Details of the Incident

We learned of John’s death the same day that it occurred. The first reports of what exactly happened were sketchy and misleading. Initially I was told he had come back from midnight mass and was in his barracks. I was told that he was asleep when it occurred then I was told he was walking to his bunk when a mortar struck the barracks. I was getting the impression that he was inside and this mortar round came through the ceiling. All of this was wrong.

John was assigned to the 1st Medical Detachment, Forward Surgical Team, Fort Totten, N.Y. On December 6th 2008 he became active duty for his second tour.  He first traveled to Fort Benning, GA for training, issuing of equipment, paperwork, et cetra. From here he traveled to Kuwait then traveled by air to Mosul. He arrived at his base of operation around December 18th. and began his work as a surgeon.

On December 25th John went to Christmas Mass in the morning. He walked back toward the hospital structure with a group of colleagues. The group paused but John continued on, alone, toward the barracks.

Several Chinese made rockets were set up on tripods and aimed at the base. They were set off using timers. The first rocket exploded off the base and was the only warning of an attack. Seconds later a second rocket impacted within five feet of John.

The explosives in the rocket did not fully detonate. John was struck in the head by rocket fragments and was down instantly. When medics rushed to his aid there was no pulse. Others were wounded in the attack but John was the only mortality.

John was taken immediately to the resuscitation bay but all attempts to revive him failed. He never regained consciousness or suffered.

A first person description is given by LTC Anne Naclerio who was wounded by the same mortar. Read it over on this page.

Below are emails that were sent to the family. Names have been changed or removed.

Dear Dr. Pryor,

Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Grover and I am a trauma surgeon who served with your brother in Iraq. We first met via email when John learned that he would be serving with my unit. While we had never met, he knew of me through a mutual friend. My boss, B. Bird, and John both served on the COT at the ACS. It was shortly thereafter that I gave him a call and we started making plans for our deployment.

We met at Ft. Benning, GA as the usual rituals surrounding the deployment of BOGGERs began. There was gear to be obtained at RFI and weapons to be drawn at CIF. Then there was the usual SRP, with the associated blood draws and vaccines. In between, we began to put together a strategy for managing trauma patients in the ER and the ICU. He was looking forward to taking care of soldiers and using his skills to repair the savages of War.

The days were long and the nights were too short. We frequently found ourselves arising at zero dark thirty (Army slang for before sunrise) to complete yet another task. Many of them seemed all to repetitive, but John always soldiered on with enthusiasm. He had a way of boosting everyone's spirits, making the mundane enjoyable. It was hard not to like him.

When we arrived in Kuwait, one could sense the Army's pressure to get us to our duty station. The 90 day clock had started. Staff Sgt. Elmo picked us up in a "short bus" and drove us everywhere. It did not matter if an entire Combat Support Hospital was going to the same location (as was sometimes the case), Sgt. Elmo would pick us up and drop us off. We developed an off color nickname for our group - Team Windowlicker. We even spoke of getting a tab made for our uniforms.

In Kuwait, we linked up with the 1st Forward Surgical Team (0001 MC DET FWD SURG). They had arrived a few days before us and, given that they were to stay in Iraq for a year, they were to pass through at a slower pace. John, Bert, Ernie, and I were to serve as an advance party and were sent on to Mosul.

We traveled by C-17 to Mosul. Wearing full battle rattle made the seating cramped and the trip feel long. Still the enthusiasm was palpable. As always, we traveled at night under black-out conditions so as to minimize the risks. A few hours later, we were in Mosul. The commander of TF 345 Mosul met us at the PAX terminal and brought us back to the CSH. It was well after midnight and we were assigned housing for the night. Rather than the tents we had come to expect, we were assigned to CHU's. A city of containerized housing units had been created around the hospital. They were warm and clean, with both TV and internet access.

The next day, we met the physicians we were to replace. John latched on to Zoe, as she covered odd days of the week. He knew this meant a few extra calls a month and he wanted to be busy. We were both praying that our skills would not be necessary, but he loved being a trauma surgeon. We went through the process of getting all the computer access codes necessary for writing notes on patients and learning the systems that were already in place. The hospital had an excellent setup and we were pleased with what we saw.

