The Battle of Fallujah A Reflection on Resilience By Sgt. he yelled. After heroically leading his squad in an attack against a large enemy force inside of a building,Cpl. The Sons of Iraq was exploding all over Anbar, all over Iraq. U.S. Marines encircled Fallujah on April 5 and have fought an estimated 1,500 guerrillas in repeated battles as cease-fires unraveled, killing hundreds of Iraqis, including many civilians,. "Right there! The lesson of 10 years ago for Western governments battling the Islamic State today? Seven Marines died in their first 10 days of deployment. Back stateside, Nicholson recovered at Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland, as Operation Al-Fajr, a door-to-door fight in Fallujah, kicked off on Nov. 7. Publishing Disclaimer: In all of its publications and products, NCO Journal presents professional information. Not only does it slow down operations, it also solidifies the reality that no one is safe from the horrors of the battlefield. The situation was indicative of the challenge troops faced in Fallujah, where enemy fighters -- with caches of weapons -- hid among civilians. Suddenly, they took fire from a 25 mm cannon as an Army Bradley fighting vehicle opened fire on their position. Move!" In 2012, Bellavia signed an agreement with 2012 Oscar-winning producer Rich Middlemas to make his memoir into a major motion picture. VideoThe secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure, LGBT troops take love for Eurovision to front line, Why an Indian comedian is challenging fake news rules. The battle proved to be the bloodiest of the war and the bloodiest battle involving American troops since the Vietnam War. He didn't want Fallujah vets to have to spend a bunch of cash to be involved, so he got donations and help from the Semper Fi Fund, Azalea Charities, Reunite the Fight and others. When this happens, youll truly be ready to defend this great nation and make sure your brothers and sisters in uniform make it back home. Asking for help is not a sign of weakness.". All of us Marines, sailors, soldiers we build teams, we train as teams, we deploy as teams and we fight as teams. We knew that there was only one way we were going to dissolve what was happening there, and we were going to have to come in and take this city piece by piece. Commemoration of the Second Battle of Fallujah, Operation AL FAJR, Early career airmen will soon have an easier time finding a new job, Meet 12M+, the new community app for military spouses, Kansas man upset he cant buy mini Toyotas like the Taliban and ISIS. Gen. James Conway, commander of the 1st MEF, told the New York Times Michael Gordon, I dont envision using that tactic. The sound of battle was all around us but the roof seemed awfully still and quiet. The impetus for the battle began in March when four American private military contractors from Blackwater USA were ambushed and killed in Fallujah. Outside, a long, slow military build-up began. Bellavia chased the insurgent as he ran upstairs. Before they could go room by room clearing the structure, however, they were ordered to move out of the area because close air support had been called in by a nearby unit. As we sat and waited for missions that never came, our bond as a platoon strengthened. https://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/31/international/worldspecial/enraged-mob-in-falluja-kills-4-american.html, Hoffman, J. T. U.S. Army Soldiers enter a building in Fallujah, Iraq, during Operation al Fajr (New Dawn) on Nov. 9, 2004. Some houses were even leveled to take out any enemy defenses and personnel who might have been hiding within. Subscriber sign . Q. The First Battle of Fallujah, also known as Operation Vigilant Resolve, was an operation to root out extremist elements of Fallujah and an act of retaliation. Dan ran back up to that rooftop to see where the rounds were landing and call them off of us.". Insurgents were killed and their hideouts were destroyed, but so were civilians and their homes. Right there!" Elliott Ackerman recalls fighting in the Battle of Fallujah. When another insurgent began firing from a floor above, Bellavia returned fire and killed him. The owners had left behind Baath party membership cards and pictures of Saddam Hussein. But this day felt different from any other day of the battle. It is the highest one-day death toll for U.S. forces in Iraq since August. They also found 26 bomb factories, 350 arms caches, several chemical weapons labs and eight hostage houses and torture/execution chambers in Iraq's "City of Mosques." Instead of getting drunk and eating lobster and steak, we were doing the one thing every Marine trains for, thinks about, and begs to do. November, 2004 - Into the hot zone at the Second Battle of Fallujah. Raleigh Smith and Lance Cpl. Workman said the reunion will be cathartic even if Fallujah never comes up. On Nov. 10, 1775, a man named Samuel Nicholas went to Tun Tavern in Philadelphia, Penn. Want to write for Task & Purpose? Excerpts, edited for space and clarity: Q. Inside and outside the house, Workman's "heroic actions contributed to the elimination of 24 insurgents," his citation states. The US Armys premier multimedia organization that focuses on advancing the ideas and insights military professionals need to lead and succeed. "Ambassador [Paul] Bremer [former US administrator in Iraq] and President Bush got very angry and emotional and the order came down the chain of command, 'No, you are to seize