TF 3-15 INF defends the crossroads

Arthur A. Durante

I developed the following article from notes taken during a series of personal interviews conducted in Baghdad. I have done my best to make this account as historically accurate as possible, but there may be minor discrepancies. Such is the nature of war with all its fog, emotions, and confusion. It is my intention to tell the story of the incredible dedication, the hardships, the courage, and the professionalism of the American Soldiers in this battle. Unfortunately, my writing can't do them justice. I have left out much, but I have their story in my notes, in my head, and in my heart. I was never in my life more proud of the American Soldier than I was of those on that battlefield. I stand humbled before these men--Art Durante, 23 May 2003, Baghdad.

The first week of April 2003 found the U.S. units in Iraq locked in mortal combat against the forces of Saddam Hussein. By 6 April 2003, the 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized) had consolidated its positions around the Baghdad airport which it had seized on the night of 3 April.

A day after the 1st Brigade Combat Team (BCT) moved against the airport, Colonel David Perkins, commander of the 2nd BCT, had driven his powerful formation against the Iraqi forces south of the city in the vicinity of Objective Saints. This was the intersection of Highway 8 from the south and Highway 1 running east and west. After hard fighting, the 2nd BCT secured Objective Saints, and on 5 April, had launched Task Force 1-64 Armor on a spectacular "Thunder Run" deep into the center of Baghdad and then hack out west to airport.

Major General Buford C. Blount III. commander of the 3rd Infantry Division, wanted to increase the pressure on the regime even more, and to do that he again chose the 2nd BCT. He and COL Perkins developed a plan to attack out of Objective Saints against the heart of Saddam's government. The commander's intent was to demonstrate his ability to operate large-scale armored and mechanized forces deep within the capital city, thereby disproving the claim that U.S. forces were unable to penetrate Baghdad and to put unbearable pressure on the regime.

Two armored task forces made up the main effort. Task Forces 1-64 Armor and 4-64 Armor were to attack into the city and seize the presidential palace district. Task Force 3-15 Infantry, also known as Task Force China, was the supporting effort. Its mission was to seize and retain a series of east-west road junctions north of Objective Saints along Highway 8, and to secure Objective Saints itself from the Iraqi forces still active south of the city.

Intelligence reports had indicated that after the 2rid BCT's initial reconnaissance-in-force run through the city on 5 April, Iraqi forces had established roadblocks at major intersections and built other obstacles to block movement into the city. They had also laid a surface minefield along Highway 8 north of Objective Saints.

At first light on 7 April, the 2nd BCT crossed the line of departure along the northern perimeter of Objective Saints, moved through the Iraqi minefield that its engineers had breached in the hours before dawn, and thundered north on Highway 8. Task Force 1-64 Armor took the lead. It moved to seize objectives deep in the center of the city, the Tomb of the Unknowns and the adjoining park. Task Force 4-64 Armor followed with the objective of seizing two of Saddam Hussein's palaces along the Tigris River.

Task Force 3-15 Infantry fell into its assigned position at the rear of the brigade column and followed the two leading armor task forces. Task Force China was organized to drop company-sized combined arms teams at each of the three major road intersections along the line of communication into the city. These teams would hold the intersections, dominate the terrain around them, and thereby facilitate the resupply of the forces in the city.

The 2nd BCT immediately encountered several obstacles and met heavy enemy resistance as it fought its way northward to its objectives. Within hours, both the armor task forces had seized their objectives, but fierce fighting continued all the way from the perimeter of Objective Saints, north along the axis of attack and up to both objectives. Iraqi regular army units, groups of Saddam Fedayeen, and militia forces continued to counterattack the 2nd BCT at multiple points.

The leading armor task force made heavy contact with Iraqi infantry armed with rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) and small arms. The tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles (BFVs) bypassed several obstacles and engaged a large number of Iraqis in bunkers and along the sides of the highway. The enemy was trying to block the road with anything they could find, including construction equipment. This was a clear indicator that although the 3rd Division had caught the enemy by surprise with its Thunder Run on 5 April, the Iraqis had recovered and were determined to stop this attack.

