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National guardsmen
recount their time...
in the line of fire
An isle squadron faced danger daily
in protecting supply convoys in Iraq
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After he noticed a huge cloud of smoke from a lead convoy truck hit by a homemade bomb, Sarcedo and others got out and aided the three men who were thrown from the truck and severely burned.
Sarcedo, a Makakilo native, said he was to be the lead truck driver that day but had swapped places with the driver who held up the rear. "If we didn't switch ..." Sarcedo's voice trailed off.
Those life-threatening experiences "pulled everyone together," he said. "You realize you might never see that guy again."
Sarcedo was among three Hawaii Air National Guardsmen of the 154th Logistics Readiness Squadron who returned from serving with the Army's 1st Infantry Division in Iraq for the past five months.
The airmen, who were deployed Feb. 16 and returned Sept. 30, recounted their experiences yesterday at a news conference at Hickam Air Force Base.
The National Guardsmen armored their own trucks -- welding on scrap metal and creating gun turrets -- to lead and protect supply convoys on dangerous Iraqi roads.
"You just protect it as best as you can," said Sarcedo. "Trial and error was basically how we protected ourselves and brought ourselves home safely."
The three men's training in Kuwait did little to prepare them for facing live fire while driving and manning 5-ton gun trucks that led convoys, some as long as 15 miles, said Sarcedo, 33, a director of purchasing at the Four Seasons Resort Hualalai.
The convoys were military as well as civilian, bringing supplies from food to ammunition to cement for rebuilding.
Staff Sgt. Edgar Abella of Ewa Beach, a state firefighter and former active-duty Air Force airman, recalled some trucks getting stuck in a muddy trench along a narrow roadway in an Iraqi town.
"All the townsfolk came out and wanted to know what was going on," Abella said.
Hundreds surrounded them and came in close, wanting to touch the Americans and their guns. The only way out was to reverse. They pointed their guns at the crowd.
"We were just stressing, 'What do we do?'" Sarcedo said. "You don't know what the enemy is like. ... You don't know if it's high school kids or families going to the market."
Trucks being struck by homemade bombs were an everyday occurrence.
"I thought about my family a lot," said Abella, 38, married with a daughter, 5, and son, 16. "I guess that motivated me to make it out alive. I think that blocked out a lot of the danger."
In contrast, Staff Sgt. Robert Kodama, 42, said: "I try to put that out of my mind. If you do that, it drives you crazy."
The men enjoyed working with the Iraqi people, whom they trained in various tasks. He described them as awesome and amazing. "They're rough people but very polite," Sarcedo said. The Iraqis asked them not to leave.
As for today's presidential election, the men did not ponder politics about Iraq, but said they will serve whomever is commander in chief.