After arriving in Iraq with the 101st Airborne
searches. This allowed me to get used to doing
Division, Mackler flew a UH-60 Black Hawk
quick landings in fields and roads, and to get
helicopter on air assault missions, landing in
comfortable flying around buildings.”
hostile areas from battlefields to busy roads. Working through holidays and sometimes all night long, Mackler was part of a team that rescued fellow soldiers and transported dignitaries. He flew a “hero” mission to “pick up the body of a soldier killed in action for transport to an Air Force base for the final trip home.” “We landed at the pick-up site,” Mackler recalls. “The crews lined up on either side of the cargo door while the chaplain, his assistant, and two soldiers from Mortuary Affairs carefully loaded the flag-draped body bags into the aircraft. We stood at attention and saluted in the dark.” He had five heroes riding with him that night. Mackler also flew aerial snap traffic control points (TCPs). “These involve loading the aircraft with infantry and a bomb sniffing dog and flying around looking for suspicious vehicles and people,” Mackler explains. “When something suspicious was spotted, we swooped down, dropped off the ground forces, and provided aerial security while they conducted the
The U.S.embassy, green zone, Saddam’s palace.
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Mackler remembers flying over beautiful mountainous areas with peaks that reached 10,000 feet and were dusted with snow. Not concerned about being shot, he flew the helicopter around the serpentine canyon walls, taking in the spectacular landscape. But most often he saw the more brutal parts of war. “The oil refineries in Kirkuk in Northern Iraq suffered a serious attack creating a fire that lasted for days,” Mackler says. “The area had been ravaged by roadside bombs. Five soldiers were killed by a massive bomb. We flew one of the Colonels to the scene. The vehicle was still burning when we arrived.” Working side by side in a combat zone bonds most soldiers. So does long nights in the barracks. At first, Mackler took a ribbing. Why in the world would a lawyer want to give up a lucrative practice? He must be a terrible lawyer. Visions of his contract classes with Professor Wolcher, torts with Professor Hicks, con law with Professor Trautman and trial advocacy
Mackler at Bone McAllester Norton in Nashville