To our dismay, our first seven cases were nothing buy appendectomies on soldiers. We joked that it was the food at the DFAC that was causing the problem and talked about the type of epidemiological study required to investigate it. The rest of the 1st Forward Surgical Team caught up with us in short order. The unit commander was made the DCCS of the hospital and that left him too busy for clinical activities. John picked up on this quickly and suggested that we offer to cover the schedule without him. I think it was because he wanted the extra business! We started a CME conference and talked about data collection. We also talked about friends and family.

As it would turn out, my wife graduated from NY Med in 1994. One of my friends/fellow chief resident went to Grenada. One of my friends dated Carmella before John met her. We marveled at the parallel paths our lives too. That I had never met either John or Carmella before this deployment was just amazing. As we talked about our lives and family, we remarked on how similar they were. John decided that we had to get our families together when we got back and I heartily agreed.

On Christmas Day, John and I were greeting the newest addition to the 1st Forward Surgical Team. Our orthopedic surgeon had just arrived. The one who had been originally assigned to the unit had not practiced clinically in more than a decade and had been removed from the roster. Spinning up a new one had taken a little extra time. As John and I had already figured out the quickest path to getting all necessary access, we decided to help the new guy. At about 10AM, we were walking back towards our CHU's. John asked me if I'd like to go to Christmas mass. I joked that I don't go unless my wife makes me and declined the offer. We agreed to meet up for lunch at about 11:30AM and parted company.

At 11:30AM, I was sitting in EMT talking with friends. One by one, soldiers working at the CSH stopped to do something as they returned from mass. One, stopped to pick up laundry. Another turned to walk into the hospital. Two physicians stopped to talk in front of one's CHU. But John walked on... Zoe and Rosita report hearing an explosion just off of the FOB and turned to look at it. As they did, they heard something whistle by overhead. And then there was a deafening silence.

Inside the building, the force of the explosion rocked the reinforced concrete building. This wasn't my first trip to Iraq and I knew it was close; well inside the wire. Everyone sprinted into action. As I headed for the back door, I ordered one of the nurses to page John and Bert. I had a feeling it was going to be bad. The first casualty in the door was Cookie Monster, a visiting physician who was staying on our LSA. He had a hole in his leg and was not bleeding. Not good; it hit us! I set my guys to work and headed towards the ER door. As I got there, they were bringing in another soldier with a serious head injury. The Count (ER physician) was carrying his legs and went to work on the airway. Someone else began CPR. I started cutting off his clothing and getting access. Universal precautions were used by none. And then I looked up at his face and recognized him....

I came back into the game when Zoe tapped me on the shoulder and said "come on Omar, lets get going," as she took the needle from my hand. As we finished up the second groin line, someone was doing the FAST. At 20 minutes into the process, there was no cardiac activity by EKG or ultrasound. Rob asked me if I had any objection to calling the code - he knew we were friends. I've been doing this for a decade and I knew that he was long gone before we started the resuscitation. As I turned, I discovered every member of the CSH had been watching. Many were crying. I was just too stunned for words.

The rest of the day was a blur... I saw the engine of the Katyusha rocket sticking out of the concrete sidewalk. Identification of his body in the adjoining morgue. Thigh fasciotomy for Cookie Monster. Slipping Rosita a sedative so that frag could be removed from her face. Entering his room to secure his weapon/ammunition. Pall bearer for John's ice packed/flag draped Angel Flight to Dover AFB. Mostly, just feeling lost at the loss of a friend and trying to find the strength to soldier on. I imagine it pales in comparison to what you, Carmella, and the rest of his family must have been going through.

...

(Remainder Deleted)

Sincerely,

Dr. Grover

Mr. Pryor,

 

First of all may I offer my sincere condolences to you and Maj Pryor's family.  I read an article which lead me to believe that you are still searching to know the details of John's death.  I am not the individual who was "20 feet" away but I was in the area during the attack.  I can share with you the information that I have as I'm sure it must be frustrating with conflicting reports and having to be so far away at the same time.  I live just around the corner from where Maj Pryor lived and although I did not know him I did see he was a new face around the LSA.  I was indoors when the attack occurred.

