My friend's son..

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by CRC, Jan 26, 2008.


  1. CRC

    CRC Survivor of Tidal Waves | RIP 7-24-2015 Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    Kudos to Taylor!

    www.fbnewsleader.com

    Taylor went to school with my daughter...Great kid! And his Mom, Lisa, is a friend...has my 2 favorite restaurants in Fernandina...His whole family are friends, and wonderful people!

    http://www.fbnewsleader.com/articles/2008/01/26/today/00newsharterhurt.txt


    Local soldier hurt in Iraq bomb blast
    By Michael Parnell, News-Leader
    <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=147 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=photo-right>[​IMG]</TD></TR><TR><TD class=photo-right width=147>U.S. Army Cpl. Taylor Harter, 20, top, suffered serious injuries Saturday when a bomb exploded under his vehicle. Gas station owner Ray Mullis is proud of, but worried about his grandson. Lisa Harter proudly displays a Blue Star Flag at La Bodega restaurant on Third Street to honor her son's service. Photos by Heather A. Perry/News-Leader </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
    A 20-year-old U.S. soldier from Fernandina Beach is in Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washing-ton, D.C., recovering from serious injuries suffered in a bomb blast in Iraq that has gotten national media attention.

    U.S. Army Cpl. Taylor Harter, son of restaurateur Lisa Harter, has a broken foot, broken ankle, broken nose, sprained leg, broken teeth, back injuries and suffered lacerations and a concussion in the attack Saturday, his mother said. But he's alive.

    "I feel like one of the luckiest moms - his gunner was not so lucky," Lisa Harter said Wednes-day.

    The gunner was killed and three of the crew, including Harter, injured when their armored vehicle rolled over a homemade bomb buried beneath a road in Arab Jabour, southeast of Baghdad, according to a New York Times report Tuesday.

    The Pentagon confirmed it was the first combat death involving an MRAP, a new Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected armored vehicle deployed in Iraq and intended to reduce casualties from roadside bombs.

    Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said it is still not clear whether the gunner died as a result of the explosion or vehicle rollover, the Associated Press reported Wednesday. The gunner sits atop the vehicle, while the rest of the crew is in an internal compartment.

    ''That attack has not . . . caused anyone to question the vehicle's lifesaving capacity. To the contrary, the attack reaffirms their survivability,'' Morrell was quoted by the AP.

    Lisa Harter's verdict is in: "I guess that tank worked," she said.
    <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD align=middle><!-- AdSys ad not found for today:middle --></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
    Her son called from a Baghdad hospital Saturday evening. Harter said, "To hear his voice and to know you have all your limbs and everything's there. . . ."

    Taylor Harter was flown to Germany for medical treatment and then to Walter Reed on Tuesday.

    Lisa Harter was grateful to be traveling Thursday to Washington to see her son. "I can't wait to see him," she said the day before. "He's a hero. He's back here."

    Harter will receive a Purple Heart and perhaps other medals. But the focus now is on recovery from his injuries.

    "It's been quite overwhelming," Lisa Harter said of the community response.

    "I know he's on every prayer list on this island."

    "That's what we ask, that people just pray for him," said Taylor's aunt, Lynann Mullis, a travel agent who was helping her sister with her accommodations in Washington.
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    It's been a steady topic of conversation at T-Ray's Burger Station on Eighth Street, where Lisa's brother, T. Ray Mullis, and his wife Laura own the restaurant inside the gasoline station owned and operated for years by Taylor's grandfather, Ray Mullis.

    Taylor's 9-year-old brother, grandmother and local artist Georganna Mullis, other family and friends and Lisa's co-workers at La Bodega and As You Like It anxiously await more news.

    Taylor's father is traveling to see his son from his home in Fort Lauderdale.

    Taylor Harter, a 2005 graduate of Fernandina Beach High School, was inducted into the U.S. Army in December that year and was deployed six months ago to serve with combat engineers in Iraq.

    Morrell told the Associated Press the MRAP hit a ''very large, deep-buried IED (improvised explosive device)'' and the ''force of the explosion blew the MRAP into the air and caused it to overturn.'' Despite the size of the explosion, he said, the crew compartment "was not compromised'' and the three soldiers inside escaped with cuts and broken bones.
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    ''I think everybody is still amazed at the fact that, despite the size of this bomb, these vehicles are proving to be every bit as strong and as lifesaving as we hoped they would be,'' Mor-rell was quoted by the AP.

    Roadside bombs have been the single deadliest weapon used against American forces in Iraq, the New York Times reported. According to the Times, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates' holiday message to the troops said, "To ensure that troops have the best protection available on the battlefield, MRAPs became the military's highest acquisition priority, and thousands of these vehicles are in production and en route to theater."

    The vehicles have distinctive, armored V-shaped hulls that are designed to deflect the force of the explosion from roadside bombs out and away from the vehicle, sparing the occupants inside, according to the Times. The vehicles are much bigger than Humvees, standing 12 feet high and weighing up to 18 tons.

    Associated Press reported there now are more than 2,225 of the vehicles in service in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the Pentagon is working to buy as many as 12,000 more. MRAPs cost between $500,000 and $1 million, depending on their size and how they are equipped.

    mparnell@fbnewsleader.com
     
  2. Northwoods

    Northwoods Monkey+++

    prayers for them will be sent
     
  3. sheen_estevez

    sheen_estevez Monkey+++

    Our thoughts are with your friend hope he has a speedy recovery
     
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