Once they had fought their way through the hard crust of the Iraqi defense, the lead U.S. task forces found fewer enemy forces protecting the route into downtown. Soon, the leading task force, TF 1-64 Armor, was in the city center and linked up with special operations forces (SOF) elements there. Iraqi resistance flared up and at times was especially fierce, but the 2nd BCT forces in the city were able to defeat every counterattack thrown at them.

While the U.S. forces fought off local attacks and cleared the areas around the palaces, the 2nd BCT commander and the commander of TF 1-64 Armor looked for a statue of Saddam to destroy in order to send a distinct message to forces loyal to the regime remaining in the city. Eventually, they located a suitable statue and destroyed it with a well-placed 120mm main gun round from an MI tank. Shortly afterwards, Task Force 1-64 Armor defeated a counterattack by lightly armed trucks and Iraqi infantry armed with RPGs. The U.S. units began to hunt down the Iraqi air defense artillery systems in the city center and cleared out a large concentration of Iraqi forces in the city zoo.

During this part of the battle, at about 10 a.m., the 2rid BCT tactical operations center (TOC), which was located back at Objective Saints, took a direct hit from an Iraqi surface-to-surface missile. The huge blast and the erupting fireball destroyed many of the vehicles and much of the equipment at the TOC. The explosion killed three Soldiers and two embedded journalists and wounded dozens more. Soldiers of 2nd Brigade worked frantically to treat and evacuate the wounded, and to recover equipment and restore communications. Their heroic efforts enabled the TOC to get back on the net in one hour and to be operational again an hour later.

TF 3-15 INFANTRY JOINS THE ACTION

As the units making up the brigade's main effort were accomplishing their tasks, the tactical focus of the battle for the center of Baghdad shifted to the actions of Task Force China. The enemy placed intense pressure against the critical supply line running north into the city from Objective Saints.

Portions of Task Force 3-15 Infantry had moved into Objective Saints late in the afternoon of the 6th of April, after fighting a wearying battle to secure the east side of Objective Peach, the main crossing site on the Euphrates. However, the task force commander, Lieutenant Colonel Stephen Twitty, and a large number of fighting vehicles and tanks were still at the river, finishing the destruction of Iraqi forces there. When the call from 2nd BCT came in announcing a meeting of commanders to issue the operations order for the next morning's attack, LTC Twitty was not able to get to the 2nd BCT's headquarters. He sent his operations officer in his place.

COL Perkins directed LTC Twitty to detach Captain Ronny Johnson's B Company, 3-15th Infantry, with two of its mechanized infantry rifle platoons, to the control of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team. LTC Twitty retained control of only one of the mechanized infantry rifle platoons from B Company. This order from 2nd BCT left him with four mechanized infantry rifle platoons and three tank platoons from his cross-attached tank company.

TASK FORCE CHINA OPERATIONS ORDER

After the task-force operations officer came back with the order for the next day's attack, LTC Twitty began a rapid analysis of his mission and the troops at hand. He considered the forces he had left after detaching B Company and out of these, he task-organized his unit into three company-sized teams for his mission.

Finally, he was ready to issue the order for the most important attack of the war for Task Force China. The hard-working battalion operations NCO had found an empty bombed-out building without a roof for them to use as a place to plan and to issue the task force attack order. The men of the battalion headquarters pulled a tarp over the top of the building, and used ponchos to block the light from the smashed windows. At midnight, LTC Twitty issued the order for an attack at 0600 hours the next day, 7 April, into the heart of Baghdad.

The task force commander described the issuing of this operations order as a very dramatic and tense time for all of them. They had all had little or no sleep in the last two days. With their NCOs working along side them in the dark, the men were feverously refueling and resupplying ammunition in all the vehicles, something that was critical after the heavy fighting earlier that day. Every Soldier knew that this was going to be a difficult mission. They piled the extra ammunition into every space they could find.

