Heyward Davis injured in Iraq

Published 8:46 am Thursday, March 1, 2007

Captain Heyward Davis was slightly injured when the US Army Blackhawk helicopter in which he was a passenger was shot down near Tijis, Iraq, on Wednesday, Feb. 21, according to his father, Judge RB Davis of Jasper.

The aircraft, one of two flying to Tijis, was engaged by small arms, a fifty-caliber machine gun and a larger anti-aircraft weapon. The pilot and crew responded promptly by returning fire and believe they hit one of the larger weapons.

The pilot took immediate and appropriate evasive action, but the tail of the helicopter was struck and the tail rotor knocked off. The plane crashed but everyone walked away from the crash except one soldier who was injured. CPT. Davis carried the injured man from the crash.

Aircraft were sent immediately to help the damaged helicopter. The trail helicopter provided suppressive fire until additional help arrived. Two Kiawah and then two Apache helicopters quickly arrived on the scene and provided further cover and suppressive fire.

Additional choppers were sent to evacuate the passengers and crew and to recover the downed helicopter. One Apache gunship helicopter was able to engage and destroy a truck full of armed insurgents as it rushed toward the crash site following the ambush.

CPT. Davis called his wife in Ft. Lewis, Wash. and his parents here on the morning of Thursday, Feb. 22, to tell them his injuries were relatively minor and that everyone else escaped with their lives.

“It was a well planned aerial ambush but everyone on our side did their jobs just right – great flying by the pilot and terrific response by the crew,” said CPT. Davis. “On the ground the soldiers all got each other out and formed a perimeter and prepared to fight it out. The gunships arrived and finished what the enemy started. No US losses and several insurgents put out of action.”

CPT. Davis was born in Jasper but moved to Gainesville while in the third grade. He attended JJ Finley Elementary and Westwood Middle School, and graduated in 1995 from Gainesville High School where he was captain of the swim team. He was a long time member of the FAST swim team at the University of Florida. He is a 1999 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY. He and his family appreciate the many prayers for his safety.