posted by Jennifer Hlad on Jan 8
Staff Sgt. Jose Queiro, who was the gunner in the vehicle Capt. Nobles and Travers were in during the convoy and shootings, testified this afternoon.
On the road from the base to the Torkham Gate (the convoy’s first destination that day, an area near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border), Queiro said the weather was rainy, muddy and cold, but he remembers that most of the vehicles were pulling to the side of the road and “no one was impeding our movement, which surprised me.”
On the way back toward the base, Queiro said more vehicles were refusing to yeild to the convoy, forcing the Marines to wave them over or throw rocks to get them out of the way.
Queiro was facing north – looking between houses by the side of the road to ensure no one would come out unexpectedly — when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw one of the biggest explosions he has ever seen.
“This thing was loud, huge and a big, big fireball,” he said.
Travers told Capt. Nobles “vehicle two is gone,” because he could not believe that anyone survived the blast.
No one was firing at the vehicle he was riding in, he said.
“I’ve been IED’d, I’ve been shot at, I’ve been mortared,” he said, explaining that he’d know if someone was shooting at him.
Queiro does not remember seeing anyone in the riverbed, but said that twice after the explosion there were people standing in the middle of the road, trying to impede the convoy’s movement.
Other men were standing on the side of the road, “watching the show like it was a reality show, a TV show,” he said.
Though Queiro did not see where the small arms fire was coming from, he said he knows that the three Marines who did fire would not have done so indiscriminately.
“I know if we fired back, we took bullets first,” he said. The men would not shoot “just for the hell of it.”
“It was controlled fire,” Queiro said. “There’s no doubt in my mind.”