The officers were huddled with the task force commander as the magnitude of the mission they were going to carry out began to sink in. "1 looked into the eyes of everyone in that bombed out building, and for the first time, I saw real fear. After the battles in the city on 5 April by our sister task force, we knew this would be bad. We also knew we could do this ... we had to." (LTC Twitty)

Twitty's plan called for a company-sized combined arms team to capture and hold each of the three task force objectives. For reasons known only to them, the planners on the TF 3-15 Infantry staff had given these objectives the names of the three stooges, Curley, Larry, and Moe. It certainly did make them easy to remember. LTC Twitty had his commanders talk through a simple rehearsal, moving yellow sticky notes around on a small sand table to show they understood his scheme of maneuver and intent.

TASK ORGANIZATION

Twitty built his first combined arms team, Team GATOR, around the headquarters of C Company, 3rd Battalion 15th Infantry. It consisted of two mechanized infantry platoons and a tank platoon from the cross-attached tank company, B Company, 4th Battalion, 64th Armor.

He built the second, Team RAGE, around the headquarters of the attached tank company from the 4th Battalion 64th Armor. It consisted of two tank platoons and a mechanized rifle platoon.

Twitty created his third company team, Team ZAN, specifically for this mission. Captain Zan Hornbuckle, normally an assistant operations officer in the battalion headquarters, commanded it. Task Force 3-15 Infantry had three battle captains in the $3 section. CPT Zan Hornbuckle was the senior battle captain. He was a graduate of the Infantry School's Captains Career Course (ICCC) and had served as an instructor in the Ranger Brigade for two years.

CPT Hornbuckle would have only six short hours, in the dark, to organize his team, issue orders, ensure the vehicles were fuelled and armed, and ready his men for the attack at 0600 hours. Only the long association of CPT Hornbuckle with the battalion, and the hard realistic training they had all gone through together in the months before the war made this possible.

When it moved to seize and defend Objective Curley on the morning of 7 April, Team ZAN consisted of one mechanized infantry rifle platoon (four BFVs), the battalion heavy mortar platoon led by First Lieutenant Josh Woodruff (four mortar tracks and an M557 FDC track), and a reinforced engineer platoon (four M113 armored personnel carriers [APCs] and two M9 armored combat earthmovers [ACEs]). CPT Hornbuckle brought with him an "extra" M2 Bradley fighting vehicle that LTC Twitty had drawn from the depot stocks in Kuwait. This vehicle had been intended for the air defense artillery (ADA) platoon leader, but it was being used by the task force $3. Its powerful weapons proved to be valuable assets on Objective Curley.

In addition to the combat elements under his command, CPT Hornbuckle also had the battalion's medical aid team with the battalion surgeon and the battalion's command sergeant major with him. Command Sergeant Major Robert Gallagher routinely traveled in one of the battalion's M88 recovery vehicles, and it was normal for him to position himself at the most critical point during any operation. His combat instincts told him that Team ZAN on Objective Curley was just such a point.

Along with the CSM were two M577 command and control vehicles that made up the task force tactical operations center. There were also several embedded media personnel. A photographer from Army Magazine, Daniel Steele, was one of the embedded media. His photographs, along with the striking video taken by an NBC cameraman, of the fighting at Objective Curley would bring home to America the fierceness of this battle.

LTC Twitty had directed that the battalion fire support officer accompany Team ZAN. This not only gave CPT Hornbuckle a fire support coordinator, it added another BFV with its deadly 25mm cannon to the team's firepower. LTC Twitty retained a portion of the TF scout platoon, the engineer company headquarters section, an air liaison team from the U.S. Air Force with an enlisted tactical air controller, a psychological operations (PSYOP) team, and a tactical human intelligence (HUMINT) team under his control. Most of the scout platoon was with B Company back at Objective Saints, protecting the logistics area.

MISSION

The mission for TF 3-15 Infantry was to seize the series of major east-west road junctions, Objectives Curley, Larry, and Moe (south to north) along Highway 8. Holding these objectives would allow freedom of movement of the 2nd BCT's logistics elements from Objective Saints north into the center of the city where TF 1-64 Armor and TF 4-64 Armor, other elements of the 2nd BCT, were to attack and seize their objectives.

