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Iraq
On the Ground with Charlie Company
2006-06-12
FALLUJAH, Iraq (June 9) -- The Marines of Charlie Company had a long night, hitting houses in the largest series of raids through the city since they've been here. They came back to their base Thursday morning with some success stories, but the news that awaited them was much bigger: Al-Zarqawi was dead.

On Wednesday night's operation, about 750 Marines with 1st Battalion, 25th Marines - "New England's Own" - hit sites all over the city, working beside Iraqi soldiers. "Simultaneously, the doors were being kicked in," said Maj. Vaughn Ward, commander of Charlie Company.

They grabbed more than two dozen suspected insurgents, with Charlie Company raking in nine of them from its five target houses. Two of their houses were "dry holes," the major said, but the others netted insurgents, weapons and bomb-making materials.

When he discovered the news, 1st Sgt. Ben Grainger walked through the building knocking on doors, delivering the word, his face lit up like a kid on his way to Disney World. In the company's television lounge - the only place the Marines get satellite TV - they watched CNN and laughed at images of the terrorist mastermind.
Laughter--Zark wouldn't have liked that.
"Zarqawi ate it, man," Staff Sgt. Joey Davis said to another Marine who had just walked into the room.
How insensitive of you, Sergeant Davis!
The screen was showing recent video of al-Zarqawi firing a machine gun. "This is like the Super Bowl. We're watching the post-game analysis."

The Marines kept their eyes on the sky, looking for the night's special guest: a military airplane set to drop 500,000 leaflets over the city. Grainger had a special song to play for the neighbors tonight. The first notes of "New York, New York" began, chosen to accompany the leaflets that would tell Fallujah residents al-Zarqawi was killed. "Start spreadin' the news," it started, at a volume louder than Grainger's usual shows. "I'm leavin' today."

The blinking red lights of an aircraft soon began cutting across the night sky.
Posted by:Matt

#13  they train at Sonora Pass in the Sierras - about 6000 Ft elevation
Posted by: Frank G   2006-06-12 21:37  

#12  xb
Good link. I like the way they train to go to the Iraqi desert!

...The Battalion is primarily a cold weather infantry unit, and trains in many locations around the Northeast. In addition, it trains in California, North Carolina and Northern Norway...
Posted by: Croth Sleash8049   2006-06-12 20:42  

#11  New England's Own

A little unit history here, in case anyone's interested - I know I was.
Posted by: xbalanke   2006-06-12 20:04  

#10  prejudicial terraforming

LMAO. That sounds like something that would really piss off Greenpeace.
Posted by: Matt   2006-06-12 19:59  

#9  Hey NGuard -- you gotta like this!

I do love it!

The Pure in tree city, if they know at all, must choke. Like some of my more leftish profs did, when I got back and gave a slide show. It is fun to call them on it when they toss off the "I support the troops --BUT-- not the mission" line.

I could have sworn I read a whole bunch of articles back in 2004 that the ANG was only for people who wanted to avoid combat. My memory must be failing.

"They" said that about the army guard too. Notice the so-called experts are now silent.
We're the grown-ups on the battlefield. Not fast, not flashy. We just walk down the hill and do it all, to completetion.

Remember-- If the Guard and Reserve shows up on your battlefield, it means we (the U.S.) are realy serious about winning.

The next escalation step(s) from there falls under the category "carpet nuking and prejudicial terraforming." I exagerate only slightly.
Posted by: N guard   2006-06-12 18:31  

#8  I'm just sorry that our heroes where subjected
to the anti-military diatribes of CNN. I caught
a bit of their leftist shtick and quickly changed
the channel during Zarqs very timely demise.
Watching CNN is like getting a root-canal...
without the novacaine.
Posted by: Clolutle Slans5753   2006-06-12 15:27  

#7  1st Battalion, 25th Marines - "New England's Own"

Hey Souuuuuuuuuuuuutheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Posted by: 6   2006-06-12 15:07  

#6  Semper Fi to the Devil Dogs ! This is a reserve unit and a fine example of the USMC's "Total Force" concept. These guys are your local cops, UPS drivers, and college students. The Marines are building corporate knowledge in the reserves and this will pay dividends in the future. Those young squad leaders are tomorrow's platoon commanders/F-18 pilots on the active side. When they show up at TBS with Combat Action Ribbons and Bronze Stars, they'll be the cat's a%& and experienced, battle-tested leaders.
Posted by: Bangkok Billy   2006-06-12 14:46  

#5  mr berg i hope you was being sarcstic
Posted by: Greamp Elmavinter1163   2006-06-12 14:43  

#4  I could have sworn I read a whole bunch of articles back in 2004 that the ANG was only for people who wanted to avoid combat. My memory must be failing.
Posted by: Matt   2006-06-12 14:13  

#3  Just read at "In from the cold" by former spook
http://formerspook.blogspot.com/
that the F-16 was assigned to the Alabama Air National Guard's 187th Fighter Wing, the pilot in the cockpit on the Zarqawi mission was a member of the Wisconsin ANG's 115th Fighter Wing, located in that liberal mecca, Madison, Wisconsin
Hey NGuard -- you gotta like this!
Posted by: Sherry   2006-06-12 13:29  

#2  These guys need sensitivity training. To take pleasure in the death of another of god's beautifull creations is mean and naughty.
Posted by: Mr. Berg   2006-06-12 13:07  

#1  This implies that the Zark hit was part of a much bigger operation than I had understood from other reports-- involving not only SOF but also Marine line companies. It sounds like the mother of all network rollups. But that's no excuse for Sergeant Davis using an indefinite pronoun reference.
Posted by: Matt   2006-06-12 13:05  

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