the city,'" Mr West told me in an interview in 2006. Bellavia, D. (2006). But he also had a lot of time to think about what he'd seen there. Nearly 100 Americans, mostly Marines, would die in the battles of Fallujah during some of the toughest fights in the campaign. "They just opened up on us with belt-fed machine guns," Bellavia said. 1st Lt. Carin Calvin, a weapons company platoon commander, was atop a roof directing fire from his 60 mm mortars section when he found himself in an enemys sights, according to Sgt. Mike Hanks, found themselves moving down a side street alongside Iraqi soldiers and their Marine advisers. Vaughn regrouped the Marines near him, the majority of whom were non-infantry, and coordinated their defense. Though the Marine Corps' birthday has landed on many the days of battles over time, Fallujah is the most recent and was called, "the biggest urban battle since the battle of Hue City in Vietnam.". Inside, they found the bodies of two men and a boy aged about 10. When we came back with the 5th Marine Regiment in 2006, we started to see a lot of dramatic change in terms of Iraqis taking responsibility for their own security. From here, it would be easy to go into the long and honorable history of the Marine Corps. It's going to be therapy for those warriors to see those people after all those years.". "The suicide rates are extremely high right now. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from Southwestern College and a Master of Arts in leadership studies from the University of Texas at El Paso. David G. Bellavia (n.d.). The pair of hard-nosed contingents clashed immediately when the door of that 10th house opened. It's really much harder for my wife. Seconds later, Hanks was back, grabbing the wounded Iraqi soldier and repeating the same movement as Conner laid down suppressing fire. Ultimately, we kept two MCLCs and allowed the Marines to use the third. (Then again, it may have hampered or delayed the talks; the situation is not yet clear.) "I had a period of, like, a year or two when I just had zero cares about anything in the world.". But insurgent strength did not wane. He had been awake nearly 48 hours, denied sleep by a cacophony of sporadic gunfire aimed at him and his platoon as they made their way through the streets of Fallujah, Iraq. David Bellavia was awarded a Medal of Honor for his actions with 2-2 Infantry during the Second Battle of Fallujah (Medal of Honor, n.d.). It would be tested and strengthened during the Battle of Fallujah. "Reach out, catch up, and when needed, help others.". Its sons joined the army and the police. Of that number, 23 were killed and 275 were wounded during 12 days of intense and unrelenting combat as the Marines fought to take Fallujah from enemy hands. To know what its like to love your squad so much youd Thirty-five members of 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines, have died by suicide since 2003. We crawled off the roof and fell down the stairs, back into the noise and confusion of the building. It is that military force alone is not enough for lasting victory. On Nov. 10, 1775, a man named Samuel Nicholas went to Tun Tavern in Philadelphia, Penn. Read about our approach to external linking. All rights reserved. It seemed as if everyone was wounded from enemy small arms fire and indirect fire, like RPGs and mortars. As it turned, the ramp was lowered so the patient could be quickly moved off the vehicle. Outside, insurgents were hiding behind a breeze block wall. Staff Sgt. When a Marine was shot between the eyes on Nov. 14, there wasnt enough time to wait for a helicopter to arrive at his location, explained Lt. Col. Patrick Gallogly, who was the battalion air officer at the time and was on the radio calling for a casualty evacuation. The interesting thing here is that my squad leader and I crossfired and shot the insurgent diagonal from our respective positions we were more concerned with saving each other rather than protecting ourselves. Read about our approach to external linking. I can appreciate now the lessons According to his Silver Star citation, Bellavia, armed with an M249 Squad Automatic Weapon gun, entered the room where the insurgents were holed up and sprayed it with gunfire, forcing the enemy to take cover and allowing the squad to move into the street. It turned out to be the bloodiest battle of the Iraq War and is notable for being the first major engagement of the war fought solely against insurgents rather than the force of the former Ba'athist Iraqi government, which was toppled in 2003. Army.mil. Falluja was Sunni - and it had done well under Saddam Hussein's Baath. The military translator stood and shouted down to the street. Their attack in April 2004 - the first battle of Falluja - quickly got bogged down. Conner dove behind the dead body of an enemy insurgent as Hanks hurled himself behind a lone tree in the center of the yard. We were on a rooftop in Falluja. A. I think it was really a turning point in the war there in the sense that no matter what we were trying to do, the largest city in Anbar province was occupied by al-Qaida, including Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. There was unrest among the Shia majority, not just among Sunnis. As the sun came up on Nov. 10, Conner recalled standing with his men as they dressed and ate, while some shaved or took a quick cigarette break when able. They closed the highway to Baghdad, sealed the most dangerous Fallujah neighborhoods.
