The Fergus Falls Daily Journal

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Saturday Notes

Published 6:00am Saturday, January 31, 2009

On March 1 The Daily Journal will be involved in a project with Park Region Television that will bring the Journal News to the airwaves. It’s a project that The Journal and PRTV are extremely excited about. The Daily Journal will be providing news stories and video footage of our community news. Park Region Television will provide expert video editing and production skills to produce a top-notch product on its Channel 1 local programming channel. Tim Brinkman of PRTV and Jeff Hage of The Daily Journal will be working closely with producers Tim Litt and Tim Bosworth to bring you a quality and entertaining program Look for Mary Dolan to be anchoring the programing for Park Region Television..

Mark Grover, a 1995 Fergus Falls High School graduate, Has made a career out of the Army He has been deployed to Iraq three times, most recently awarded the Silver Star for heroic actions.

In April of 2007 Grover responded to the aid of U.S. Soldiers in their catastrophically disabled Bradley Fighting Vehicle (BFV) in Old Baqubah in the Diyala Province. Grover’s section of Strykers was the first Coalition unit to arrive on the scene. Concerned with the security and needing to facilitate recovery of the vehicle and its crew, he positioned his vehicles to the east and west, creating effective blocking positions. While enemy fire impacted around the BFV, Staff Sergeant Grover grabbed a fire extinguisher, dismounted and maneuvered into the kill zone.

Dodging a spray of bullets, Staff Sergeant Grover found four dismounted and visibly disoriented Soldiers from the BFV section standing in the open. Taking control of the situation, Staff Sergeant Grover ordered the survivors back to the remaining BFV for cover and to secure all of the fire extinguishers they could find. Immediately, .50 caliber RWS suppressed the building where the contact was originating, effectively reducing the threat.

After being informed that there was a Soldier still trapped inside the flame-engulfed BFV crew compartment, Staff Sergeant Grover took off his kit, IBA, and helmet, and jumped up onto the BVF. He first checked the driver’s hatch, but was unable to see into the crew compartment. He then climbed on the turret; he could not get the commander’s hatch to open all the way. Maneuvering to the gunner’s hatch, he peered inside but the smoke was too thick to see the trapped Soldier. With one opening remaining on the BFV’s top, Staff Sergeant Grover made his way to the TOW (loading) hatch which incidentally had already been blown open, and jumped in. Although blinded by thick smoke, he located the casualty and attempted to lift him, but the Soldier’s body would not budge as the heat and flames had seared him to the troop bench.

Certain that the soldier was dead, Staff Sergeant Grover struggled with the body for approximately ten seconds until is own need for oxygen and the belief that he was on fire forced him to climb out of the BFV. Emerging from the flames, Staff Sergeant Grover took a few deep breaths and informed the gathering of Soldiers that the BFV crew member was deceased. Identifying that the only hope for recovering the body rested in the group’s ability to extinguish the fire, Staff Sergeant Grover once again instructed the assembling first responders to retrieve fire extinguishers and water. Believing that a burning bongo truck next to the BFV was the source of the fire, Staff Sergeant Grover had the remaining BFV crew turn off the vehicle’s engine and then hook up and tow the BFV several meters away. With the first responders organized and executing the recovery effort, Staff Sergeant Grover once again jumped on top of the Bradley and worked to douse the flames with a fire extinguisher, but at this point, the vehicle’s basic load of 7.62 coax and 25-mm. ammunition began to cook off. Unable to safely continue the recovery effort, Staff Sergeant Grover dismounted the BFV. Within moments a fire truck arrived and its crew worked feverishly to extinguish the fire. Feeling the effects of smoke inhalation, Staff Sergeant Grover returned to his vehicle and checked to ensure that his men were properly emplaced and ready for any enemy counterattack.