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Bronze Star: Photojournalist recounts explosion, loss of friends in Iraq

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Mike Meares
  • 15th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE, Hawaii --  "I was covered in blood."

June 24, 2008, is a day Tech. Sgt. Cohen Young, an Air Force photojournalist, will never forget. During an assignment to cover the progress of democracy in the heart of Baghdad, an explosion ripped through an office he walked out of not 30 seconds prior, killing five.

Deployed to Iraq as a combat cameraman, Sergeant Young made sure he had an arsenal of equipment: full battle rattle, M-4 assault rifle, M-9 pistol, and a pair of cameras. He protected himself with his weapons and captured the incredible and terrible life in a combat zone with his cameras.

"I carry everything because if something happens, I have to be ready, too," he said.

A little over a year ago, Sergeant Young went on assignment to illustrate some of the positive changes occurring in Sadr City, Iraq, an area of Baghdad teeming with corruption, to capture "the democratic process actually occurring." The people were there to vote on a new district council leader.

"I know a photo can change a lot of people's feelings," he said. "In Iraq, we are suppose to win the hearts and minds. We had to show a lot of our imagery because the civilian media wasn't showing it. You always heard the negative stuff going on. It's our job to show the good things that are happening, too."

Due to recent small arms fire attacks on the building and in the local area, a security detail rushed the team from a tactical vehicle into the main building upon arrival. The security team immediately swept and cleared the area, including the office of the temporary district council leader's office.

Once inside, and with an idea of what was going on with the voting, Sergeant Young instructed an Army videographer in his team to accompany him to capture imagery of people coming to cast their ballots. They left the office and starting capturing imagery.

Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Boom!

Seven photographs into the shoot, the explosion ripped through the office he walked out of only 30 seconds or so prior.

"The office blows up right behind me," he remembers. "I'm in shock for a second. I take a knee and lean against the wall. I hear people yelling and crying."

An injured Iraqi man came screaming through a door heading directly toward Sergeant Young holding his head. With his weapon raised at the man's chest, Sergeant Young told the man to back up.

"I don't know if he could understand me or not, but he turned around and went back out the door."

With chaos erupting around him, Sergeant Young joined the security team and headed out of the building and into a courtyard. On the way out, he realized people from his team were missing, so he turned around and went back in. As he searched the area, he found people with missing limbs and a multitude of injuries everywhere he looked.

After reconnecting for the second time with the security team, Sergeant Young and some members of the team were escorted to the tactical vehicle waiting outside. Once behind the bullet proof armor of the vehicle, Sergeant Young accessed injuries on those inside. He administered first aid on an Iraqi lieutenant colonel with extensive non-life threatening injuries. As he was finishing, he heard the back door open.

"The door drops open and I see (an Army major) on the stretcher. He is bleeding everywhere."

Sergeant young started talking to the major, whose 6-foot 5-inch frame could not fit into the vehicle without his legs sticking out the back. With the door partially open, they set out for their base camp to get medical attention for the wounded.

"I start talking to him, 'Look, you are going to be okay! We are going to get you in!"'

The major screamed, "I'm not going to make it! I'm not going to make it!"

'"You're going to make it! Don't talk like that! You're going to make it!"' Sergeant Young said, as he tried to calm the panicking man down. "I kept talking to him, while he talked back to me."

Sergeant Young and a combat medic started CPR on him when he stopped breathing. Chest compressions, rescue breaths and a needle to release the air from inside his collapsed lungs didn't seem to work.

"I was covered in blood," he said. "I didn't even realize it. Everything I owned had blood on it. I was probably in a little bit of shock. I got inside the (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected) and was picking something up and I started to hyperventilate."

The blood on the vehicle's floor triggered a realization of the event, which seemed like an eternity at the time, for Sergeant Young. He sat down in the back of the MRAP to catch his breath, speechless at the events that just transpired. He had connected with the men lost that day in the time they spent together on and off duty. Like him, most of them were from the northeast coast and had a lot in common.

"We would smoke cigars at night and talk about his family and everything back home," the Philadelphia, PA., native said. "I really got to know him. It was very hard sitting there realizing he was gone."

After the dust settled, an Army lieutenant colonel approached Sergeant Young and told him he did a great job responding to the incident. They may have given him a hard time for being a photographer in the Air Force, but they completely respected him as a team member; he had stepped up and taken control of the situation. 

For his actions, Sergeant Young received Bronze Star Medal, the fourth-highest combat award for the U.S. Armed Forces from Col. Ed Thomas Jr., Headquarters, Pacific Air Forces director of Public Affairs June 29. The Bronze Star is awarded to any person serving in any capacity with the military of the United States who distinguishes themself by heroic or meritorious achievement or service for engaging in actions against an enemy of the United States.

"Cohen is a model Airmen, but he's also representative of the quality of our force," Colonel Thomas said. "We send our combat camera Airmen out to the front lines to capture operations and history where it happens. They provide a 'you-are-there' perspective for our leadership from the battlefield or anywhere they operate."

During his deployment, Sergeant Young was rated as the No. 1 of 40 combat cameramen capturing historical moments in the country's storied history. He logged more than 400 hours "outside the wire" on combat and humanitarian missions. In addition to the Bronze Star Medal, Sergeant Young also received an Army Commendation Medal with the valor device for combat action and two Army Achievement Medals. 

"[Earning the Bronze Star] reminds me of an extraordinary time in my life where I got used to death; where I lived on the edge to get the photos. We had some close calls and we lost some memorable people."