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| Iraq |
| First Person Account of the Capture |
| 2003-12-18 |
| Lawrence Wilson e-mailed The Pilot Tuesday, giving his personal account of Saddamâs capture. The brigade had been conducting raids and other combat operations around Husseinâs hometown of Tikrit since April. The region is filled with his supporters. They questioned Saddam loyalists. Every capture added to the divisionâs store of knowledge. A five-hour raid Dec. 4 in Tikrit brought in lower-level supporters, but not the chief man of five families who comprised the heart of Saddamâs protection. Wilson and Hickey learned he had escaped, fleeing to the nearby ancient town of Samarra. Another Army unit then carried out a raid there. They captured several men and found $1.9 million in cash, but not the potential informant Hickey sought. âThe capture of Saddam started on the 12th of December with the capture of a individual who was very close to Saddam,â Wilson said. âThe individual was questioned about the whereabouts of Saddam, and he stated he knew of two places where he might be.â Hickey sent for the man. âThese two places were 15 minutes west of Tikrit, so he was flown to Tikrit where he was questioned more by Special Operation forces,â Wilson said. âHe got here on the 13th of December and Colonel Hickey was called sometime mid morning about this informant and the information he had.â Just before noon, they learned Saddam was possibly in an underground bunker in one of two locations. âOnce Colonel Hickey knew of this, he informed Major Reed, our operations officer, to send warning orders to G Troop 1-10 CAV (the recon troop for Wilsonâs brigade combat team), our 299th Engineer Battalion, and our 4th Battalion 42nd Field Artillery for a possible raid in Ad-Dawr for HVT 1 â High Value Target Number One: Saddam Hussein,â he wrote. âWe started making the plan for the raid and developing a time line.â Saddam was thought to be in or near one of two farmhouses near the town of Ad-Dwar, a few miles from his birthplace in Uja. One of his most trusted aides, Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, is from Ad-Dwar. The two houses were on the banks of the Tigris, opposite one of many palaces where Saddam used to come to swim. Saddam took refuge here before coming to power, staging operations in the 1960s against an Iraqi government he would later overthrow. Troops secured a two-square-kilometer area around the houses. âColonel Hickey had a briefing with the special operations force to insure we were good and to set a time line,â Wilson wrote. âThe 1st Battalion Combat Team was to go into Ad-Dawr with the special operations forces to capture Saddam.â They code-named the houses Wolverine One and Wolverine Two. âThe command group was made up of Colonel Hickey, Major (Bryan) Reed, myself, our drivers, three Humvees and two Bradleyâs with three-man crews.â The command team left their forward operating base at 6:30 p.m. to link up with the forces. âThe 299th Engineers Battalion would secure the west side of the Tigris River to ensure no one crosses the river,â Wilson wrote. âWe also had attack helicopters (64 Apaches) on standby if we needed them, call sign Viper. The special operations forces also had helicopters. They would secure the targets by air to ensure no one escaped their target areas.â At the link-up site there would be two Special Operations forces, G troop (divided into two platoons), the command group and a command element for special operations forces. âThe two assault forces were made up of one Special Operation forces team and a platoon from G troop,â Wilson wrote. âThe other assault was made up of one Special Forces team and another platoon of G troop. The assault teams would depart at the same time, which was 1930 [7:30] and would close on Wolverine 1 and Wolverine 2 by 2000 [8:00]. The command and control group would follow behind the assault forces.â By 8:15 p.m., some 20 to 30 Special Operations troops equipped with night vision goggles and laser-aimed weapons had Wolverines One and Two, but not Saddam. Soldiers spotted two men running from another house about 200 yards away. The men were arrested, and a search of the area began. Between the farmhouses was a small walled compound, soldiers found a metal lean-to and a mud hut. One soldier noticed a white rug lying oddly on the ground nearby. Pulling it aside, troops found a mud- and dirt-covered lid made of foam plastic. They pulled it up, peering into the dark shaft beneath, preparing to throw in grenades. A man appeared to be lying on the floor at the bottom. Could he be one of the two most wanted men on earth? Their call came to Wilsonâs command unit.âAt 2015 [8:15], we received a radio message from the assault team on Wolverine 2 stating that they might have Saddam and they would confirm ASAP,â he said. The Green Beret at the top shouted down, âWho are you?â A bearded, bedraggled man crawled out, raising his hands. âI am Saddam Hussein; I am the president of Iraq, and Iâm willing to negotiate,â he said in English, according to Reed. âPresident Bush sends his regards,â a soldier replied. âAt 2026 [8:26], they confirmed that they captured Saddam and were preparing him to be moved to a secure area in Tikrit by OH 58 helicopter,â Wilson said. He and Hickey saw Hussein secured and helicoptered south within the hour. âThe soldiers who executed this raid are great Americans and soldiers,â Wilson wrote. âThese brave soldiers are sons, daughters, moms, dads, brothers and sisters. These soldiers are your silent heroes and Iâm telling this story for them.â Since the end of major combat, his brigade made more than 500 raids. âIt has been a long and hard eight months, and the capture of Saddam is a sweet victory,â Wilson wrote. âYes, we congratulated each other with handshakes, slaps on the backs and a âYou did a great job.â I have been a soldier for over 25 years and I love the Army, the 1st Brigade Combat Team, the 4th Infantry Division. But most of all â I love the soldiers.â |
| Posted by:Chuck Simmins |
| #4 ...found $1.9 million in cash... Probably the most important thing, besides bagging saddam. Once the $$$ starts drying up, these guys (especially the bagmen) are going to start thinking "waitaminnit, I gots $250,000 I'm supposed to deliver to some putz? Screw DAT!", and start disappearing into the 'new' Iraq. They'll just start disappearing with the cash. It's not like the thugs believe in anything, they turncoat as soon as the writing's on the wall. And it's being written in BIG BOLD LETTERS now. |
| Posted by: 4thInfVet 2003-12-18 8:15:25 PM |
| #3 man that had to feel mighty good to bag the evil one. |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge (VRWC CA Chapter) 2003-12-18 6:41:55 PM |
| #2 I second the motion. |
| Posted by: Ptah 2003-12-18 12:21:08 PM |
| #1 Great stuff. God bless them, every one! |
| Posted by: Nick 2003-12-18 11:30:52 AM |