Local soldier narrowly escapes death

By BOB HIGH

Staff Sgt. Curtis Graham of Whiteville had two scrapes with death in Iraq last fall – one from a dud mortar round and another from an explosive device that struck his Humvee as it moved along an asphalt street.

“I’ll never forget Nov. 19. We had heard the first mortar round (fired by Iraqi insurgents) and I told my guys to get their stuff together and get ready to run outside and perform a fire mission with our mortars,” Graham said last week during a visit to his parents.

The enemy’s 120mm mortar shell pierced the reinforced ceiling of Graham’s housing unit in the compound in Ramadi and landed at the head of Graham’s bed.

“The force of the shell landing in the room knocked me and some others near me down. If it had exploded it would have killed all of us,” he added.

Graham said it wasn’t unusual for Iraqi insurgents to fire mortars, rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) or rockets into or near the military compound.

“Sometimes they fire an RPG from the south, or maybe a rocket, and try to throw us off as to their location, then they fire some mortar rounds at us from the north.

“We’ve zeroed-in on known locations and we’ve had several reports of success,” he pointed out.

Street explosion

Graham’s squad was on patrol about a month before the close call with the mortar round when he was in the front passenger seat of a Humvee that struck an improvised explosive device (IED) buried in the asphalt street.

“Five of us were in the Humvee. They buried it (mortar round) and patched the road. We were lucky that all of us weren’t killed then, too,” the staff sergeant said.

Graham’s squad was a part of the 3rd Infantry Brigade based in Ramadi, a northern Iraqi city of 400,000. “Ramadi is part of what is called the Sunni Triangle,” he noted.

He said his squad usually never went outside except when they were on a fire mission with their four 120mm mortars. “We’ve got them in an emplacement near our housing building. There’s four tubes that are manned by three guys, then we’ve got some ammo bearers and those who direct our fire.

“We got rounds fired at us daily. They liked to send them in at lunchtime because they knew we’d be going to or coming from the mess hall.

“The first mortar round they fired that day in November landed 150 feet from my building. They were firing from about two miles away.

Insurgents ‘skedaddle’

“They usually fire twice and skedaddle. They know how long it takes for us to get rounds fired back at them. Sometimes they try to fire a third round. We’re capable of firing 14 rounds each minute from each tube,” Graham declared.

“We were in Ramadi six months and it happened every day, usually two to three times,” he added. One of Graham’s squad sustained a leg wound from a mortar round while going to guard duty one day last August. The soldier is recovering. “He’ll walk again.”

Graham said the Sunnis are friendly and cooperated “most of the time.” He noted that “Saddam is a Sunni and many of them want him back in power, so they can have power again.”

He said the Shites in Iraq were the “most friendly,” and he noted he didn’t trust all of them, but had everyday contact with them and they fought well and were making a difference.

Graham is back from his second tour in Iraq and is stationed with the mechanized Third Infantry Brigade at Fort Benning, Ga. He returned to the States after a year of duty.

Graham’s first experience in Iraq came in the invasion of the country in April 2003. He was with the 1st Infantry Division at that time, and rotated home after three months.

Re-upped for five years

The sergeant is the son of Janet Graham of Whiteville and Charles Graham of Lake Waccamaw, and he’s married to the former Angela Kelley of Columbus, Ga., whom he met while stationed at Fort Benning.

Graham “re-upped” for another five years last summer and now is in his 10th year of military duty. A 1996 graduate of East Columbus High School, Graham is obtaining a criminal justice degree over the Internet.

His wife, in school at Troy State University in nearby Phenix City, Ala., is pursuing a business degree and wants to open her own hair styling salon.

Graham’s younger brother Justin was also in Iraq as an infantryman during most of 2005 and is now back from that tour. He’s stationed in Colorado.

How does Curtis feel about the Iraqi situation?

“From a soldier’s view, it’s important for us and their future. When my country calls I’m going and do what’s needed. My brother feels the same way. He’s also re-upped for another five years.”