U.S. Army tank mechanic Marvin Yadao, of Lahaina, was wounded in October during a mortar attack in Baghdad. Yadao, who received a Purple Heart for his wounds, is home on leave visiting his parents after a one-year tour of duty in Iraq.
Maui soldier calls Iraq
injuries ‘minor’Marvin Yadao earned a Purple Heart
after being wounded by shrapnel
in Baghdad
LAHAINA » West Maui resident Army Spc. 4 Marvin Yadao remembers seeing a bright flash, then hearing a loud explosion in Baghdad.
Within seconds, several pieces of shrapnel from an Iraqi mortar shell entered his body.
Luckily, none of the injuries was serious, and he was back at work in a day or two, he said.
"It wasn't big," said Yadao, who received a Purple Heart for the injuries. "It was just minor."
Yadao, 21, a 2002 graduate of Lahainaluna High School, is on an 18-day furlough visiting his parents, Felipe and Margarita Yadao, of Lahaina.
Yadao, an M1 Abrams tank mechanic with the 70th Engineer Battalion, First Armored Division, 3rd Brigade, returned to his base at Fort Riley, Kan., about a month ago after a one-year deployment in the Middle East. His unit entered Iraq through Kuwait in April 2003.
While Army medical personnel were able to remove metal from his left hand and two pieces from his left hip, a piece remains lodged in his shin below his right knee.
"They said it will push itself out," he said.
The injury took place on the night of Oct. 18 as Yadao stood up in his tent in a large warehouse and was preparing to go to the motor pool and drive a Humvee to do his laundry. Three other soldiers were also injured.
The mortar shell landed on the roof of the motor pool 50 yards away, and two large pieces of shrapnel went through the driver's seat of the Humvee. That night, 14 mortar shells fell near his unit with the 70th Engineer Battalion, First Armored Division, 3rd Brigade.
Yadao said the mortar shells fell every two to three days for about a month, and he never found out who was shelling them.
Yadao said what took adjustment was being in the desert heat.
"We just drank a lot of water and tried to stay in the shade as much as possible," he said.
He said the little gifts from home helped sustain him -- food items like mochi crunch, li hing mui mango, saimin and honey-glazed rice crackers.
He said he prayed every night for the well-being of his family in Lahaina and himself.
Yadao said he was grateful to have been able to emigrate to the United States in 1991 and receive a free public education -- something that is not available in the Philippines where he was born. He took classes in automotive mechanics while at Lahainaluna -- lessons that helped him become a tank mechanic, he said.
He said he never thought he would be involved in the Iraq war, but he wanted to show his gratitude by serving in the U.S. military.
"I wanted to give back to my country," he said.
Yadao said he has about a year more to serve in his three-year enlistment and has not decided whether he will re-enlist.
"I'm still thinking about it," he said. "Being so far from the family and making them worry is hard."
Margarita Yadao said she could not bear to watch television reports about the war while her son was still Iraq.
"We thank God he came home safely," she said.