The combat elements of the two armor-heavy task forces preceded movement of TF 3-15 Infantry to its objectives along Highway 8. Each of the armored columns passed through the three road junctions and each received fire from the Iraqi defenders there. Although heavy, this fire was not sufficient to impede the movement of the armored vehicles. However, without U.S. forces controlling the sites, the soft-skinned resupply elements of the 2nd BCT would not be able to follow the armored vehicles and resupply them.

THE OBJECTIVES

The order of movement for TF 3-15 Infantry was Team GATOR, Team RAGE, Task Force HQ, and Team ZAN. Team GATOR was to seize the northernmost objective, Moe. Team RAGE was to seize the center objective, Larry, and Team ZAN (the team with the least combat power) was to seize objective Curley.

LTC Twitty chose to position himself on Objective Larry, the center objective. He did this to ensure that he would have effective communications to all his battalion's subordinate elements. He was worried that if he were located at either the northern or the southern end of the highway he would not be able to talk by FM radio with the most distant company team. With the TF commander at Objective Larry was his personal vehicle crew, Staff Sergeant Carmen (gunner) and Specialist Reisbeck, normally a communications specialist, as driver.

Both Team RAGE and Team GATOR had supporting company fire support teams with Bradley Fire Support Vehicles (BF1STs). Team ZAN, however, had no company BFIST vehicle. The third BFIST vehicle was with the detached B Company at Objective Saints. To compensate, LTC Twitty had assigned the battalion fire support officer (FSO) to remain at Objective Curley.

CPT Johnson had occupied a blocking position with one of his mechanized rifle platoons along Highway 8 along Phase Line SNAKE, about six kilometers south of Objective Curley. This was the northernmost element in Objective Saints. CPT Johnson's company was under the tactical control of the 2nd BCT Engineer battalion headquarters, which was tasked with protecting the soft-skinned vehicles and the logistics elements of the brigade remaining behind in Objective Saints.

From Objective Curley, it was approximately 372 kilometers due north to Objective Larry. It was only about l V2 kilometers on from there to the task force's most northern objective, Moe.

The designated time for crossing the line of departure was 0600 hours local time. Because of the time it took for elements ahead of him to clear the crowded area in Objective Saints, LTC Twitty's lead company team crossed the LD (Phase Line SNAKE) at 0620 hours local time.

The 1st Battalion, 41st Field Artillery, the 2nd BCT's direct support artillery unit, fired intense high explosive preparatory fires on all three of the road junctions before the armor task forces passed through them. Along the route, the tankers and Bradley gunners of both armor task forces had blasted dozens of Iraqi positions as they moved along Highway 8. Despite this heavy pounding, Task Force China was engaged by enemy fire from all sides the moment it crossed the line of departure. The enemy was firing RPGs and small arms from positions in the buildings along Highway 8 and from bunkers build near the roadside.

LTC Twitty immediately realized that the enemy he faced here in Baghdad was completely different from the other Iraqi forces he had fought. Earlier, units had fought, but they had shown a "certain softness" (LTC Twitty), an unwillingness to fight to the death. It quickly became clear to the commander that today would be a battle different than anything his unit had faced before.

During the task force's train-up prior to the war, LTC Twitty had taken advantage of the training offered by MPRI (a civilian defense contractor) to teach every member of the unit the basics of reflexive fire, entering and clearing a trench, and assaulting and clearing a bunker. This training paid huge dividends during the battles to seize and retain Objectives Curley, Larry, and Moe. One of the MPRI employees mentioned by name as being particularly helpful was Larry Word.

LTC Twitty's order to his team commanders was, "Don't stop until you reach your objective." Despite the fire it received along the route, each team followed those orders and reached its objective without halting. Although LTC Twitty had his U.S. Air Force enlisted tactical air controller with him, during the battle, the enemy "hugged" the U.S. positions too tightly for effective close air support to be directed against them.

THE BATTLE AT OBJECTIVE CURLEY

At Objective Curley, Team ZAN established a hasty defense with the mortar platoon's tracked carriers in a loose column on Highway 8, with two mortars aimed north and the other two aimed south. The engineer platoon had responsibility for the east side of the cloverleaf intersection and the mechanized infantry platoon was responsible for the west side.

