Sunday, November 21, 2004
Street Battles Test Young Marines
Eight days after the Americans entered the city on foot, a pair of Marines wound their way up the darkened innards of a minaret, shot through with holes by an American tank.
As the Marines inched their way along, a burst of gunfire rang down, fired by an insurgent hiding in the top of the tower. The bullets hit the first Marine in the face, his blood spattering the Marine behind him. Lance Cpl. William Miller, age 22, lay in silence halfway up, mortally wounded. ...
So went eight days of combat for this Iraqi city, the most sustained period of street-to-street fighting that Americans have encountered since the Vietnam War. The proximity gave the fighting a hellish intensity, with soldiers often close enough to look their enemies in the eyes.
...
The 150 Marines with whom I traveled, Bravo Company of the 1st Battalion, 8th Regiment, had it as tough as any unit in the fight. They moved through the city almost entirely on foot, into the heart of the resistance, rarely protected by tanks or troop carriers, working their way through Fallujah's narrow streets with 75-pound packs on their backs.
In eight days of fighting, Bravo Company took 36 casualties, including six dead, meaning that the unit's men had about a 1-in-4 chance of being either wounded or killed in little more than a week. ...
More than once, death crept up and snatched a member of Bravo Company ...
For hours at a stretch, Ziolkowski would sit on a rooftop, looking through the scope on his bolt-action M-40 rifle, waiting for guerrillas to step into his sights. The scope was big and wide, and Ziolkowski often took off his helmet to get a better look.
Tall, good-looking and gregarious, Ziolkowski was one of Bravo Company's most popular soldiers. Unlike most snipers, who learn to shoot growing up in the countryside, Ziolkowski grew up in the city, near Baltimore, and was never familiar with guns until he joined the Marines. Though Baltimore boasts no beachfront, Ziolkowski's passion was surfing; at Camp Lejeune, N.C., Bravo Company's base, he often organized his entire day around the tides. ...
The bullet knocked Ziolkowski backward and onto his back. He had been sitting on a rooftop on the outskirts of the Shuhada neighborhood, an area controlled by insurgents, peering through his wide scope. After he took his helmet off to get a better view, the bullet hit him in the head.
The bullet knocked Ziolkowski backward and onto his back. He had been sitting on a rooftop on the outskirts of the Shuhada neighborhood, an area controlled by insurgents, peering through his wide scope. After he took his helmet off to get a better view, the bullet hit him in the head.
...
Eight days after the Americans entered the city on foot, a pair of Marines wound their way up the darkened innards of a minaret, shot through with holes by an American tank.
As the Marines inched their way along, a burst of gunfire rang down, fired by an insurgent hiding in the top of the tower. The bullets hit the first Marine in the face, his blood spattering the Marine behind him. Lance Cpl. William Miller, age 22, lay in silence halfway up, mortally wounded. ...
So went eight days of combat for this Iraqi city, the most sustained period of street-to-street fighting that Americans have encountered since the Vietnam War. The proximity gave the fighting a hellish intensity, with soldiers often close enough to look their enemies in the eyes.
...
The 150 Marines with whom I traveled, Bravo Company of the 1st Battalion, 8th Regiment, had it as tough as any unit in the fight. They moved through the city almost entirely on foot, into the heart of the resistance, rarely protected by tanks or troop carriers, working their way through Fallujah's narrow streets with 75-pound packs on their backs.
In eight days of fighting, Bravo Company took 36 casualties, including six dead, meaning that the unit's men had about a 1-in-4 chance of being either wounded or killed in little more than a week. ...
More than once, death crept up and snatched a member of Bravo Company ...
For hours at a stretch, Ziolkowski would sit on a rooftop, looking through the scope on his bolt-action M-40 rifle, waiting for guerrillas to step into his sights. The scope was big and wide, and Ziolkowski often took off his helmet to get a better look.
Tall, good-looking and gregarious, Ziolkowski was one of Bravo Company's most popular soldiers. Unlike most snipers, who learn to shoot growing up in the countryside, Ziolkowski grew up in the city, near Baltimore, and was never familiar with guns until he joined the Marines. Though Baltimore boasts no beachfront, Ziolkowski's passion was surfing; at Camp Lejeune, N.C., Bravo Company's base, he often organized his entire day around the tides. ...
The bullet knocked Ziolkowski backward and onto his back. He had been sitting on a rooftop on the outskirts of the Shuhada neighborhood, an area controlled by insurgents, peering through his wide scope. After he took his helmet off to get a better view, the bullet hit him in the head.
The bullet knocked Ziolkowski backward and onto his back. He had been sitting on a rooftop on the outskirts of the Shuhada neighborhood, an area controlled by insurgents, peering through his wide scope. After he took his helmet off to get a better view, the bullet hit him in the head.
...
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