1/5 describes hardships of war in Iraq's early days (Part 1)
Marine Corps News
Release Date: 6/19/2003
Story by PFC. Macario P. Mora Jr.
MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif(June 19, 2003) -- While President Bush was giving Saddam Hussein and his loyalists 48 hours to submit to coalition demands, Marines and sailors of the 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment were in position to attack.
Days later, while televisions around the world flashed images of bombs exploding all over Baghdad, Marines from 1/5 heroically pressed on through horrific close-combat situations in their push toward Baghdad.
It was a deployment marked by a few highlights ---- for example, a pizza party hours before the unit sprang into action at the start of the ground war. There was also exhilaration at venturing upon hallowed land of biblical repute.
There were plenty of lowlights, too - most notably, the first Marine death of the ground war hitting way too close to home. The emotional toll tested the Marines' commitment to battlefield ethics and the rules of engagement. They lived lean - sometimes in squalor - and ate poorly when food stocks dwindled as supply vehicles lagged behind the rapidly advancing infantry.
And then, there were the firefights ---- some of the most nerve-racking, heart-stopping battles of the war.
The journey to the tumultuous region for these Marines began routinely enough last winter in the compounds of Camp Pendleton.
"I had my fiancee drive with me down to Camp Pendleton. ... I was coming back off of Christmas leave," said Cpl. Brandon S. White, a rifleman with A Company, 1/5. "I kind of had a weird feeling that something was wrong. I knew something was going down."
Two days later the unit found out they were going to war.
They left Camp Pendleton Feb. 4 by air and arrived in Kuwait three days later, said Lance Cpl. Anthony W. Reed, a 7-ton truck driver.
"We sat in Kuwait ... for the better part of a month and a half," said White, 22, from Thousand Oaks. "The toughest part was just sitting there every day - at least for myself it was, not knowing what was going on."
They had no contact with the outside world, except for a few cell phones Marines brought with them.
"You write a letter and it took four weeks for mail to get to you," said White. "It was two weeks (home) and four weeks back.
"We kept ourselves busy by keeping our gear and logistics ready to go at a moment's notice. We were always restocking Meals Ready-to-Eat. We did weapons maintenance."
The night before they headed north toward Iraq, they had a battalion fun night. The night included a field-meet competition between the companies and comical/musical performances, White said.
"They had pizza out there from Pizza Hut," White said. "They drove all the way out to the living area. ... it was a good 45 to 50 kilometers. They had six vans doing round trips, bringing pizzas to all of the Marines. I ate a whole box of pizza myself that night."
Early the next morning, White awoke to the voices of his company commander and executive officer talking.
"I heard some words and mumbling, and I knew something was going down. Shortly after, the light came on and we had to get dressed," said White. "We were hauling (stuff) for the next two hours. I remember thinking that night, 'This can't be real.' It was like a dream, we just had a wonderful night."
Hussein's 48 hours had expired. The air campaign was under way, and ground forces began their advance toward Iraq.
"I was amazed to see big artillery tracers run across the sky," said White. "It was a big fireworks show as we drove across the border."
The Marines from 1/5 were unfortunate enough to take the first casualty of the war. Second Lt. Therrel Childers, a platoon commander with A Company, was shot and killed during the ground war's first hours.
"It was probably about 7 o'clock in the morning ... on the first day of the war (when he died)," said White. "I didn't know right away, but during the time they were giving him aid, he passed away. I was over there capturing the prisoner who just did the drive-by (shooting of Childers). I remember taking the prisoners back to the pit with their hands zip-tied and after the fact, finding out (they had killed Childers). I was furious with so much rage inside, I wanted to kill them. I thought about it for a second and then calmed myself down. If I was a jumpy person, I would have shot them right there. He's not forgotten in any way."
As the Marines continued to move north, they came across cheering, rejoicing Iraqi civilians.
"They seemed real happy that we were there," White recalled. "They would yell, 'good America, good America,' and stuff like that. We stopped, and a group of people came up to us. ... one guy spoke English and we held a conversation. He told me how happy they were to have us there (liberating) them."
"They were really happy to see us,Ó Reed said. ÒThey would crowd my truck to get food, they threw flowers at us. It was all positive."
"There were young men walking around with no shoes and short hair," said Staff Sgt. Gerardo Betancourt, a native of Plain View, Texas, and the 2nd Platoon sergeant for C Company. "They were trying to blend in."
"Just like we can tell a Marine from civilians, we were able to tell that these men were formerly in the Iraqi military," said 1st Lt. Joshua L. Glover, a Dallas native and the commander of First Platoon with C Company. "They were acting liberated."
The push north was difficult, filled with hardships such as lack of food and sleep. But, along the way, some Marines enjoyed experiences they'll carry with them the rest of their lives.
"We swung around the west side of An Nasiriyah and we crossed the Euphrates River," White recalled. "I remember I got pretty happy about that because it's a biblical river; it's talked about in the Bible.
"I was lucky because our convoy stopped. My vehicle was stopped right in the middle of the bridge. I remember getting out and taking a deep breath, and the air seemed a little fresher right there. There was a lot of green around.
"I stopped for a second and kind of let myself go. I was daydreaming that I wasn't in Iraq and that I was somewhere else. I did that sometimes when I knew it was safe. It's just one of those moments you have to yourself, just to let yourself go for a moment."
Oftentimes, the Marines were stuck in the middle of the desert for days at a time, waiting on logistics to catch up with them. The ever-moving Marines always had water, but 1/5 was often short of food. Sometimes, the situation was downright inhuman.
"We stayed in a city trash dump," White said disgustedly. "It stank so bad for the day and a half we were there. There were so many flies. We were joking around to see how many flies were there. We poured water into cocoa powder and attracted hundreds of flies. We made a huge fly swatter and killed all the flies. It made us forget for a little bit. It was hard to eat, because the flies would land in your food. But that was our position. You can't do anything about it; I'm sure there are worse situations." Next week: Fighting toward Baghdad.
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