From: Commander, Multi-National Forces West
To: Investigating officer
Subject: Command investigation into the loss of Profane Two-Four
1. This letter appoints you, per chapter two of reference (a), to inquire into the facts and circumstances surrounding the loss, due to enemy action, of coalition helicopter call-sign Profane Two-Four, which occurred near Ramadi, Iraq.
2. Investigate the circumstances of the enemy attack, which resulted in the loss of the aircraft, and two (2) Marines killed in action.
3. Investigate any fault, neglect, or responsibility therefore, and recommend appropriate administrative or disciplinary action. Report your findings of fact, opinions, and recommendations in letter form within two weeks of receipt of this order, unless an extension of time is granted.
From: Investigating officer
To: Commander, Multi-National Forces West
Subject: Preliminary statement, command investigation into the loss of Profane 24
Encl:
(1) Serious Incident Report, dated 31 August
(2) Transcription of interview with Corporal Walter Zahn
(1) Transcription of interview with “Dodge,” coalition-employed local national
(4) Transcription of interview with Hospitalman Lester Pleasant
(5) Personnel Casualty Report, case of Sergeant Michelle Gomez
(1) Bronze Star recommendation, case of Second Lieutenant Peter Donovan
Command Investigation, Enclosure 1:
Serious Incident Report, re: enemy attack on Profane 24
Combat Air Patrol, call sign Profane 24, attacked by surface-to-air missile. One AH-1 attack helicopter destroyed. Two (2) friendly killed in action.
Major (Name Withheld), casualty identification number ED431, killed in action. Captain (Name Withheld), casualty identification number ED561, killed in action.
Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 435.
1455 ZULU.
Grid unknown at this time. Ramadi.
Approximately 1500 meters north of Tigris Bridge.
Immediate search and rescue mission initiated, tactical recovery of aircraft and personnel. Units from Engineer Support Company, uninvolved with the initial crash, set security and recovered remains of friendly killed in action.
Remains of friendly killed in action returned to Camp Taqaddum for disposition.
No further remarks.
Command Investigation, Enclosure 2:
Transcription of interview with Corporal Walter Zahn
IO: Did you see the missile impact the helicopter?
Cpl Zahn: Yes, sir.
IO: What were you doing at the time?
Cpl Zahn: I was breaking up a fight, sir.
IO: Who was fighting?
Cpl Zahn: Our terp and the lieutenant, sir.
IO: Why?
Cpl Zahn: Sir, all due respect . . . (inaudible) . . . They had a disagreement about a traffic accident, sir.
IO: What happened after you witnessed the helicopter crash?
Cpl Zahn: Well, they stopped arguing. All four of us were stunned for a second, watching it go down. Then the lieutenant grabbed me by the flak jacket and pointed to this bare patch of desert off the side of the highway. He told me to take a few Marines over there and set security. Like we would need it for a landing zone.
IO: And did you?
Cpl Zahn: Yes, sir. I did. I went running out there with Sergeant Gomez and a few others. The next time I saw the lieutenant he was running over with Doc Pleasant, and the Huey was landing.
IO: And you boarded the helicopter?
Cpl Zahn: Yes, sir. The lieutenant, the terp, Doc Pleasant, Sergeant Gomez, and myself.
Command Investigation, Enclosure 3:
Transcription of interview with “Dodge,” coalition-employed local national
IO: Why did Lieutenant Donovan take you?
“Dodge”: Did you ask him, man?
IO: Yes, but I’d like to hear your recollection.
“Dodge”: He said he might need me because the helicopter wreck was in this sort of neighborhood. Like in a garden of a big house. He said he might need me to talk to the family in the house.
IO: When you reached the site of the crash, did you talk to the occupants?
“Dodge”: Yes.
IO: What did you tell them?
“Dodge”: I told them to run.
IO: With the house emptied, what further tasking did you receive?
“Dodge”: They gave me a gun.
IO: And did you fire the weapon?
“Dodge”: (inaudible)
IO: I didn’t hear you. Could you say that again?
“Dodge”: Yes. I fired the weapon.
Command Investigation, Enclosure 4:
Transcription of interview with Hospitalman Lester Pleasant
IO: Where were you when Sergeant Gomez was hit?
HM Pleasant: She was standing up, returning fire over the wall. I was on the ground with the lieutenant, trying to work on the wound to his face while he talked on the radio.
IO: Again, where were you?
