Green Bay Reservist Survives Iraqi Land Mine Blast
GREEN BAY, USA, 16 may 03
By Andy Nelesen (Green Bay Press-Gazette).

Pfc. Danny Roberts was nine months short of finishing his inactive reserve commitment to Uncle Sam when he got called back to duty in May 2002.

A land mine nicknamed a "toe popper" in the outskirts of Baghdad would dramatically change his life less than a year later.

Roberts, a U.S. Army Reserve truck driver from Green Bay, was hauling food and water for the 82nd Airborne as it pushed into Iraq in early April. He was handpicked for the mission and was in one of six trucks from his unit in the 40-vehicle convoy attacking the Iraqi capital.

"We thought we were going there to drop off their food and be done with it," said Roberts, 26, a member of the Ashwaubenon-based 890th Transportation Co. "They asked if we wanted to go with them into Baghdad. We all came here and wanted to see Baghdad, so we were going with 'em."

The supply trucks stopped short of the heart of the city on April 9, secured an abandoned Iraqi tank yard and waited for orders. That's when all hell broke loose.

"Another guy from Wisconsin was sitting on his truck and there were five of us in this semi-circle standing in front of him... we were just talking, waiting," Roberts said. "There was just a boom.

"The next thing I know, I'm lying on the ground and I'm thinking someone is shooting artillery at us. I'm yelling 'Incoming!'... someone else is yelling 'Medic!'"

It was then that Roberts realized he was hurt.

"I had this really weird sensation in my feet and I looked down and saw they were pretty much blown up," Roberts said.

"It wasn't really pain; it was the weirdest sensation. My big toe was dangling out of my boot ... and I thought 'Oh man, this sucks.'"

Roberts would later learn he had triggered a land mine buried in the sand. It was in an area that all five other soldiers had just walked over and trucks had driven over less than an hour earlier.

Noise and confusion
The blast wounded the entire group Roberts was talking with, but nobody died.

"I looked around and there was a lot of really weird, weird scenes," Roberts said "I saw my sergeant running and then he just fell down on his back... there was another guy lying there and there were little drops of blood all over his uniform... and the truck the guy from Wisconsin was sitting on, the tires were going (flat). In all the noise and confusion, I could hear the air escaping out of the tires."

Special Forces medics rushed to help the wounded. Luckily, a field hospital had just been set up a few hundred yards away.

Surgeons amputated most of Robert's left foot and all of his ankle. They took the heel and wrapped it around the bottom of the leg, reworking the remaining tissue to set him up for a prosthetic foot. Doctors repaired the damage to his right foot by screwing pieces of bone to a metal plate and reconstructed his heel.

Roberts, who remains hospitalized at the Veterans Affairs medical center in Milwaukee, predicts he will have no trouble walking once all his injuries are healed and he is fitted with a new, artificial foot. He is now undergoing physical therapy.

"I should be able to walk 100 percent normal," he said. "I'm just so thankful to be alive."

Roberts said a habit of standing with one foot crossed in front of the other, tapping the toe of one boot with the heel of his boot, saved him from more severe groin injuries common from land-mine explosions.

Long recovery
Roberts has been awarded a Purple Heart, a medal for injuries sustained in combat. While recovering from his injuries, Roberts would learn a close friend of his died in combat in Iraq.

"I was very lucky in my accident," he said.

The last several months have been one long hospital stay for Roberts. Doctors in Kuwait, Germany, Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and the Veterans Affairs medical center in Milwaukee have helped his recovery.

Roberts is upbeat and in good spirits. His voice is strong until he talks about his family and their support. Then the tears flow.

"They've been very supportive ... very worried, but very supportive," Roberts said. "My mom came out and stayed with me (at Walter Reed) and she made everything a lot easier."

Nancy Roberts, Danny's stepmother, said she heard from a unit commander via satellite phone that her son was wounded and headed into surgery. He assured her that Danny would survive.

It wasn't until May 2 that she learned the extent of his injuries -- when she walked into his room at Walter Reed.

"There were a lot of hugs and kisses," Nancy Roberts said. "Mom was strong and didn't cry. It was very good to see his face."

Moving on
Danny Roberts said he hopes to get home to Green Bay this weekend for a visit. Nancy Roberts said she'll gladly go get him.
Roberts said his plans include going back to school (he wants to be a teacher), joining a bowling league, getting to a game at Lambeau Field and working on his golf swing.

"There's so much I want to do in life yet," Roberts said. "This really puts things in perspective."

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