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Below is Part 2 of TSgt Cohen Young's account of an explosion at Sadr City District Area Council (DAC) Hall. Click here to see Part 1 of his story.

Explosion at Sadr City District Area Council (DAC) Hall--Part 2
By: Tech. Sgt. Cohen Young, Air Force Public Affairs Agency

Below: While on patrol in the Sadr City district of Baghdad with the U.S. Army, TSgt. Cohen Young takes a self portrait. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Cohen A. Young)

I then shouted for my team. I didn’t hear anything the first few times that I did this and then suddenly I heard the words, “Let’s get the ‘expletive’ out of here.” I turned and thought everyone was OK and heading out the door. I still couldn’t really see anything and went where I thought the team went. As I got outside the door, I looked around and only saw a few people and then thought to myself that we were missing people. I thought that I, or someone, needed to go back inside and get people… I looked around and didn’t see where the team was… then I just sucked it up and went back inside the building, cautiously entering. I noticed an Iraqi man lying in front of the office door with his leg blown off. As I walked towards him, an Iraqi Lieutenant Colonel who was our liaison came out the door holding his right arm, which was bleeding heavily. He was also bleeding from his head as he screamed, “OH GOD” several times. I walked him towards the far wall that I had previously come from and calmed him down and let him know that he was going to be okay.

The team then came running through screaming again, “Let’s get the ‘expletive’ out of here.” I thought we had everyone and grabbed the Iraqi LtCol and went with them. I noticed some were not with us. I asked where they were. We were rushed to the vehicles, whereupon arriving, I said that we needed to get back inside and get the rest of our people. While in the vehicle, we performed first aid on the Iraqi LtCol because he had multiple wounds everywhere. To give an idea of the severity, I emptied my first-aid kit while trying to help him. The driver wanted to come back and help us with the first aid, but I directed her to stay in the driver’s seat just in case we needed to leave right away and I also made sure the gunner maintained awareness during this fast and furious few minutes. I had the driver call in the number of people missing from our group and the extent of the injuries of our liaison.

Time seemed like it dragged on and every second was an eternity. Just as we finished the vehicle door opened and some of the security team had Maj. Kelley on a stretcher and he was badly hurt. There was blood everywhere. We left the liaison in the vehicle as as we exited so that Maj. Kelley could be loaded on board. I saw they were having difficulty, so I took the head of the stretcher and helped load it into the vehicle. Mind you, I had all of my camera equipment and my weapon hanging from my vest, so I tore that off after we got back into the vehicle.

I saw that Kelley was somewhat conscious and I began talking to him. He heard me and was panicking: I tried to calm him down. He was in bad shape. We had a hard time getting him all the way inside the vehicle and couldn’t shut the door. Kelley was not a small man at all; he was about six four or five. I let him know that we were going to get him to the rear. Again time was moving so slow. He sat up and said that he couldn’t breathe…

During this time, the vehicle started moving and we continued to talk to him as I looked for wounds and started trying to stop bleeding and wrap him up. He then stopped talking and breathing and I yelled at him to get his attention and then started CPR. I saw his chest move and it seemed like it was working…I started compressions again and the medic checked for a pulse. We kept talking to him, but without a response. By then we arrived at our military compound in Sadr City, where we started our day. We carried Kelley on a stretcher to the medical area where the medics tried to work on him, but were unable to revive him.

In all, six people died that day; all of them coalition related. (At left: Major Dwayne Kelley, U.S. Army Reserve, in his NJ State Police uniform.)

In the beginning, it was very difficult for me to talk about what had occurred and sometimes it still is because I had gotten to know Maj. Kelley very well during his short time there. He was from New Jersey and I’m from Philadelphia, so we would talk about the east coast a lot. He was a reservist and a state trooper for his daily job. The majority of the people in his unit were from New York or New Jersey, so we all got along pretty well. We smoked cigars together the previous week. We routinely had a cigar a couple nights a week to end the day and talked about family, work and life experiences; so it was kind of hard for me.

Two things recently made me feel better and they were the fact that I had received a thank-you letter from Maj. Kelley’s wife. I had written Mrs. Kelley and informed her that her husband was a good man and was in a good mood the previous day. I let her know about some of our conversations and she was happy for that and sent me a card thanking me for that letter and that it helped her get through this and that she read the letter many times and continues to read the letter daily.

