NORFOLK
As doctors removed pieces of shrapnel from his body Friday, Staff Sgt. Jesse Queck was piecing together accounts of the attack that killed nine of his comrades in Afghanistan earlier this week.
Queck, who grew up in Eastville and Cheriton on Virginia's Eastern Shore, is recovering from combat injuries at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany.
He is one of about a dozen injured soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment (Airborne), 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team.
The battle Sunday involved an estimated 200 Taliban insurgents coordinating a large-scale attack on an unfinished mountain outpost near the Pakistani border.
About 45 U.S. soldiers and a group of Afghan National Army troops came under attack at dawn at a base in
Wanat, a village in the eastern Kunar province.
It was one of the deadliest days for U.S. forces since the war in Afghanistan began in 2001 - when Jesse Queck was a senior at Northampton High School.
Queck, now 23, said in a phone interview Friday that his unit was on full alert when it mustered at sunrise, the most likely time of attack.
"It's a good thing we were all up and had our gear on," he said. "That was one less thing we had to do."
Two days earlier, Queck said, he and a group of soldiers had strung a double strand of concertina wire around the tiny base's perimeter, which he estimated was about 300 meters long and 100 meters wide.
On Sunday morning, insurgents bombarded the camp with rocket-propelled grenades, small arms fire and mortar rounds.
One of the first things hit, Queck said, was one of the camp's major weapons, the "tow truck" - a Humvee with a wire-guided missile on top.
Then insurgents attacked the mortar Queck was manning. He estimated the attackers were 10 to 15 feet away, behind sand-filled barriers that protected his weapon.
"It's almost like they knew where everything was."
Queck said the unit's forward observer, responsible for calling in air strikes, was injured and evacuated.
Apache attack helicopters arrived within about 30 minutes of the attack, he estimated. Then came fighter jets, armed with bombs.
The air support quieted the attackers for a time.
Queck said the barrage of gunshots and explosions was deafening.
"My ears were ringing so bad, I had to put my earplugs in halfway through the firefight. The guys were like, 'Why are you putting them in now?' "
At Landstuhl, Queck and his fellow soldiers are comparing notes. It took a few days for him to ask a buddy why he pointed his rifle up during the attack.
The answer was as simple as it was chilling.
"He said he was sitting there, and had watched a guy climb up into a tree. When the guy would pop into view, he'd shoot him, and the guy would fall out. He said he got three or four of them."
Queck's training took over during the long battle. He found himself shouting orders to his men, instructing them to cover different sectors with fire.
They rose to the occasion, he said. Some abandoned safe
positions to give covering fire so their buddies could move.
"When you ask for volunteers to run across an open field to a reinforced o.p. (observation point) that almost everybody is injured at, and everybody volunteers, it feels good," Queck said. "It kind of motivates you."
"There were a lot of guys that made me proud, putting themselves and their lives on the line so their buddies could have a chance."
Nine soldiers ran out of chances.
Queck was at the side of Pfc. Sergio Abad after he got hit minutes into the attack.
"We were dressing his wounds, checking him out, doing all the stuff they'd taught us to do," Queck said. Abad was calm, he said. They reassured the 21-year-old gunner he'd be OK.
"His gasping got worse, and we tried to give him a chest decompression - a needle through the rib cage to relieve pressure. It didn't seem to help him any. He just kept gasping for air. I still don't know his cause of death."
The deaths may be harder to accept because they came so close to the end of a 15-month tour in Afghanistan.
"We never dreamed they were going on another mission. We thought they were all packing their bags," said Queck's mother, Penny Queck-Rolley of Cape Charles.
She is frustrated that soldiers are spending so much time in volatile areas.
Her son served six months in the Horn of Africa and a year in Iraq before deploying to Afghanistan.
"How much is enough?" Queck-Rolley asked.
"How many times do they have to fulfill hazardous duty? I wish there were a number."