As soon as it arrived and dismounted, the infantry platoon and a small Special Forces liaison element accompanying TF China was engaged in a fierce fight to clear the multiple trenches that the defenders had dug in and around and under the elevated portions of the intersection. The main fight at first was for the area directly under the overpass, which had been designated as the location of the company team command post.

It immediately became clear that more men would be needed than just those available from the infantry platoon. It was then that LTC Twitty's emphasis on combat skills for ALL Soldiers, not just the riflemen, began to pay off. Drivers and radio operators from the TOC M577s soon joined the riflemen in assaulting and clearing the trench lines. Although the Special Forces troopers had come along intending to make contact with local citizens and to gather useful information, they too pitched into the battle, repeatedly engaging the enemy in close-range firefights and assaulting the crude but effective fortifications thrown up by the defenders. Several were wounded early in the fight but kept up their fire regardless.

The main enemy force at Objective Curley was Syrian jihadists who had come to Iraq specifically to fight the Americans, sworn to win or die. They had been in position for approximately two days and had dug trenches and built sturdy bunkerpositions amid the construction rubble surrounding the cloverleaf intersections.

These were perhaps not trained soldiers in the Western sense of the word, but they were experienced fighters who chose not to reveal themselves all at once. They engaged U.S. forces passing through the intersection at Objective Curley with some weapons, but not until Team ZAN occupied the position did they show how much combat force they actually had.

Team ZAN eventually captured 30 enemy prisoners of war at Objective Curley. Of these, 28 were carrying Syrian passports or were otherwise identified as non-Iraqi. After the battle was over (sometime after 9 April), local citizens approached U.S. forces at the road junction and asked for permission to give the Iraqi dead a proper burial. LTC Twitty agreed, of course. The local Iraqis took away the bodies of the few dead fighters that were wearing Iraqi army uniforms, but refused to have anything to do with the masses of dead Syrians, expressing their disgust and hatred of these fanatics to anyone who would listen.

The Syrian and Iraqi fighters defended Objective Curley from trenches and bunkers built near the intersection. They also fired from nearby buildings and retaining walls. They attacked from all directions on foot and in commandeered taxis and civilian cars or in civilian pickup trucks mounted with heavy machine guns on pedestals. They fired RPGs in volley from two-to-three man teams under the covering fire of light machine guns and AK-47 rifles. They often fired RPGs from long range, lobbing them high in the air to land among the U.S. defenders.

Iraqi Army and Saddam Fedayeen reinforced the jihadists. They used mortars and field artillery, normally firing preplanned concentrations using one to three rounds at a time. They did not seem to be able to adjust this fire, but they repeated the fire missions often.

There was a large building on the northwest corner of the intersection and from it rained a hail of rifle and machine gun fire. At some times, there were so many enemy firing from that building that it appeared to the U.S. Soldiers that the whole structure was "twinkling and blinking" (LTC Twitty). Repeated attempts by the gunners of Bradley fighting vehicles to suppress these fires were not successful. Although the fire would decrease for a while, it would soon build again.

CSM Gallagher recommended that the mortar platoon fire direct lay missions against the building, something CPT Zan readily agreed to. The mortar platoon initiated what would be the first of many direct lay missions in support of the defense of Objective Curley.

The fighting at Objective Curley was fierce and continuous from the moment the U.S. forces halted and dismounted their vehicles. The small U.S. force on Objective Curley was hard-pressed. The enemy attacked with a fanaticism unknown since the screaming Japanese kamikaze charges in the Pacific or the fierce night assaults of the North Vietnamese Army in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. The Americans fought back just as hard, pounding the enemy with everything they had.

The mortar platoon was firing indirect fire in support of the forces at Objectives Moe and Larry, firing direct lay missions against the attackers at Objective Curley, and defending its portion of the perimeter with its heavy machine guns and small arms, all the time under a hail of fire from RPGs, AK-47s, and enemy indirect fire.

This battle proved the wisdom of the American Army's decision to replace the aged 107 mm mortar with the newer, more powerful 120mm. The newer mortar's ability to fire at very close-range targets, along with its faster rate of fire and more lethal ammunition, was the difference between life and death several times that day.

