Ricardo Sanchez, in charge of all coalition forces in Iraq, to proceed immediately. Paul Bremer and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld pressed U.S. Unfortunately, the pleas of Conway and other commanders fell on deaf ears as Ambassador L. “Once you commit you have to stay committed,” he remarked. Conway, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force commander, did not want it to appear that the United States was attacking out of revenge and thus lose the support of the rest of the civilian population. Initially, military leaders suggested that the Bush administration proceed with caution. Situated in the infamous Sunni Triangle, where the former dictator Saddam Hussein enjoyed his greatest support while in power, it is also called the “city of mosques” because of the 200 religious structures that dominate the city’s landscape. Located approximately 40 miles west of Baghdad, Fallujah was a thriving metropolis prior to the war, with a population of more than half a million residents. In Operation Phantom Fury: The Assault and Capture of Fallujah, Iraq (Zenith Press, Minneapolis, MN, 2009, 320 pp., index, photos, maps, $30.00, hardcover), retired Marine Colonel Dick Camp, a Vietnam veteran and Khe Sanh survivor, delivers an intriguing account of the two major campaigns to drive the terrorists out of the city. For the leathernecks, it would be some of the heaviest urban fighting since the Battle of Hue City in Vietnam in 1968. The incident was the catalyst that sparked two separate battles of Fallujah, after which American soldiers and Marines would spend months clearing the city of known terrorists residing there. That night on the evening news, the charred and mutilated bodies of two of the men were hung from an old bridge to be viewed by all. The four men, all employees of Blackwater USA, a private military contractor, had been slain. The car spun out of control and rear ended another. Driver Wes Batalona unsuccessfully tried to make a U-turn in the crowded streets, but was gunned down by AK-47 bullets that ripped through the vehicle. A Mitsubishi Pajero, carrying four Americans, was suddenly ambushed by insurgents. We just turned around and started shooting and the grenade explodes.On the morning of March 31, 2004, in the city of Fallujah, Iraq, the unmistakable sound of automatic weapons fire could be heard. It’s like throwing a hand with a grenade in it at us. “We could see the house crumble and then one of the Marines shouted out, ‘Take cover,’ and you could see a hand coming out like a horror movie. “After that, we put 20 pounds of C-4 and blew the house ,” he continued. We trapped one guy on the stairway and kept shooting him and two of our Marines, Marquez and Shafer, who got shot in the arm, they took Kasal out. He said there were two houses pushed together with a second-floor catwalk where the enemy was shooting at them and throwing grenades. We worked as Marines to take care of each other to not leave anybody behind.” “The 3rd platoon took a lot of injuries but the first and second squad from 2nd Platoon worked together with them to get them out. There were Marines trapped inside the house, and we were trying to figure out how the hell we’re going to get those guys out,” he said. “ Kasal went into this house to clear it, and was hit 13 or 14 times. “We blew it - that was one of the lucky days we had.”ĭuring Operation Phantom Fury in 2004, while assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines out of Camp Pendleton, California, Munoz and his team went to help his fellow Marines who were trapped inside a house near his compound. They were already set up, and you would just need somebody to click the send button and that was it. “We found one big cache and had to blow it in place, but I was a little bit scared one day because they used to use those Motorola cell phones. Munoz said he and his team would blow up houses that had big caches of weapons but they always feared being blown up by remote-controlled bombs. We were just kicking and firing, making sure everybody from left to right was still alive.” They didn’t want us there, and they were ready for us. “We were getting incoming mortars, rockets, IEDs (improvised explosive devices) so it was pretty harsh. Munoz said he and his fellow Marines took part in convoys in the Sunni Triangle in the south part of Fallujah in Iraq, during the main push. His most memorable assignment, he said, was his deployment to Iraq. He also coached the rifle and pistol shooting at the Marine Corps Coaches Course. 1, 1998, and he served seven years as a security specialist and infantryman, attaining the rank of sergeant. “He was very professional,” Munoz said of his recruiter. “When I went to the Marine recruiter, he said, ‘What you want is a job. “I was just born to be a Marine,” said Munoz, an Iraq combat vet who’d served in the Corps from 1998 to 2005.
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