Friend injured in Iraq

[Pilgrim]

Hey guys

I live in Colorado Springs home of the 3rd ACR out of Fort Carson.

One of our local gamers, a guy by the name of Dave Pettigrew was in Iraq with the 3rd, when his Bradley was hit by an RPG. He's at Walter-reed now recovering from a full amputation of his right Leg.

Now his wife has called out for some assistance, and I figured I'd be remiss if I didn't offer y'all the chance to pitch in

Financial donations can be made to:

David Pettigrew Recovery Assistance Fund
c/o US Bank
6 South Tejon, Suite 300
Colorado Springs, CO 80903
Attn: Donna Gerbstadt

They're getting all the help they can from the VA and the Army, but this is gonna require some major lifestyle changes. Thought I'd pass it on in case anyone was feeling all charitable.

PAX

[BUGGER]

ouch, i'll try to giv ya som spare change from my moms visa card.....


tell him he brav out ther for us.




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[Mtx]

Exactly how does an RPG frag or otherwise hurt anyone in a Bradley?

Guess you just can't find a safe place anywhere in war.

He's lucky to be alive.

[BUGGER]

som1 mightof been packing it and possibly set it off?


or is it posible to shoot one from a far distance?

[eXoSloth]

That sucks bad. I'l try and send money but there is that problem that I don't have any. Maybe I can get my parents to send some.

[Recster]

Originally posted by BUGGER33
som1 mightof been packing it and possibly set it off?


or is it posible to shoot one from a far distance?

well RPG = rocket propelled granade. I would send some money but i'm broke

[Onizuka]

im so sorry

[AztecWarrior]

You have my condolences.

[Squeeky]

Originally posted by AztecWarrior
You have my condolences.

Give him our best

[Chryse]

I'm saddened to hear about his injury and the family's situation. I will help as best as I can because (I assume) this guy is a brother cavalry trooper. It's a danger I am sure they were all aware of but always hoped could be avoided. My prayers go out to them.

Exactly how does an RPG frag or otherwise hurt anyone in a Bradley?

The Bradley is not armored like a tank. They are meant to survive small arms fire and airburst artillery shrapnel, but are vulnerable to HEAT rounds like the RPG.

The RPG has a shaped charge warhead in its nose cone meant to defeat light armor. What that means is, at the moment the warhead makes contact with the armored surface of the Bradley, a detonation within the round forces a concentrated jet of molten metal to shoot straight through the armor. The molten fragments of RPG and armor then are carried through the hole that was just made, usually setting flammable objects in the interior on fire. This all happens in mere milliseconds upon impact. If this poor soldier's leg was in the path of the explosion, that would just about do it. Fortunately for the Bradleys, they have an overpressure interior with an argon gas fire suppression system that instantly activates in case of fire in the interior and, being an inert gas, suffocates the fire before it can spread to things like the 7.62mm MG and 25mm chaingun ammo, TOW missle rounds and various other things, like soldiers.

[Squeeky]

:O: Chryse. thanks for typing that up. Was an interesting read, do you have any links that go into more depth?

[Chryse]

Sure, Squeeky.

Here's a link for more info on the M2/M3 Bradley.

This link takes you to a site that describes various forms of 120mm ammunition, the kind that M1A1/A2 Abrams main battle tanks use, but the descriptions of the various types of ammo and the way they work are the same across the board, be they tank cannon ammo, anti-tank missles or shoulder fired weapons like RPG rounds. Most RPG rounds are HEAT, but there are AP (sabot) rounds, too.

[Bluemoon]

im so sorry for you friend

[EineBeBoP]

Originally posted by AztecWarrior
You have my condolences.

GL 2 him
ill try 2 donate