Although they were cleared out several times, the enemy was able to reoccupy the shallow trenches around the periphery of the cloverleaf on and off ramps whenever the U.S. forces moved to another portion of the perimeter. Enemy forces occupied a shallow trench and bunker site near the northeastern off ramp. Growing bolder, small groups of attackers edged closer and closer to the position from all directions, and although the direct lay mortar missions against the large building to the north had helped, fierce fire was still coming from there.

The fighting was at close range, and it was brutal. One group of Americans assaulted into a crude trench and wiped out its defenders at close range in a furious exchange of fire. Only when they were searching the dead did they notice that one of the defenders was a woman. She had been fighting along side the men, firing an AK-47 at the Americans. Even so, it bothered the Soldier that had shot her. His friends told him that it was a case of kill or be killed and that she had made her choice. It was little consolation, but it had to do. The battle went on.

THE MORTAR PLATOON ON OBJECTIVE CURLEY

The actions of the mortar platoon of TF 3-15 Infantry deserve special attention. Not only did it defend a sector of the Team ZAN perimeter, but also its indirect fires played a large role in the successful actions at all three objectives.

LTC Twitty discovered early on in the fight that his mortars would play a key role. The battles leading up to this one had not presented many opportunities to bring his mortars to play against the Iraqis, but this fight made up for all that. "The mortars were my artillery! I could clear my own fires, and that made a big difference. It took the mortar platoon about one to two minutes to fire a mission for us" (LTC Twitty).

The mortar platoon was not the only unit firing in support of the defenders of Objective Curley. The supporting field artillery battalion had been called up for several missions. Four or five hours into the fight, the artillery had fired a "danger close" mission against a building on the northeastern portion of the perimeter that was being used by Iraqi snipers and RPG gunners. The mission was successful in suppressing the fire for a while, but it eventually started again.

The battalion FSO called for a repeat of the original mission. According to him, the artillery battalion FDC passed the mission to a different battery than the one that had fired the original mission. When this battery fired the mission, a single round landed short of the target and wounded two Team ZAN Soldiers. The FSO called an immediate check-fire.

After that, the FSO decided that it was better to use the mortars rather than the artillery for the missions around Objective Curley. He used his mortar platoon exclusively for the next 24 hours. The mortar platoon did not have any short rounds during the battle. The mortar platoon was in constant action. It fired at seven targets in support of the most northern objective, Moe. Six of these were "danger close."

It fired one mission against a heavily wooded area in which an estimated Iraqi platoon was gathered. The FDC called for a combination of high explosive (HE)-Delay, HE-Quick, and white phosphorus (WP) rounds. The platoon fired a series of missions, each on a slightly different range and deflection, in effect a search-and-traverse mission, using more than 40 rounds. The observer reported the entire Iraqi platoon destroyed.

Another time, an observer sent a grid location of a target, reporting a force of 40 to 50 Iraqis with at least one pickup truck mounting a machine gun moving north up an alley towards the U.S. position. The mortars fired an immediate suppression mission, without any adjusting rounds, and hit the truck with the first volley. The survivors of the Iraqi attack force were dispersed.

The battalion FSO was not the only person calling for and adjusting the mortar fires. At one time or another, company FSOs, forward observers, company commanders, squad leaders, platoon leaders, and even a company executive officer all called for mortar fires. It just depended on who was in the best position to observe the fire.

Although the mortar platoon leader, Captain Woodruff, used the aiming circle at least once during the war to lay the mortars for direction, normally the squad leaders would lay the individual mortars using their M2 compasses. The unit had trained extensively for this, and had practiced occupying firing positions on roads. The platoon leader trusted his mortar squad leaders, even though several of them were relatively junior Soldiers. He and the platoon sergeant had trained them well, and they did not have any problems because of mistakes in lay for direction.

During the fighting on Objective Curley, the mortar platoon had two misfires--rounds that dropped, but did not fire. The crews executed by-the-book drills to reduce the misfires and get back into action. The only modification they made was that they did not exit the mortar track and wait for the tube to cool; they reduced the misfire immediately and returned to firing missions.

