” He tried to pull Stokes from the vehicle. Goodwin was able to climb out of the disabled track. McClure assessed the situation, pulled some flares from the ammo box in the turret, and secured the radio. He passed these to Bradish, who also grabbed his M-16 with grenade launcher, and prepared to defend his friends. While McClure tended to the wounded, Bradish called the lieutenant’s track, reporting they were hit and needed a medic. He cursed at the flares because he couldn’t open them with ARMOR - 21