CLEVELAND — The son of BLE Division 57 (Boston) member Virginia Greeley was awarded the Bronze Star with Valor for his service in Iraq.
Leo Greeley, a conductor for Amtrak, had been wounded in a mortar attack. His actions during the attack, which he carried out while still partly stunned and under continuing mortar fire, resulted in his being nominated for the Bronze Star carrying the designation “With Valor.”
His unit is the 325th Military Intelligence out of Fort Devens. This unit was called up last fall, and was combined with several other intelligence units from around the country, creating the 205th Military Intelligence Division. The 205th was then attached to the 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, to provide intelligence support.
As it turned out, the intelligence needs in Iraq later required that Greeley and his unit, the 205th M.I., be attached to the 3rd Infantry Division — the one that stormed Baghdad. Greeley’s “Military Occupational Specialty” (MOS) was “communications techniques specialist and interpreter”, i.e., he interrogated prisoners of war. Greeley himself was performing this duty for the 3rd Infantry at a Top Secret location when the mortar attack occurred.
The first mortar round landed dead center in his unit’s interrogation tent, which had been pitched in an open prison yard. Greeley was blown through the back of the tent up against a “high mobility military wheeled vehicle” (an HMMWV, frequently called a “Hummer” or “Hum-V”). He sustained shrapnel wounds to his hands and arms and several broken ribs. He was stunned, his ears were ringing, and everything had gone black. In his own words, he “felt dead, I wondered if I actually died.”
The mortar attack continued; Greeley heard cries from other members of his unit. He crawled across the open yard, feeling faces in an attempt to recognize them. He first came to one of his mates, who had bled out and was dead. He continued until he came to his roommate from the time at Fort Bragg. Somehow, even though his vision was still badly blurred, Greeley perceived that his buddy was bleeding badly from the neck. He stripped off his T-shirt and used it as a compress to stanch the flow of blood. He held it there until medical help arrived, even though he was in a completely exposed and open position throughout the mortar attack. Later on, he was told that his actions saved his buddy’s life.
Specialist Leo Greeley is back on the job, traveling to various towns and military locations in Iraq and interrogating prisoners of war. His wounds are healed, although he’ll have scars for the rest of his life. It goes without saying that duty in Iraq is still very dangerous.
Greeley is due to return to the U.S. soon, and has been informed that he will receive the Bronze Star with Valor. According to military regulations, this award is made for “heroic achievement in connection with a military operation against an armed enemy.” Military secrecy precludes knowing the exact dates of either his return or his award.
(With information from South Boston online.)