I was informed that both of Maj. Kelley’s lungs were punctured and that it was amazing that he was able to speak to me at all later. He assured me that there was nothing that I would have been able to do to save him.

We'd like to thank TSgt Cohen Young for sharing this story with Air Force Live.

Posted by Paul F. Bove, Air Force Public Affairs Agency.

As we mentioned a couple weeks ago, Airmen in the US Air Force's Combat Camera Squadron bring us the memorable photos from deployments around the world. Being in the thick of war zones, those Airmen have to be ready for anything. As promised in the post, we are fortunate to have a first-hand experience from TSgt. Cohen Young's deployment with Combat Camera in Sadr City, Iraq. His story stands as a reminder that no Airmen's job is typical and tragedy can strike at any time. It is also a reminder that although Warrior Care Month just wrapped up, we must think of our Wounded Warriors all year long. Especially those who gave the ultimate sacrifice.

Explosion at Sadr City District Area Council (DAC) Hall-Part 1
By: TSgt Cohen Young, Air Force Public Affairs Agency

The 24th of June began like any other day that I had experienced in Iraq, specifically in Sadr City, which was so non-typical in comparison to my fellow combat cameramen stationed in other locations. I was scheduled to go outside the wire twice on this day. I would have the opportunity to go to my first city leader meeting, which meant that I would get to take off my helmet and possibly enjoy some air conditioning while documenting a piece of history. My afternoon mission would take me out to the local community and amongst the Sadr City children and residents. I would have to be relentlessly on guard because of the constant threat of snipers and improvised explosive devices (IEDs). My mission, though, was to document coalition, Government of Iraq and local resident interaction no matter what in the blistering heat, which at this time would easily reach 130 degrees Fahrenheit. (Above: Iraqi soldier stands guard at Sadr City DAC.)


I was looking forward to the laid back meeting coverage even though it didn’t seem like a typical combat camera mission. I was asked by Major Duane Kelley a week prior if I would want to come along to this meeting and I thought about it and agreed to accompany him. It would be his first meeting because he had only been at this location for two weeks. It would be my first meeting as well. I had also been asked by the Embedded Provincial Reconstruction Team (EPRT) leader in Baghdad, to attend the meeting as it would illustrate some of the positive changes occurring in Sadr City.


That morning, Maj. Kelley, my videographer and I joined the team EPRT and his staff in going to the Sadr City District Area Council (DAC) Hall. We left around 0900 and would unexpectedly return around 0930. We arrived outside the Hall at 0905 and the security detail rushed us into the main building due to recent shootings. The security team immediately stepped inside the building and went to their left and did a quick walk through the office of the temporary chairman. I asked what went on in this particular room and was told that it was just an initial meeting place before continuing on to the meeting hall.

(Above: Iraqi's check information posted at Sadr City DAC.)

Maj. Kelley was standing by, so I told him that I would go outside the office door and get some coverage of people entering the building while he waited for the start of the assembly meeting. He was okay with that and decided to take a seat in the left corner of the room. We walked past a few people and made an immediate right as we stepped outside the room. I stopped at a table just feet from the office door. I looked at the entrance of the DAC Hall building and began taking photos.

(Iraqis file into the building to attend the meetings. This is from TSgt Young's vantage point right before the explosion.)

We had been outside the office for about 20 seconds or so and I was on my seventh or eighth photo when suddenly there was a loud boom as the room that we just stepped out of exploded. There was smoke everywhere and I could hear yelling and crying at this point. During this time, I stood in complete amazement and was stunned momentarily and I kept thinking, “What the hell just happened?” I then snapped out of it and took a knee against a far wall. I looked around to see where anyone was, but couldn’t see anything due to the smoke. I then switched my weapon to the “fire” position.

After that, I noticed some light coming from the front entrance and there was an Iraqi man meandering through the door and shouting with his hands on his head. I couldn’t tell if he was in shock or just acting and trying to get people to come in his direction. I immediately referred to my previous training in which after an explosion, suicide bombers routinely like to lure people in so they can set-off a secondary explosive; therefore, I raised my weapon and yelled at the man to go back outside the door and he did.

Come back next week for the conclusion of TSgt Young's story about Sadr City.
All photos courtesy of TSgt Cohen Young.

Posted by Paul F. Bove, Air Force Public Affairs Agency.