Home»Las Vegas 'Hurt Locker' takes risks to save lives

Las Vegas 'Hurt Locker' takes risks to save lives

Page Last Updated: Monday July 19, 2010 6:07pm PDT

Dana Wagner reporting

It seems as if every time we hear about the war in Iraq or Afghanistan, civilians or soldiers are being killed by roadside bombs.

But the stories that don't make the news are the bombs that don't kill anyone.

Now, one local man is sharing his untold story of a long, lonely walk toward danger.

When a roadside bomb goes off in Afghanistan or Iraq, most people want to get away as fast as they can. But others head straight toward the danger.

“Nobody likes to call themselves a hero. I'm not a hero. We're just doing a job."

Dustin Heines, a Las Vegas native, trained at Nellis Air Force Base as part of the Explosive and Ordinance Disposal Unit. He’s already done four tours of duty in Iraq.

Dana Wagner: How many bombs have you seen?

“Well over 200.”

Dana Wagner: How many have you dismantled?

“Don't know. Don't keep count. No reason to keep count. No reason to gloat over stuff like that."

Heines doesn’t gloat because he has lost friends to bombs that have detonated; nearly 80 brave Americans in bomb disposal units have been killed in action since the war began in 2002.

So who would want to do this? Surprisingly, there are many people interested in this line of work. They are self-described adrenaline junkies.

Dana Wagner: Right out of high school you decide you want to go into the service?

“19 years old I decided that's the best choice for me. They said, ‘We can let you blow stuff up every day.’ Sign me up."

The public saw what these soldiers live through every day in the Academy Award winning film “The Hurt Locker.” While Heines says the film has many inaccuracies about how they do their job, the movie is precise in the way it depicts that long, lonely walk they make on the way to a bomb.

“You're always nervous and you're always scared, but you have that healthy fear where it keeps you on your toes. It's when you lose that healthy fear that things become dangerous."

It’s death-defying, it’s scary, and it’s a little crazy. But Heines says it’s also gratifying to know he and his unit are saving lives.

“Once you clear the scene there's always that breath of relief. ‘I got this one, now, where's the next one?’”

And as soon as they find it, soldiers like Dustin Heines will once again make that long, lonely walk in an effort to save lives.

Heines says the Las Vegas desert is ideal for training because the environment is so similar to the Middle East.

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