Ramon Padilla never saw the rocket-propelled grenade that exploded in front of him. And he never heard the bullet that tore away a silver dollar-sized piece of his skull.
But the 41-year-old former El Monte resident clearly remembers the aftermath.
It was July 8, 2007. He had been on patrol in the Korengal Valley of Afghanistan with the Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade when the attack occurred.