HM Pleasant: Just underneath her, sir. Like I say, I felt her weight on me, is all. She just slumped over and fell onto my back. There was so much fire, so many rounds going by and cracking against that wall, I didn’t hear the shot that got to her. I thought she’d lost her footing and slipped. So, I asked if she was okay. But then I felt her blood on my neck. You know? Running down into my flak jacket.
IO: What did you do?
HM Pleasant: After I knew she was hit?
IO: Yes.
HM Pleasant: I set her down next to the lieutenant. I saw that she’d taken a round to the head, so I kept the helmet on her and started compressions. I didn’t look up, sir. Just kept up with the compressions, trying to bring her around. Didn’t hear the fire taper off. Didn’t hear the helicopter land, either. Didn’t hear nothing until the flight medic pulled me off her.
Command Investigation, Enclosure 5:
Personnel Casualty Report, case of Sergeant Michelle Gomez
Immediate to Commandant Marine Corps, Washington, DC
Info others as appropriate
Classified
1. Sgt/Michelle/Luz/Gomez/-
2. USMC, active duty combat injury
3. Gunshot wound to the head
4. 1815/Ramadi, Iraq
5. Penetration of the skull by .762 caliber rifle round resulting in the loss of up to 40% of patient’s brain matter. Immediate aid, rendered by combat medical personnel on-site, sustained respiration and circulation until patient could be evacuated to field resuscitation unit. Stabilization at surgical shock trauma hospital followed, with follow-on evacuation to Germany and CONUS. Patient retains very little cognitive function and voluntary muscle control. Will require lifelong care and full disability.
6. Prior to deployment, said named Marine requested official notification go to next of kin, Denise Gomez, sister, Dallas, Texas.
Command Investigation, Enclosure 6:
Bronze Star Medal, with Combat Distinguishing Device, case of Second Lieutenant Donovan
For heroism in combat during Operation Iraqi Freedom. While leading a combat logistics patrol through Ramadi, Lieutenant Donovan and the Marines under his command observed an enemy surface-to-air missile attack on a coalition helicopter engaged in airborne over-watch of his convoy’s position near the Euphrates River Bridge. Fatally damaged, the helicopter crashed into a nearby, residential section of the city. Recognizing that the quick reaction force dispatched from Hurricane Point would be at least an hour away, Lieutenant Donovan knew that his platoon was the only coalition unit in a position to affect rescue of the downed pilots. Without hesitation, Lieutenant Donovan radioed the second helicopter in the over-watch flight and created a field expedient landing zone. When the surviving helicopter of the Profane Two-Four flight landed, Lieutenant Donovan coordinated with the pilots and crew chief, volunteering to insert on the crash site with a small team in order to mount a last-ditch defense, holding the crash site long enough for reinforcements to arrive. Without waiting for approval from higher command, Lieutenant Donovan boarded the UH-1 Huey with two other Marines, a Navy corpsman, and an Iraqi-national interpreter. Lieutenant Donovan surveyed the wreckage of the downed helicopter from the air and inserted as close to the crash site as the Huey could safely land. His ad hoc fire team encountered organized enemy opposition at once as they moved to secure the aircraft wreckage and pilots. After fighting their way to the crash site through coordinated small-arms fire, Lieutenant Donovan and his Marines set security while their corpsman and their Iraqi interpreter extracted the pilots from the helicopter wreckage. Finding that both pilots had died on impact, Lieutenant Donovan deployed his team on the courtyard walls of the home where the wrecked helicopter had come to rest and committed to defend the helicopter wreckage and the remains of his fellow Marines at all costs. Over the next two hours, Lieutenant Donovan led his Marines in a gallant defense of the crash site. While a sustained enemy assault materialized on all sides, Lieutenant Donovan and his Marines ably held their position even as their ammunition began to run low. The enemy, sensing a chance to kill or capture a small, isolated group of Americans, committed all his resources to the attack. Hasty barricades of burning tires and wrecked cars, as well as ambushes and improvised explosive devices, blocked the Marines fighting through the city to relieve him. Lieutenant Donovan’s leadership and courage under fire enabled his Marines to hold the crash site. He directed numerous strafing runs against enemy positions, and though wounded by bullet fragments from an enemy sniper round impacting near him, he remained actively engaged in the defense of the site until reinforcements arrived. Lieutenant Donovan’s courage, initiative, perseverance, and total dedication to duty reflected a great credit upon himself, the Marine Corps, and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service.