FORT STEWART, Ga. - The Frontline continues with a series title Voices of Valor: Soldiers are our Strength, which share stories of Third Infantry Division Soldiers' heroism and courage while in combat. The Soldiers depicted in the series discuss their experiences and close encounters with the enemy. The stories were originally told to Lauren Hunsberger of South Magazine in the April-May 2012 edition. Their interviews are reprinted here with permission.
Staff Sergeant Wendy Hasenbalg
Staff Sergeant Wendy Hasenbalg was working as a gunner on a Black Hawk during a long-range insertion mission, which means her crew was tasked with dropping off a sniper team at one of the borders of Iraq.
"We flew from down south Iraq up to the far east part of Iraq," she recounts. "It was a pretty long flight."
Between two helicopters, the crew was supposed to drop off 10 snipers. The initial drop-off went very smoothly. However within only a couple of minutes, the team on the ground started getting shot at and the crews in the helicopters got the order that they were to return, fly into the fight, and retrieve the snipers.
"They [the snipers] were pretty engaged," said Staff Sgt. Hasenbalg. "I don't know how many [enemy soldiers] were on the ground. We got lucky and we didn't get any injuries before we got them back out of there."
The success of the rescue mission earned Staff Sgt. Hasenbalg an Air Medal.
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