Caledonia Argus

Purple Heart awarded to man with local ties

Posted: 5/11/04

A man with ties to the Reno area has received a Purple Heart for injuries received in Iraq.

Shane Pitts, who is from Independence, Missouri, was injured in a roadside bombing near Fallujah in February.

He was in the Caledonia area recently visiting his grandmother, Ariel Gilbertson.

Pitts, 20, attended fifth grade and part of seventh grade at Caledonia Public Schools. He gave an interview to Dawn Schuttemeier of The Caledonia Argus on May 1.

He works in Army reconnaissance in Unit 132 of the 10th Mountain Division based in Ft. Drumm, New York. He joined the Army in May of 2002, and was sent to Iraq on September 3, 2003.

Based in the dangerous city of Fallujah, his reconnaissance duties included making rounds with four or five other soldiers and make intelligence reports. This information would be taken back to his superiors, who would decide the course of action. He also did sniper missions.

He sustained injuries in February when he was on a mission he did not normally do. His unit was called to bring supplies to a new police station, the former building had been damaged in a car bomb. On the way back to base, their convoy of six vehicles crossed some railroad tracks. Then a roadside bomb went off and a few shots were fired.

Pitts was in the back of the last Humvee along with two other soldiers. One of the soldiers lost part of his hand. More shots were fired. Pitts put a tourniquet on his friendís hand. Pitts didnít realize he was hit until he got sick to his stomach and started vomiting. He had shrapnel on the left side of his back.

The convoy put up a perimeter and secured the vehicle and the wounded soldiers were taken to the field operation base. There was no morphine on the 30-minute drive to the base. He was operated on while in Baghdad. From there he was flown to Germany for three days. He was awarded a Purple Heart while in Germany.

The shrapnel left a wound the size of a golf ball, which has since shrunk. The surgery left him with a 13 inch incision down his midsection.

Many of his friends are still in Iraq. He said that as long as you pay attention and know what youíre doing, itís not that bad.

The most difficult thing he saw in Iraq was the car bombing at a police station, which claimed the lives of 45 civilians and injured many. He was on the scene and had to administer first aide. ìItís something you never get used to.î

Asked what he enjoyed there, he said that Iraqi children were always happy to see soldiers. ìAnd theyíre starting to learn English.î

ìItís not that bad until you start seeing your friends disappear,î he added.

There are Iraqi loyalists who will steal, and it is very trashy, he said. It will take a lot of work to change things, he said.

Pitts is not going to re-enlist in the Army. He plans on going to school to study economics in the fall of 2005.

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