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A day inside Fallujah with Marines -- how they are living
ELFsnip Troops holed up in evacuated neighborhoods and dug in around the cityâs edge used the calm to rest, reflect and wash up, not knowing if or when they would be sent back in the streets to take Fallujah block by block. "Iâve had better Easter Sundayâs" said Pfc. Joe Smethurst, a machine gunner from Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment who spent most of Sunday relaxing in a commandeered Iraqi home in a Northwest Fallujah neighborhood. "But this is all right for now, for here." When they werenât on watch looking for snipers and sneak attacks, Smethurst and about 25 other members of Fox company blasted rock music while they lounged in couches and spread out on foam mats on the floors of an abandoned two-story house, The Marines took over the house on Friday to gain a view over their sector of the flat, dusty city along the Euphrates River. Sgt. James Hollon, Deer Park Texas, 24, was the first to take a bath in a tub filled with the first running water the Marines have had in a week. Got to see the pic to appreciate! "I could sit here all day," Hollon said as he scrubbed away, the envy of the group. As the Marines sang along to recordings from the groups Red Hot Chili Peppers and Staind, some of their counterparts took turns watching for snipers and sneak attacks. Rubble crunching beneath their boots, young officers crisscrossed the rooms with maps and radios, coordinating with the rest of the Marine units spread along the northern section of the cordon. Tossing a radio to another Marine about to go on guard, Lance Cpl. Aaron Westlund, 20, of Rochester, Minn., slumped back to his place on the floor. Lost in a tune by Nirvana, he sat hunched over, gobbling a grilled beef patty with cheese spread and barbecue sauce on two slices of wheat snack bread ---- one of the prized combinations from the Marinesâ menu of packaged rations "We donât know whatâs next," Westlund said, licking the cheese and sauce dripping from the edges of his make-shift cheeseburger. "Everythingâs up in the air right now." The troops from Fox Company fought their way into the first few blocks of the city on Tuesday. They continued to battle small bands of insurgents throughout the week to keep their foothold and to act as bait to draw insurgents out so that U.S. helicopters and jets could strike from the air. snip Posted by: Sherry 2004-04-12 |
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