Terrence Bullock
Terrance Bullock joined the Marine Corps Reserves two months after 9/11. Two years later, he was deployed to Iraq where he would look death right in the face.
“My section was tasked to go with another platoon of amtracks on this operation: Operation Matador. The intel that we received was that this was the A team. These guys were possibly coming over from Syria, training up insurgents, and deploying them out into different towns in Iraq,” Terrance tells The 700 Club.
An amtrack weighs 30 tons. Try to imagine driving through the deserts of Iraq in one of these when all of a sudden an explosion sends you and the vehicle in the air. For Lance Corporal Terrance Bullock, that’s exactly the case. It was an incident that almost cost him his life.
“My vehicle was the third vehicle in the section, and we had troops on the ground," he explains. "Within about 30 minutes of us pulling off of that blocking post ion for a couple of days, we were hit.”
A bomb exploded underneath the amtrack.
“It went through the vehicle in the air. I remember going up coming down, and I was slumped in the driver's station, because I was the driver. I was slumped down inside this little circular hatch that surrounds the driver's station. I was incoherent, but I was conscious. I remember feeling an intense pain through out my mouth to my teeth, my nose, my head, arm and my back. I felt heat beneath my legs.”
Even though Terrance was in pain, he miraculously managed to pull himself out. But because of the shrapnel in his eyes, he couldn’t see anything.
“I was sitting there with my head slumped down, and I heard the angelic voice of crew chief Corporal Richel. He said, 'Get out of the vehicle.' I didn’t hear all of the rounds clicking off initially in the back. I didn’t hear all the screams and the horror and the yelling. I just hear his voice telling me to get out of the vehicle. So I was able to pull myself out of the vehicle with it still burning.”
Two Marines helped Terrance away from the vehicle and rinsed the shrapnel from his eyes. His eyesight returned only to witness unimaginable horror.
“By far it’s the most horrific sight I have ever seen in my life," he says. "I hope it’s the worst that I ever will see. I saw Marines lying around the vehicles, badly burned. I didn’t know where my whole crew was. Of course I knew my crew chief was all right but my rear crewman… I saw the bodies lying out on the ground. The helicopters were coming in. It kind of reminded me of a scene from M*A*S*H.”
Once Terrance was safely in a helicopter and on his way to a medical station, he made a promise to God.
“When I was in that helicopter going out, from that point on I said, 'I’m yours, Lord. Whatever You have for me, I’ll do.”
After two months, Terrance was sent home. He recovered from his wounds. Later he married his wife Enjuli. He still serves in the Marine Corps Reserves. He’s also fulfilling his purpose in the community as a Hattiesburg, MS, police officer.
“I thank God that He saw fit to provide me with His blanket of protection. I might have been killed. My heart really goes out to the Marines that were in the back of the vehicle who couldn’t get out and to their families. I prayed many nights for their souls to be in heaven and for their families to be confident to know that their souls are in heaven.”
Today Terrance knows that with his faith in Jesus Christ, he can face anything.
“It helped me through the toughest times. From being involved in the blast, to lying in a hospital bed for about a month to recover. It kept me strong through those times. Even now, if a situation arises, I don’t have to worry about it. I think about it, do what I can to rectify the situation, and if I don’t have any answers, I turn it over to the Lord.”