Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans

SEARCH RESULTS

my selections

10,283
Videos
49
Photos
148
Docs

Search Again

advanced search

John Brusa

Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan) | 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade

Landing at Bagram looked like landing back home in Big Pine, CA. That's what John Brusa thought as his plane came in. His first mission was to occupy a new combat outpost in the mountainous region near the Pakistan border. (6:25)
They were getting so many rockets fired at them that they decided to put a combat outpost at the top of the mountain to see where they were coming from. John Brusa was just a PFC at the time and was used chiefly as an ammo mule. They were very near the Pakistan border and had several white flag meetings with their counterparts from across the line. (6:34)
The road between the two US bases took only twenty minutes to drive, at first, but it soon became the most heavily booby trapped road in Afghanistan. John Brusa recalls that the IED's may have been plentiful but that his combat outpost was never successfully attacked. The engineers had built a real fortress. (5:14)
The forward operating base had one road in and out and when John Brusa's unit left the base, the convoy was miles long. At one point it stopped for three hours and most of the guys were thinking what he was thinking. We're gonna get hit. (9:34)
John Brusa's first Afghanistan deployment was extended from 12 to 15 months. When he finally departed it was back to the 173rd Airborne home base in Italy. He knew he was slated to move to the 82nd Airborne so he made the most of the rest of his time in Italy. (7:31)
John Brusa was with the advance team that deployed early to Afghanistan. They wound up doing temporary small unit assignments in various places. The first mission was to relieve a beat up National Guard unit who were glad to see the Airborne guys come in. It was there that they met a gung ho Afghan National Police commander who was a little too gung ho for his own good. (5:09)
John Brusa was told to just pack ammo and water. They were going to provide security for a body recovery mission at a remote river. After several days of a nearly constant firefight, the Taliban backed off. The mission dragged on and on, however, until food became a serious issue. (8:56)
For the combatants on the ground, the sounds of the US air support could be terrifying. For John Brusa, the scariest sound was from the A-10 Warthogs. It reverberated around the Afghan mountains producing an eerie wail. (2:37)
It was winter when John Brusa's unit arrived in the Arghandab Valley in Afghanistan. The fighting season wouldn't start until spring, which gave them a chance to get to know their area of operation. (6:35)
Once fighting season was underway, there was contact or an IED every day. John Brusa's platoon was lucky or maybe they were making their own luck. They would move by difficult, indirect routes to stay away from the booby trapped roads and paths. (9:21)