EFL - Hattip Drudge
Cpl. Richard Stayskal, a 22-year-old Marine from San Jose, Calif., arrived in Landstuhl Tuesday after being wounded by automatic weapon fire in Ramadi, west of Baghdad. “I just kind of froze, my body clenched in the fetal position. I fell to the ground," Stayskal said. Stayskal, a sniper, had been deployed to Ramadi to hunt down a "mad bomber," the unit’s name for a man who had been seen planting roadside bombs targeted at U.S. and coalition forces. With little warning, a group of 15 armed Iraqis descended on the lightly armed unit. The bullet that hit Stayskal ricocheted off his shoulder, through his lung and exited from his back. It came within inches of his heart and major arteries. Countering the insurgency, Stayskal said, has been difficult for Marines on the ground. In his case, his unit was chronically short of ammunition, and his support unit got pinned down at the same time across town. The two units couldn’t help each other. "They weren’t giving us nearly enough ammunition for the situations out there. Everyone was running out. Everyone was grabbing each other’s ammunition."
Any Devil Dogs out there with input about the low ammo? |