 

We received IDF (aka:mortars) that morning around 11:00-11:30am.  We ran to the area of IDF to check on our soldiers who were all in their rooms; the same area of the attack.  Upon arriving we found out some people had been hurt but had no further details.  About an hour later we got news that someone had been killed.  As the next few days passed the details began emerging as to what happened.  Please take in mind that these are accounts that I have heard and did not witness this event firsthand.  One of the soldiers who lived on the same row of sleeping quarters as Maj Pryor said that he had gone to a religious ceremony, had returned to his room and then went to the restroom.  Upon returning to his room from the restroom he unknowingly rounded a corner at the moment the mortar struck.  There were a couple of other soldiers who took shrapnel injuries as well but Maj Pryor happened to be somewhere in the vicinity of 5 feet from the actual impact/detonation.  Every effort was made to resuscitate Maj Pryor as this event occurred directly outside the EMT.  He died instantly and our best efforts were not enough.   

 

It has been difficult for us here as well.  All of us are here without family and can only begin to imagine what you are all going through.  There was a wonderful memorial service given Sunday afternoon here in Mosul in honor of Maj Pryor and was one of the most difficult things i've ever had to sit through.  Please know that you are all in our prayers.   I can only hope to leave a legacy as wonderful as your brothers.  Let me know if there is anything I can do.  I hope this helps.

 

Respectfully yours,

 

(Name withheld)

CPT,DC

Hi Rich,

I am someonect.  my thoughts and prayers go out to you and your family.  there but for the grace of god go i.  i, unfortunately, just met john before the bombing.  i had been in mosul for 15 hours when the rocket attack occurred.   let me know how i can help.

--

(Name withheld) , MD

rich

Was he inside? no, he was on his way to lunch.

Was it a barrage or single mortar? there were multiple rockets, but only one hit our LSA

Was anyone else even injured? yes

Was... ... was he conscious at all? no

Was he really coming back from mass? YES

Dear Dr. -----,

I am a trauma surgeon from Bellevue Hospital and had the privilege of both deploying and serving with John during this mobilization. For the last month, we spent almost 24/7 with each other. I won't pretend to know him well, but I would have liked to have had that opportunity. He was my kind of people.

Yesterday, I called Dr. Schwab to give him the details of the events that occurred on Christmas day. I was one of two physicians who attended to him upon his arrival in the ER that day. The other was CPT --------, who carried him the 20 steps to the door. As I sure you can  imagine, the emotions are still running high and I am more forgetful than I  normally am. There was one question I wanted to ask of Dr. Schwab and that is what is John's full name (in every detail). My reasons are of a personal nature.

Please pass my condolences to the entire Pryor family and your entire staff. If there is anything that I can do for his family or the people at Pennn, I am at your service. If you could pass on my email address on to Dr. Schwab, I would appreciate it. I know he wrote it down, but even under the best of circumstances, most people spell my name wrong.

With my deepest sympathy,

MAJ ----------

Rich

I spoke with Dr. (name withheld)  - the surgeon that John replaced and who spent the week with John. With her permission I recorded our conversation. 

Essentially she confirmed what we know.  She told me that John and ----- who was also a trauma surgeon starting his tour at the same time had challenging cases during the week. As a general surgeon she was happy to work with them and to pick their brains on how to handle unusual cases - she almost wished she could stay to get the experience of working with these two guys.  On the Christmas morning after 11 John had come out of his quarters and spoke with ------ and another Dr - they with others were on their way to Lunch - John parted to go toward the bathrooms and was about 30 feet away when the rocket hit a sidewalk area between her and john. The cloud of dust blocked out her view of John - all headed for a bunker. John was taken immediately by the emts to the operation room that was only a few feet away.  Dr ----- says there was not sign of life when the emts picked up John.