COLUMN: Bill Nemitz

133rd embraces hero as one of its own

Copyright © 2004 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.

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Staff photo by Gregory Rec Lt. Matthew Delk of South Carolina hugs 1st Lt. Christopher Elgee of South Portland after Delk received a Purple Heart on Friday in Mosul, Iraq.

MAINE CASUALTIES Here are the soldiers with ties to Maine who have been killed in Iraq: Maj. Jay Thomas Aubin, 36, grew up in Skowhegan, U.S. Marine Corps, died in a helicopter crash in Kuwait, March 21, 2003. Cpl. Brian Kennedy, 25, Texas, mother lives in Port Clyde, U.S. Marine Corps, died in the same helicopter crash as Maj. Aubin, March 21, 2003. Spc. Daniel Francis J. Cunningham, 33, Lewiston, U.S. Army, died when his vehicle crashed into a ravine to avoid artillery fire, April 4, 2003. Lance Cpl. Cedric E. Bruns, 22, grandparents live in Bangor, U.S. Marine Corps, died in a collision between two U.S. military vehicles, May 9, 2003. First Sgt. Christopher Coffin, 51, Kennebunk, 352nd Civil Affairs Command, U.S. Army Reserves, died after his Humvee ran into ditch, July 1, 2003. Sgt. Jeremiah Holmes, 27, North Berwick, Army National Guard 744th Transportation Co., Hillsboro, N.H., died when his truck was hit by a bomb, March 29, 2004. Spc. Christopher D. Gelineau, 23, Portland,133rd Engineer Battalion, Maine Army National Guard, died in an ambush on a military convoy in Mosul, April 20, 2004. Compiled by staff researcher Susan Butler Visit the Special Section: In Iraq for news, slide shows, messages to the troops and more. COMING SUNDAY Don't miss our exclusive coverage as columnist Bill Nemitz and photographer Gregory Rec continue to report all the news involving the Maine Army National Guard's 133rd Engineer Battalion in Mosul, Iraq. Sunday, they'll take readers on a most unusual mission. In Iraq: April 23, 2004 (11 photos) Send a Message: Troops in Iraq are dealing with the loss of a comrade. Send a message of support to Maine soldiers. Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram journalists Bill Nemitz and Gregory Recare inside Iraq covering firsthand the deployment of the 133rd Engineer Battalion of the Maine Army National Guard. WHAT DO YOU THINK? Tell us what you think about the job the Maine Army National Guard 133rd Engineer Battalion is doing in Iraq and what you think of our coverage from Mosul. Write to: insideiraq@pressherald.com or to Inside Iraq, Portland Press Herald, 390 Congress St., Portland ME 04101. Please include your name and telephone number for confirmation, as we may print your comments with a future installment. If you want to take a position for or against the war, please write a letter to the editor. Address those to: Voice of the People, Portland Press Herald, P.O. Box 1460, Portland ME 04101 or to letterstotheeditor@pressherald.com To top of story

MOSUL, Iraq - He walked slowly into the small room just off the entrance to the small hospital at Camp Diamondback, his face and left hand covered with burns, his lower right arm buried beneath a mound of gauze.

"Hey, sir, how you doin'?" Lt. Matthew Delk said in his deep southern accent as Maj. Dwaine Drummond, executive officer of the Maine Army National Guard's 133rd Engineer Battalion, stepped forward to greet him.

"I'm fine," Drummond said softly, taking Delk's left hand. "How are you?"

"I'm doin' great," Delk said. "I'm doin' great."

He isn't, of course. It will be months before Delk fully recovers from the injuries he suffered Tuesday when the Humvee in which he and two Maine soldiers were riding was blown 75 feet sideways by a roadside bomb in western Mosul.

But this is the military, where some days it's good enough just to be alive. And where acts of heroism under enemy fire do not go unnoticed.

Friday morning, as a light drizzle turned Mosul's dust into a sticky quagmire, a small contingent piled into a pair of Humvees and made the five-minute trip down the hill from Camp Marez to the hospital at Camp Diamondback.

Their official mission: To formally present Delk, a member of South Carolina's 268th Engineer Firefighters Detachment assigned to the 133rd, with a Purple Heart for the wounds he sustained during Tuesday's ambush by anti-American insurgents.

Their unofficial mission: To thank him for risking his life to save a mortally wounded Spc. Christopher Gelineau of Portland and for saving Spc. Craig Ardry of Pittsfield, who is now recovering from his own burns and other injuries at a military hospital in Germany. And to embrace Delk as one of their own.

While Drummond read the citation in a loud voice, Lt. Col. John Jansen, commander of the 133rd, pinned the medal on Delk's blue hospital pajamas, speaking the whole time in hushed words meant only for the young lieutenant from Roanoke Rapids, N.C.

When Jansen finished, Delk nodded his thanks and, with tears in his eyes, placed his left hand on Jansen's shoulder. Stepping back, he then lifted his bandaged right hand to his forehead in painful salute.

Then he spoke.

"Everybody there did tremendous things," said Delk, who commanded the convoy of 12 soldiers ‚ six from Maine, three from New York and three from South Carolina. "And I'm really sad and sorry that we lost a wonderful soldier. My prayers are with his family and with him."

Jansen quietly assured Delk that he did everything he could, that Gelineau's wounds were too severe for anyone to save him.

Delk, flanked by his two somber comrades from the 268th ‚ Sgt. Dave Sandy and Sgt. Charles Boone ‚ looked down and nodded. And for a few moments, he was back there.

"I don't know how I got out onto the street," he said, staring at the floor. "I still don't know."

But he does know that he somehow got Gelineau and Ardry away from the burning Humvee. And that when he picked up his M-16 with burned hands to return the insurgents' small arms fire, the hand guard of his weapon had been blown off by the explosion. He fired it anyway.

"It's a pleasure to have you as part of our family," Jansen said, now in a voice loud enough for all to hear. "And it's a personal privilege to know you."

Finally, one by one, Delk's visitors stepped forward and embraced him: Jansen, Drummond, Chaplain David Sivret, Spc. Ryan Estes, Spc. Ryan Chapman and 1st Lt. Christopher Elgee, who took Delk's calls for help over the 133rd's radio.

"I'm sorry I called you all those names, man," Delk told Elgee.

"Don't worry about it," Elgee replied with a smile.

Last in line stood Sgt. Carrie Fletcher. She approached Delk, held out her hand and said, "I'm Sgt. Fletcher and I spoke with Spc. Ardry's wife ... and she asked me to thank you for her."

And with that, Fletcher gently hugged the young man with the Purple Heart on his pajamas.

Mission accomplished.

Promise fulfilled.

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