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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Marines expecting "lot of fight" after finding weapons cache |
| 2004-04-20 |
| Without firing a shot or shedding any blood, Marines struck a huge blow to the insurgency on Monday when they uncovered a sizeable cache of heavy weapons in a roughneck neighborhood in northwest Fallujah. Lance Cpl. Patrick Larson, 21, of Gowrie, Iowa, discovered the secret stash just before sunset on a drizzly, cold day while he was setting booby traps near some brick stables where he and other Marines had chased a grenade-toting rebel the night before. "I knew there had to be something over here," Larson said, obviously proud of his find. He said he had just been complaining that he was fighting a war, "but I never get any glory." His discovery Monday made up for it, he said. He got kudos from superiors and watched with satisfaction as it took three Humvees to haul the loot away. He said he and fellow Marines Lance Cpl. Gene Rader, 21, of Marlton, N.J., and Lance Cpl. Jason Picchi, 21, of Chicago forced open a locked door and found a room full of rocket-propelled grenades, rockets and a complete 120 mm mortar tube and base plate. One room led to several more rooms where Marines from Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment found explosives, a huge military locker with bomb-making materials, bags of grenades and machine guns. Military officials said the biggest finds were the bomb-making materials and the 120 mm mortar. The shells fired by the mortar are considered to be in the category of artillery because of their size. The largest mortar used by the Marines fires an 81 mm shell, and their howitzers fire 155 mm rounds. Marines say they believe the insurgents in and around Fallujah only had a few of the 120 mm tubes in and around the city. "Now they’ve got one less," said 2nd Lt. Patrick Reddick, leader of Fox Company’s 1st Platoon. "And they’re going to be pissed!" Marines are holding their ground in defensive positions in and around Iraqi homes and farm buildings in the northwest corner of Fallujah near the Euphrates River while they await orders. A weeklong cease-fire has calmed — but not ended — the fighting that began in Fallujah two weeks ago when Marines surrounded the city and penned in the insurgents. Talks between U.S. military officials and Iraqi civic leaders apparently yielded some compromises, including a weapons turn-in program in which insurgents who are not hell-bent on dying for their cause can give up their arms and blend in with the population, avoiding the destruction the Marines promise they will wreak if they have to take the town by force. Publicly, Marine leaders say they are encouraged by the prospects of a political solution. But privately, most Marines on the front line say they have little confidence the Iraqi politicians have any control over the thousand or so Iraqi and foreign fighters thought to be trapped in the old Jolan neighborhood of Fallujah along the river. They expect most of those fighters to fight to the end — an end the Marines say they’ll be more than happy to arrange. Marine leaders said that while they will continue to scour the piece of Fallujah they occupy for more arms, they say the huge cache on the fringe only hints at what the insurgents have ready in the center of the cramped and irregular Jolan borough where they have had two weeks now to prepare for the final showdown. "I hate to say it," said Fox Company’s commander, Capt. Kyle Stoddard. "But what this tells me is that there’s a lot of fight left out there." |
| Posted by:Sherry |
| #15 Anonymous4385, you might be suprised about rebar. When I was in India half of the buildings had rebar sticking out of the top floor (in case they decided to add a floor later I guess). |
| Posted by: ruprecht 2004-04-20 11:36:37 PM |
| #14 I think Capt Stoddard is a very wise man. Pay attention! |
| Posted by: Lucky 2004-04-20 11:35:49 PM |
| #13 and the Civilian version: "F&cking A! Excellent work!" |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-04-20 9:36:40 PM |
| #12 Zenster: "Hooyah" Actually EV, it's "Oorah". "Hooyah" is the Army's lame version :). |
| Posted by: Pappy 2004-04-20 9:30:40 PM |
| #11 I'ma thinking I ain't touching any sheep what wonders in from the occupied zone. I'll give y'all one guess where they conceal the contact explosive. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2004-04-20 8:00:17 PM |
| #10 It was a cold, drizzly day in Fallujah. A lone marine lance corporal was keeping himself occupied by setting booby traps, when suddenly he stumbled upon A SHITLOAD OF WEAPONS AND MUNITIONS! Good work, Marine! |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2004-04-20 7:46:49 PM |
| #9 Can't we send these guys some portable magnetometers to find the big stashes? I don't think there's alot of rebar in your typical Iraqi housing area. |
| Posted by: Anonymous4385 2004-04-20 7:32:12 PM |
| #8 cold day while he was setting booby traps near some brick stables All of ya caught that! LOL! It's bad, it's green and it's Marine. I'ma thinking I ain't touching any sheep what wonders in from the occupied zone. Lou Diamond! |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-04-20 6:03:51 PM |
| #7 Zenster: "Hooyah" |
| Posted by: Evert Visser in NL 2004-04-20 6:03:31 PM |
| #6 They expect most of those fighters to fight to the end ---- an end the Marines say they’ll be more than happy to arrange. Gotta love their attitude. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2004-04-20 5:58:25 PM |
| #5 Lance Cpl. Patrick Larson, 21, of Gowrie, Iowa, discovered the secret stash just before sunset on a drizzly, cold day while he was setting booby traps LOL, not sure that will fly well with the whiney "be nice when you fight" types. "Mahmoud, lookitthat! A Playboy magazine tied to a pineapple fruit! Let's grab'em before Ahkmed spots 'em!" |
| Posted by: Laurence of the Rats 2004-04-20 5:46:10 PM |
| #4 "while he was setting booby traps near some brick stables where he and other Marines had chased a grenade-toting rebel the night before." This certainly sounds very good. |
| Posted by: Evert Visser in NL 2004-04-20 5:43:43 PM |
| #3 God willing, all those caches will make wonderful secondary explosions. Here's a question -- is it possible to do traffic analysis on people walking around a city? |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2004-04-20 5:40:43 PM |
| #2 So many of the big media pieces drone on and on about the challenges facing our guys that it's good to find one that focuses (indirectly) on the problems facing the bad guys. Look at it from the point of view of an insurgent leader in Fallujah: "Alright, boys, here's the plan. First we're going to dodge gun runs by more Cobras and Apaches than we can count, then we're going to hope that the AC130's don't chop us into dogmeat, and then we're going to go toe-to-toe with three battalions of the world's finest assault troops, who, I might add, are seriously pissed off at us. Any questions? Yeah, you in the back of the room?" "Just one question, Mahmoud. Are you out of your effing mind?" |
| Posted by: Matt 2004-04-20 5:39:25 PM |
| #1 awesome find! How long before those would've been surrendered under the cease-fire rules? How about..never? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-04-20 5:38:33 PM |