Soldier reflects on her service, sacrifice

Her right arm is covered with scars from the wounds she received while serving in Iraq and, in fact, it is no longer usable. But former Somerton resident Mary Jesse Herrera says she's still proud to have served her country.

"I feel privileged and honored that I can actually say I have shed blood for my country," said Herrera, who was back in the area recently visiting her family. "I have so much patriotism that I would do so much more for that flag that we fly."

According to the magazine Army of the Association of the United States Army, while women are not allowed to serve in major combat positions, female military police officers serve side by side with men in combat situations. The magazine also indicated that one in every seven troops serving in Iraq is a woman.

In November 2003, the then-22-year-old Herrera, a member of the 855th Military Police Company, was injured by small-arms fire outside Fallujah when her unit was attacked.

Herrera said at about 5:30 p.m., she and some members of her unit were in a four-vehicle convoy on their way back to Ramadi after completing a detainee transport mission to Abu Ghraib Prison when they noticed two "spotters" standing on top of the overpass they were approaching.

"They are the ones who give the signal to attack," Herrera said of the spotters. "As we approached the bridge, we got hit from both sides of the road with small arms fire and a couple of rocket-powered grenades."

Herrera, who was gunner for the lead Humvee, said she was hit the first time within seconds of the battle starting.

"I knew I had been hit, but it didn't hurt and I was able to keep firing.

"The second time I got hit, I was firing and the impact knocked my arm down to my lap. My arm went numb. I didn't want to look down because I was almost sure it had been blown off."

The convoy never stopped, driving through the attack, and after several moments, Herrera was helped from the turret.

She said a lieutenant, who was not part of the unit but who had caught a ride in her Humvee, applied pressure to her wound to stop the bleeding as the convoy continued for another 30 minutes on to Ramadi.

"I knew I was seriously wounded because of all the blood on my uniform. I remember thinking about my mom and dad and how they will feel if I don't come home."

Herrera, a 1999 Cibola High School graduate, was the only one in her unit to be hurt in the attack. She was rushed to the nearest emergency medical room, where doctors discovered she had been hit by two AK-47 rounds that had broken two bones in her forearm and pierced her biceps.

Once pins and rods were placed in her forearm and she was stabilized, Herrera was flown by helicopter to Fallujah, Iraq, where doctors were sure she was going to lose her arm.

As it turned out, the doctor who performed her surgery in Fallujah was from the Brooke Army Medical Center and had worked with a doctor there who specialized in upper extremities, so he was able to save her arm.

From Fallujah, she was flown a few miles east to Baghdad, then eventually to Germany where she was told for a second time her arm was going to be amputated below the shoulder.

"I said, 'OK, what can I do about it?' I was prepared for it. I had a real bad infection and there wasn't any bone or muscle left."

However, when Herrera woke up from her surgery, she realized that she still had her arm. Once again fate was on her side. The doctor who did her surgery in Germany also happened to be from Brooke Army Medical Center.

"It's been life-changing," Herrera said. "I can't do anything with it. It is mostly for looks."

Herrera, who received a Purple Heart for her wounds, spent about a week recovering in Germany before being flown to Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland and on to Brooke Army Medical Center in Fort Sam Houston Texas.

"I was the only female patient in Germany who was wounded in the field. All these people came to visit me, including a few senators."

While at Brooke, Herrera received numerous surgeries, skin grafts and physical therapy.

Herrera, the daughter of Somerton residents Benjamin and Lupe Herrera. and the niece of Somerton Municipal Court Judge Manny Figueroa, currently works for the Veterans Administration in Tucson and just completed her bachelor's degree in sociology. She had been taking classes at both Pima Community College and the University of Arizona in Tucson when she was called to Iraq.

Her future plans include starting her master's in social work in August or trying to rejoin the Army.

Although she will never regain the full use of her arm, Herrera said having served in Iraq made her feel like she had a purpose.

"I took an oath to serve my country, I'm the one with the uniform on. If they wanted American blood, they could come get mine, but not in my country."

Herrera said she still believes the United States did the right thing when it went to war against terrorism and when it invaded Iraq. She said she thinks pulling out of Iraq now would be the wrong thing to do.

"The reality is we took the fight somewhere else. We haven't had a terrorist attack since 9/11, so why risk it by bringing troops home now?"

Herrera said there isn't a day that goes by that she doesn't think about the events of Sept. 11, 2001, and that she is still angry about it.

"You don't come into my country and mess with my brothers and sisters and not expect me to come looking for a fight."

She went on to say she thinks politics is taking away from the sacrifices troops are making.