“I was like, ‘Hi, I’m 19 years old, and I’m here to save your life. I hope you trust me’ and they did,” Gates said.
In Iraq, Gates and Alpha Company Third Battalion, 122nd Infantry, were stationed in Ramadi. He spent time as a medic, truck commander and driver. "The platoon would make eight-hour patrols of the city, sometimes driving and sometimes on foot," Gates said.
One day at about noon, not long after Gates arrived in Iraq, he was shot at for the first time.
Driving with a truck commander and gunman they pulled a vehicle over on the highway to search it, Gates recalled. After finding nothing in the vehicle, Gates and his commander started talking with the driver.
“We were just standing out in the open and we heard ‘crack!’ and I was like, ‘What was that?’ and then we heard ‘crack!’ again, and he [the commander] went down,” Gates said.
A bullet had ricocheted and went into the commander’s leg, making a hole about the size of a half-dollar coin wide and a half-inch deep.
Gates knew he had to get the commander to safety.
“I guess I was in a different world when I did it,” Gates said. “I just saw him, I grabbed him, dragged him behind the truck, guessed where the fire was coming from so I hoped they weren’t shooting toward the truck, bandaged him up and got on the radio. I was all hyped up; I was screaming.”
The commander was fortunate; no arteries were hit, Gates said. He remembers driving him to the aid station and being surprised at how calm the man was, smoking a cigarette after being shot. The commander was out in three weeks.
“I think that was what kind of broke me in,” Gates said. “After that I was always on my toes, and whenever I got out of the truck I was moving around. I didn’t want to stand still or anything. It seemed to work out.”
A Marine Recalls Killing an Iraqi Civilian
Lieutenant Corporal Jon Turner of the 3rd Battalion 8th Marine Division spent time in Ramadi and also served in Fallujah. Today, Turner is a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, an anti-war group patterned after the Vietnam Veterans Against the War from the 1960s.
Turner gave gripping testimony with other members of IVAW at a panel discussion, "Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afganistan," held on February 28 at the University of Vermont in Burlington. Howard, his roommate, was among those testifying to what they had seen and done in Iraq.
On April 18, 2006, Turner committed what he acknowledges was his first war crime by shooting and killing an unarmed civilian who was walking back to his home. “After I killed him, I was congratulated by members of my platoon as well as my chain of command,” Turner said.
For the Marines, looking out for their own safety became most important, Turner said.
“Collateral damage was not an issue for us. Anytime we felt threatened, we would go ahead and take care of that issue and then deal with the issue later,” Turner said.
In Iraq, Gates and Alpha Company Third Battalion, 122nd Infantry, were stationed in Ramadi. He spent time as a medic, truck commander and driver. "The platoon would make eight-hour patrols of the city, sometimes driving and sometimes on foot," Gates said.
One day at about noon, not long after Gates arrived in Iraq, he was shot at for the first time.
Driving with a truck commander and gunman they pulled a vehicle over on the highway to search it, Gates recalled. After finding nothing in the vehicle, Gates and his commander started talking with the driver.
A bullet had ricocheted and went into the commander’s leg, making a hole about the size of a half-dollar coin wide and a half-inch deep.
Gates knew he had to get the commander to safety.
“I guess I was in a different world when I did it,” Gates said. “I just saw him, I grabbed him, dragged him behind the truck, guessed where the fire was coming from so I hoped they weren’t shooting toward the truck, bandaged him up and got on the radio. I was all hyped up; I was screaming.”
The commander was fortunate; no arteries were hit, Gates said. He remembers driving him to the aid station and being surprised at how calm the man was, smoking a cigarette after being shot. The commander was out in three weeks.
“I think that was what kind of broke me in,” Gates said. “After that I was always on my toes, and whenever I got out of the truck I was moving around. I didn’t want to stand still or anything. It seemed to work out.”
A Marine Recalls Killing an Iraqi Civilian
Lieutenant Corporal Jon Turner of the 3rd Battalion 8th Marine Division spent time in Ramadi and also served in Fallujah. Today, Turner is a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, an anti-war group patterned after the Vietnam Veterans Against the War from the 1960s.
Turner gave gripping testimony with other members of IVAW at a panel discussion, "Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afganistan," held on February 28 at the University of Vermont in Burlington. Howard, his roommate, was among those testifying to what they had seen and done in Iraq.
On April 18, 2006, Turner committed what he acknowledges was his first war crime by shooting and killing an unarmed civilian who was walking back to his home. “After I killed him, I was congratulated by members of my platoon as well as my chain of command,” Turner said.
For the Marines, looking out for their own safety became most important, Turner said.
“Collateral damage was not an issue for us. Anytime we felt threatened, we would go ahead and take care of that issue and then deal with the issue later,” Turner said.
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