The 120ram rounds proved to be deadly to both exposed attackers and to buildings. Several missions during this battle were against buildings occupied by Iraqi forces. The mortar platoon would engage a building using HE-Delay. The U.S. troops were always impressed by the amount of damage the heavy mortars would cause, even against substantial buildings.

CPT Woodruff had several good things to say about the training he received at the Infantry Mortar Leader's Course (IMLC). He said that it had thoroughly prepared him to train and lead a mortar platoon in combat. He stated, "1 kept a copy of FM 7-90, Tactical Employment of Mortars, with me at all times." He said that the doctrine contained in that manual was very useful to him in this war.

The mortar platoon tracks were equipped with what the troops called "ACAV kits." These were heavy metal gun-shields that protected the normally exposed gunners of the heavy machine guns.

REINFORCEMENT OF TEAM ZAN

The fighting at the other two objectives, Larry and Moe, was equally fierce, but the task force commander knew that retaining control of Objective Curley was key to his mission. After about three hours of heavy combat, LTC Twitty called CPT Hornbuckle on the radio. He said, "Zan, just tell me. Do you need extra help?"

CPT Hornbuckle didn't say "yes," that he did need help. He knew that he had to hold his position, and he knew that the rest of the task force was under pressure, too. Although he said that he could hold without reinforcements, his high level of stress came across the airwaves to his battalion commander, with whom he had worked for many months in close proximity. LTC Twitty could sense that things were difficult at Objective Curley, but he still didn't know for sure that the forces there needed help. He had precious little to give them anyway, as all three task force objectives were under heavy attack.

Acting on his gut instinct, he confirmed his analysis with a call to CSM Gallagher asking for his assessment. Gallagher, tagged as "Black Hawk Bob" by the media because he had fought and been seriously wounded in the fighting in Mogadishu in 1993, had been in the thick of the fighting from the beginning and had already been wounded again at Objective Curley.

When the commander contacted him, the sergeant major was standing up next to his M88 recovery vehicle with his leg bandaged, firing his M4 carbine at the attackers closing in on the TOC location. CSM Gallagher answered LTC Twitty's question straight up, without hesitation ... "Yes sir, we need help, and we need it now" (LTC Twitty).

LTC Twitty called the 2nd BCT commander, COL Perkins, and asked for the release of a mechanized infantry platoon from his B Company, still occupying the blocking position along Phase Line SNAKE north of Objective Saints.

CPT Johnson, listening in on the radio conversation, and knowing the situation on Objective Curley, made one of the most important recommendations of the battle. He suggested to the commander that, instead of sending just a single platoon, he gather both his rifle platoons for the reinforcement of Curley and come north as a company with every armored fighting vehicle he could scrape together. Within moments, the 2nd BCT commander had considered and accepted that plan.

Although his forces had been in almost constant contact with the enemy at the blocking position and further south with the logistical elements, when LTC Twitty gave the order for CPT Johnson to, "Get to Curley! ASAP!'" (LTC Twitty) he was able to move quickly. He had been listening to the radio messages and to the roar of fire from his north, and had anticipated such a situation.

B Company, 3rd Battalion, 15th Infantry was ready to move and move fast to aid its friends. The company came roaring north with every weapon it had firing. It was just in time. "It was the most amazing thing. CPT Johnson moved to Objective Curley within 15 minutes. The fighting was fierce. The first squad leader out of his track was shot as he dismounted" (LTC Twitty).

CPT Johnson and his company arrived like the proverbial cavalry to the rescue. According to one man that was there, "There was not a Soldier on Curley that did not think he was going to die that day" (CPL Warren Hall).

According to one of the embedded media present at the fight, the enemy had pressed closer and closer against the embattled defenders. The company medics had armed themselves to defend their patients. The wounded still able to fire a weapon had picked up arms. The battalion command sergeant major was wounded in the leg but still fighting, and even the Chaplain had picked up a weapon to help defend the wounded unable to fight back.

