It was 7 a.m. June 30, 2010, and Staff Sgt. Archie Garcia, 21st Security Forces Squadron, heard a boom and then a siren on his forward operating base in eastern Afghanistan.
Thinking that the U.S. military personnel were sleeping, an estimated 30 to 50 Afghanistan insurgents attacked the base with a car bomb at one of the base observation towers. The insurgent assault team was armed with rocket propelled grenades, suicide vests and small arms weapons.
“As soon as the IED hit, all of these Taliban guys were trying to get on base, trying to breach the perimeter,” Sergeant Garcia said.
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