C Company 1-34 AR was based at Camp Manhattan (an old British Airbase in Habbaniyah, Iraq) and one of the tasks assigned to it was route reconnaissance of Highway 1- running East to West from Baghdad to Rutba and the Jordanian border. However, for the company the area of operation was from Saqlawia (near Fallujah) in the east to Ramadi in the west approximately 50 kilometers.
However, to perform this task the platoons on their HMMWV trucks had to move out from Camp Manhattan, and moving north had to cross the River Euphrates on the bridge close to Khaldiyah towards Highway 1- using various routes which were mostly dirt tracks or poorly maintained roads.
That apart there would be other tasks- one being as part of an operation launched by 82nd Airborne (Operation OK Corral). In this Operation 1st Battalion 34 AR maintained their regular patrols scheduled to recon routes, and in the second phase cordoned off the town of Khaldiyah. Traffic control points were set up to prevent anyone coming into or leaving town.
Uday’s platoon (3rd platoon) were in some form of contact on nearly every mission, small arms/RPG fire or IEDs, many with no injuries or just mild injuries until an officer was critically wounded on 15 Oct 2003. I think everyone had thoughts of "will it be me next"? Frightening times for many but we all really did lean on each other- remarked the 3rd platoon commander.
Uday was also wounded on 15 Oct 2003 when an IED exploded in front of the truck C32 of which he was the gunner. Uday received shrapnel wounds to the face and suffered temporary hearing loss. They were mostly superficial, nothing real deep, but painful nonetheless. He was treated by the medics, and did not require hospitalization. Uday was awarded a Purple Heart for wounds received because of the blast during this ambush by the enemy.
Uday, along with a few others, were always upbeat and encouraging and still always joking and laughing in a way to ease themselves and others. Still serious but light hearted as always.
A hallmark of Uday was his commitment to whatever he did, one small example is- “Uday was always sure to keep his wrappings and equipment clean and serviceable, everyone did naturally but some soldiers had to be "persuaded", but “with Uday, it was a priority for him and he took great pride in it”-his platoon commander to the father while reminiscing of Uday.
In another letter Uday wrote “We got RPG’s shot at us a couple of weeks ago and I had that guy in my sights, but my .50 Cal got jammed. I would have had a confirmed kill. “I guess I should have cleaned my weapon he he”. In all that was happening around, he still had his sense of humor to lighten the mood.
Ironically his gun would jam again on that fateful day of December 1, 2003.
In a letter to his father Uday had written, “ I am really scared, every time we go on a mission I ask myself if I am going to live another day or not. By the way I got promoted to a gunner on a Hummer, so now I am sitting on top completely exposed on the sides which makes it even more-scary”.