There were good days, and then there were other days. For Bravo Company of the 841st Engineering Battalion, whose mission was to clear Iraqi roadways of IEDs (improvised explosive devices), the difference could be one of life and death. “On a good day, we would return to the base without incident,” said David Rosado, an Army reservist and team leader in the 3rd squad of Bravo Company, which spent a year performing the dangerous task of finding and removing IEDs from main roads leading to places like Fallujah, Tikrit, Kirkuk and Mosul.
“On a bad day, instead of finding an IED, the IED found you.” On two occasions in Tikrit, the motor vehicle that Rosado was driving exploded beneath him. Although the mine-resistant vehicle largely withstood the blast, he would suffer a concussion, headaches and bruises — and terrible flashbacks long after.
“It was the most intense, scariest time of your life, and it continued for weeks and months later. You keep hearing the explosion over and over again in your head,” he said. Bravo Company returned home during the week of May 19.
Thankfully, every one of the 45 members who were deployed from the Orlando Reserve Center a year earlier made it back. In honor of their return, Harry Scholer, president of Vietnam and All Veterans of Central Florida, planned to meet Bravo Company at Orlando International Airport, hailing them a motorcade into town. “Everyone says, ‘We support our troops.’ We wanted to take that a step further than words,” Scholer said.
However, this event, arranged in conjunction with a Family Readiness Group, ended up being cancelled due to scheduling conflicts. So VAVCF decided instead to throw a party for Bravo Company at “The Bunker,” their headquarters on North Tanner Road in east Orange County. Dozens of military men and women, and many more proud Americans, joined in the celebration, which featured free food and refreshments, along with children’s activities — all provided by VAVCF, a non-affiliated veterans’ organization.
War stories were the order of the day as veterans — men and women, young and old — shared past experiences and wellwishes for the future. Also on hand were Orange County commissioners Linda Stewart, Mildred Fernandez and Bill Segal, who donated six magnolia trees that were planted on the grounds of the National Vietnam War Museum.
The 1.69-acre site includes several Vietnam-era transport vehicles — UH-1 Huey helicopter, A-4 Skyhawk attack jet, U.S. Navy “River Rat” patrol boat, Army Jeep and truck — as well as an indoor recreation of a bunker and an outside granite war memorial containing the names of all 167 sons and daughters of Orange County killed in action during the Vietnam War. Amock watchtower stands guard over all.
Bringing the war back home
The welcome home party held particular
significance to one member of the
local veterans’ group, Retired Staff Sgt.
Rusty Morgan, who had been a member
of Bravo Company from 1995 until
January 2007. But after 38 years in the
Army and Army Reserve, Morgan, at age
57, retired from the service just before the
Orlando unit was sent overseas.
“I know every one of them,” the Sanford resident said of the returning heroes. Extremely happy to see the men again, it was a time of celebration for Morgan as well. Experiencing his first combat duty in Vietnam when he was just 19 years old, he knows well the uncertainties of war. He also knows the Middle East. Assigned to the air ambulance unit of the 348 Medical Detachment during the first Gulf War in the early ’90s, he served in Domoan, Saudi Arabia.
It was there, during Operation Desert Storm, he remembered one Scud attack of horrific proportion. U.S. barracks were hit hard, killing 22 people. Throughout it all, Morgan concentrated on evacuating the casualties who could be saved. And it was in Desert Storm that Morgan was crew chief of a UH-1 Huey helicopter. As a consequence, he was instrumental in bringing the Huey to The Bunker for display. Bravo Company suffered one casualty while in Iraq.
Ryan Wilcox, another freshfaced 19-year-old thrown into combat, received a gunshot wound to his leg when his weapon misfired. Wilcox, recently released from Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., was unable to attend the occasion held in his honor. But his mom did. Making the trip down from New Haven, N.Y., Donna Wilcox expressed her heartfelt gratitude for the respect bestowed on all of Bravo Company.
But her thoughts were elsewhere. “He’s got a long way to go to recovery,” she said of her son, noting that the casing blew apart his femoral artery and surrounding nerves. “I’m just hoping that the feeling comes back and he can become normal. “His injury was quite severe. He was lucky it happened on base rather than out in the field.” Wilcox enlisted in the Army when he was 17 years old, just three days out of high school.
He would then transfer to Central Florida from his Bravo Company in New York. A year later his unit mobilized, shipping out to Kuwait, and then Iraq. “I’m still very emotional knowing what they had to go through, and I don’t even know the whole story,” she said. “I’m more proud than I can even tell you.”
Remembering their sacrifice
Scholer also is proud of those who
serve their country.
Looking around the compound at the
more than 200 members of military families
and supporters who came together in
a common cause, his face
reflects both the joy and caring
he feels for his comrades in
arms.
During his six years in the U.S. Navy and 20 more with the Merchant Marines, he has seen many examples of the bravery and dedication required for freedom. And he has tried to pass these lessons down to his own children, who attended Azalea Park Elementary and University High School. And though his kids are now grown, he is not yet done educating the younger generation on the sacrifices of their elders, and of those now serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“People should pay attention to what’s really important, what’s real,” he said. “A segment of this society tends to float in celebrity-land.” Already with eight years in the military, 30-year-old Rosado wasn’t afforded the luxury of idle time to follow the exploits of Britney and Brangelina. Now back in civilian life, he works full time for Pepsi-Cola in Orlando, and operates a travel business out of his home. He knows other people are busy too.
That’s why the large turnout at Bravo Company’s homecoming was so gratifying. And he was especially mindful of the Vietnam veterans in attendance, who never received the recognition they deserved when they came home.
“It was an exciting feeling, but people who already served their country didn’t have this warm welcome,” Rosado said. “We followed their lead; they wrote the playbook for us. It’s weird, we should be thanking them.”