Kate Wiltrout, (757) 446-2629, kate.wiltrout@pilotonline.com
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Staff Sgt. Jesse Queck
I would like to 1st send out my condolences to the families of following fallen Soldiers of Chosen Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Airborne Infantry Brigade, : Spc. Sergio S. Abad, 21, Cpl. Jonathan R. Ayers, 24, Cpl. Jason M. Bogar, 25, 1st Lt. Jonathan P. Brostrom, 24, Sgt. Israel Garcia, 24, Cpl. Jason D. Hovater, 24, Cpl. Matthew B. Phillips, 27, Cpl. Pruitt A. Rainey, 22, Cpl. Gunnar W. Zwilling, 20, Killed in Action Wanat, Afghanistan, July 12, 2008.
To, Staff Sgt. Jesse Queck, the men he serves with and his famliy, I would like to extend a heart felt "Thank You" for your Service to our Country.
To those who posted comments other than support for these fine young men please remember just one thing, there are freedom's in this fine Country that we live in and these freedom's are protected by fine young men and women who don't ask why, and they surely don't ask for much, I feel the one thing that the
Penny, the reason some
Penny, the reason some people post their political beliefs here is because they lack the courage to really stand up and do what your son did. They have no sense of service to something larger than self. As always, it's all about them.
God bless you and your son, and all who serve our country. You are all my Heroes.
Gertz Point
This article was about my Son, and the others who put their life on the line every day, not a platform for your political beliefs! They believe in what they are doing and do their jobs with dignity, honor and respect(unlike those they have to contend with). Political opinions belong somewhere else for posting...not here. This article was to give respect to my son and all the others who take care of their country, in spite of their political beliefs. Get over yourself, please.
RE: reaching us here
We already have terrorist in our country just waiting to strike. There is nothing to win in this war of lies, and there is so much more to lose than the thousands of lives killed and wounded for life. Yes, bring our troops home and stop the killing.
Sounds like "mission accomplished" to me
"Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki says U.S. troops should leave Iraq "as soon as possible," according to a magazine report in which he also called presidential candidate Barack Obama's suggestion of 16 months "the right timeframe for a withdrawal."
"That, we think, would be the right timeframe for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes," al-Maliki was quoted as saying. "Those who operate on the premise of short time periods in Iraq today are being more realistic. Artificially prolonging the tenure of U.S. troops in Iraq would cause problems."
Sounds like the peple we were allegedly "saving" want us to leave. It is their country, after all. Isn't it?
Bring our troops home? Yes, as soon as the mission is complete.
Who else will handle the Taliban, al-Qaida and other terrorists over there? Amnesty International? PETA? The French? NATO? Killing them there is what will keep them from reaching us here again. To the military: thank you for your service and your sacrifice. It's not in vain and it won't be forgotten. There are a lot of us who won't allow people who, despite their pretenses, do everything to diminish what you mean to our Freedom.
Thank you for your service, but
we need to bring our troops home.
Thank you for your valor, Staff Sgt.
I look at my beautiful daughter, who turns 4 today, and thank god that I am an American being protected by men and women who could have chosen any line of work but chose to defend my freedom and my daughter's future. It never ceases to amaze me the bravery that these young men and women boldly risk it all for one another under overwhelming odds to accomplish thier mission. It's not a matter of political policies or affiliations to these soldiers, it's a matter of pride, commitment, honor, and integrity of our nation's military to go where told and take the fight to the enemy in the name of extending our way of life to other disadvantaged societies. It's not pretty nor fair but these soldiers fulfill their oath without waver. For my family and our future, Staff Sgt., we are so proud of you. We will pray for your lost brother's families and that you recover emotionally and physically. I truly believe if
God Bless These Brave Men and Women
Best wishes to SSgt Queck for a quick recovery. These brave souls constantly bring a tear to my eye. I served in the Navy for 22 years, but never under conditions like these young people endure. This man has had enough. How about we give him a full retirement and whatever diability he has coming, and thank him from the bottom of our hearts. Regardless of how you feel about the war, you cannot deny that these people are some of the bravest and most dedicated this country has ever seen.
Staff Sgt. Jesse Queck
Well done, Staff Sgt. Jesse Queck. It's people such as you who have made America the greatest country in history. I hope all is well with your injuries and your life can continue as normal. (Whatever that is today!) May God bless you.