On July 24th 2006, a seemingly calm afternoon in the often Volatile Al Anbar Province, Ramadi, Iraq, my platoon who had been attached to Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 35th Armor Regiment was tasked with a mission to link back up with our parent company, Bravo company, 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment to conduct a raid on a suspected improvised explosive device assembly location. Shortly after a happy reunion with our fellow soldiers of B Co 1-6 at their combat outpost, Warrior Strong Hold, we came under heavy rocket, mortar, and machine gun fire, unbeknownst to us as where multiple locations in a planned attack by Al Qeada forces throughout the area. An Iraqi Army Combat outpost bordering the west side of warrior strong hold came under machine gun fire first sending the Iraqi soldiers scrambling for cover in a fortified watch tower on the roof. The members of B CO 1-6 INF immediately took up defensive positions throughout the strong hold returning a heavy volume of fire in defense.
During the defense of the strong hold, while directing my saw gunners field of fire and returning fire, I was struck in the right knee by incoming enemy fire and was med-evacuated to camp Ramadi, where I was air lifted to Baghdad to receive an operation to clean the wound out.
The .30 caliber bullet had bounced around after striking causing multiple fractures, traveling up my right femur and finally coming to a rest just below my greater trochanter , where it remained until causing complications later in the year and was removed at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany.
We honor you, Blake Lee.
