Rough Weekend

[Valor55]

We have a few officers who were activated this past summer and sent to Iraq. Three of them were together in a convoy and attacked by a suicide bomber.

One had minor injuries and needed a few stitches.

One officer has shrapnel behind his eye. They anticipate he'll have his sight but don't want to remove the shrapnel. His eyelid was reattached.

The third officer shattered his arm and has bad burns and lacerations on his legs.

The latter two were medivaced to Germany and are either at Walter Reed now or are on their way.

We came very close to having funerals for cops here.

[Darin]

We have a few officers who were activated this past summer and sent to Iraq. Three of them were together in a convoy and attacked by a suicide bomber.

One had minor injuries and needed a few stitches.

One officer has shrapnel behind his eye. They anticipate he'll have his sight but don't want to remove the shrapnel. His eyelid was reattached.

The third officer shattered his arm and has bad burns and lacerations on his legs.

The latter two were medivaced to Germany and are either at Walter Reed now or are on their way.

We came very close to having funerals for cops here.

:( Damn Valor. That sucks. Thoughts and prayers for the Officers. I hope they make a speedy and complete recovery and are able to go back out on the streets.

[Jynkxxie]

That's horrible news. They are in my thoughts and prayers.

[lepdford]

Prayer sent.
Hope they make a full recovery!

[IndyGSDK9]

Dang, that's horrible to hear! :( I hope they all pull through and get back to duty. Is the one officers arm repareable(sp)?

[Strijder]

That's aweful :(. I'll keep them in my thoughts & prayers. Please give us an update when you can!

[w1zard]

Prayers sent.

Hope they get better soon. :(

[Valor55]

All I've heard now is they should be at Reed by Friday.

[yellowfever]

I hope they recover

[Darin]

All I've heard now is they should be at Reed by Friday.

They had a nice write up about them in the paper.


http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/44287


The Roanoke Times




Three Roanoke police officers and a Lynchburg firefighter serving with the U.S. Army reserves were injured in a suicide attack in Iraq on Saturday. Two of the men helped pull another, whose legs were on fire, from a blazing vehicle, the wife of one of the soldiers said.

The three police officers -- Kevin Assenat, 37; Chris Dillon, 36; and Shane FAdvertisement

letcher, 31 -- and firefighter Nathan Chapman, 36, were transporting supplies to a polling station they had secured for this month's Iraqi elections when the explosion occurred, Assenat said by phone Monday from a U.S. military hospital in Germany.

None of the four soldiers suffered life-threatening injuries, Assenat said. He and Dillon were scheduled to be flown this week from the hospital in Germany to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. Chapman and Fletcher suffered less serious wounds and have returned to duty in Iraq, Fletcher's wife, Taci Fletcher, said.

Assenat, a father of two, said he misses his family but hates leaving his friends behind.

"It's not the way I wanted to come home," he said.

The four soldiers are with the Salem-based 2nd Brigade, 80th Institutional Training Division. They were deployed in August for a one-year tour in Iraq and served on a 10-person team assigned to help train new Iraqi soldiers.

They set off Saturday morning with some Iraqi soldiers and secured the polling site about 30 miles southeast of their base in Tal Afar, Assenat said. They went back to the base for supplies and were returning to the polling station when the attack occurred.

They and two Special Forces soldiers were traveling in two Humvees. Assenat, manning a machine gun, was in the first vehicle. Dillon, Fletcher and Chapman were in the trailing vehicle.

The first Humvee turned right about four or five miles east of Tal Afar. Assenat looked back to see how far behind the other vehicle was just as the bomb detonated.

"I didn't hear an explosion. I didn't see an explosion," he said. "I got hit in the face. It felt like I got hit with a sledgehammer."

The soldiers in the second Humvee saw another vehicle start to roll toward them just before the explosion, Taci Fletcher said.

"The guy looked them in the eye and just blew everything up," said Taci Fletcher, relaying her husband's account. "They saw the man's face before it detonated."

Chapman and Shane Fletcher escaped the burning vehicle, realized Dillon was still inside and pulled him out, Taci Fletcher said. Dillon's legs were on fire, so Chapman and Fletcher patted out the flames with their hands, she said.

Assenat has a piece of shrapnel in his eye. Dillon suffered cuts to his face and arm and burns to legs and arms, his wife, Crystal Dillon, said. Fletcher and Chapman were treated in Iraq for smoke inhalation and other minor injuries, Taci Fletcher said.

"You know that they are always living in danger, but it was too close this time," Taci Fletcher said. "Happy he's OK, sick it could have been worse."

Assenat was promoted to sergeant this year and has been with the Roanoke Police Department nearly 15 years. Fletcher, a computer crimes detective, has been with the agency six years. And Dillon, a patrol officer, joined the department three years ago.

Police Capt. Tim Jones praised the officers' dedication and service to both their community and the nation.

"We look forward to their returning to duty here with us as soon as possible," Jones said, "and their speedy recovery."

[hdb]

In my prayers

[los7883]

thoughts and prayers are on their way...!!!

[Ironhead]

Valor -
Don't want to sound like a "wise guy"

But you that one - that was in that wreck ?!?

I worked the wreck as the ET - I still have a copy of the video - his car did a 360 in the air. Glad to hear he won't loose his sight - we'll have to start calling him "Lucky"

[Valor55]

Valor -
Don't want to sound like a "wise guy"

But you that one - that was in that wreck ?!?

I worked the wreck as the ET - I still have a copy of the video - his car did a 360 in the air. Glad to hear he won't loose his sight - we'll have to start calling him "Lucky"

Huh???

Assenat says his sight is beginning to return. Dillon doesn't have a broken arm but took a lot of shrapnel to the face and upper torso. We haven't heard the extent of the burns to his legs. Fletcher had his R&R bumped and will be home next week for a visit.

Captain Jones is taking donations for the family to stay in hotels and eat while up at Walter Reed. If any of you locals wanted stop by the station, ID yourselves in the lobby and ask for Captain Jones to donate.

[Valor55]

Fletcher got early R&R and is home with his family for a short vacation.

Assenat is home recovering and travelling to Walter Reed as an outpatient. His sight is returning.

Dillon is doing well. His arm was not shattered but a chunk of meat was taken out of it. His face is healing up. Looks like he will be facing some skin grafts for burns on his legs.