CPT Johnson's arrival tipped the scales of battle, but the enemy wasn't ready to admit defeat immediately. The fighting was so fierce on Objective Curley that huge amounts of expended ammunition littered the entire area of the cloverleaf. Two days after the fighting, Private First Class David Turner, a mechanic in HHC, 3-15 Infantry, passed by the site in a convoy. He described the streets and ground around Curley as "shimmering in the sun like gold from all the expended brass lying on the ground."

THE BATTLE AT OBJECTIVE LARRY

While CPT Johnson and B Company were reinforcing Objective Curley, the fighting was also intense at Objective Larry where the task force commander had positioned himself.

Team RAGE had moved through the intersection at Phase Line COLORADO, shooting its way past the Iraqi defenders on what was to become Curley. The team commander led with one of his tank platoons and had a mechanized infantry platoon bring up the rear. All totaled, Team RAGE consisted of 19 armored vehicles including the task force commander's.

At Objective Larry, one tank platoon had responsibility for the northeast quadrant while another took the southeast quadrant. The mechanized infantry platoon had responsibility for the entire west side of the objective. Enemy attacks began immediately, mainly from the south but also from buildings to the northwest, from the crossover road to the west, and from a jumble of buildings to the southwest.

The main effort, at least for the first several hours, was a series of individual and group suicide attacks by vehicles racing towards the U.S. positions from the south. Filled with armed men, these vehicles would race towards the intersection with weapons firing out the windows or from the beds of the pickup trucks. The Iraqis attacked using the ubiquitous Iraqi white and orange taxis, city busses, dump trucks, and, in one case, a huge lumbering recreational vehicle (LTC Twitty).

These enemy vehicles would often be filled with weapons and explosives, so much that often, when high explosive rounds from the Bradley's 25mm cannon or a tank round struck them, they would explode in a tremendous secondary explosion, scattering debris across the road and adding to the scene of carnage that quickly developed south of the position.

The attacks were as incessant as they were futile, but they were pressed home with a fierceness and determination to defy the U.S. fire that made the men on Objective Larry come to believe that the Iraqis were all using some sorts of drugs.

LTC Twitty, positioned on top of the overpass in the center of the intersection, was in the thick of the fight along with all the others. Within the first two hours of his arrival at Objective Larry, he had to reload the 25mm ammunition he carried in his M2 fighting vehicle. His gunner was engaging targets on his own, while LTC Twitty maintained contact with the other elements of the task force, cleared supporting fires, and kept the 2nd BCT commander updated. Eventually, he estimated that 50 to 80 enemy suicide attackers in different vehicles were destroyed south of Objective Larry.

The tank platoons of Team RAGE were primarily used to engage and destroy the high-speed attackers moving towards the position along the main roads. The Bradley fighting vehicles were supporting the infantry squads who had dismounted and were clearing the nearby buildings and trenches of the dozens of Iraqi riflemen and RPG gunners.

The enemy that Team RAGE faced included a fair amount of dismounted Republican Guard troops as well as some Special Republican Guards, but the main element was the suicide bombers and the pickup trucks mounting heavy machine guns, often referred to as "technical vehicles" by the Soldiers of the task force.

The combat engineers accompanying Team RAGE were kept busy. At one time, LTC Twitty realized that although he was able to block the main highway with fires, the small frontage road running along the west of the elevated portion of Highway 8 would allow an attacking vehicle to approach the U.S. position without being engaged until the last moment. He ordered the engineers to have the ACE (armored combat earthmover) push up a berm of earth to block the road. The ACE driver quickly accomplished this task.

Just 15 minutes later, the wisdom of this decision was made plain. An Iraqi car, full of explosives and moving at exceptionally high speed, approached the intersection from the south. Instead of continuing straight ahead to its destruction as most of the others had done, this vehicle suddenly veered off the main road, crossed through a gap in the guardrail, and jumped the on-ramp in a feat worthy of "Evil Kneivel," the daredevil showman.

This act placed the vehicle on the frontage road, still moving at a high rate of speed, and within 100 meters of the battalion tactical command post (TAC) under the overpass. Unfortunately for the driver, the newly created berm was directly in his path.

About 75 meters from the TAC, he struck the berm at high speed. The driver's body was ejected through the windshield and came to rest less than 50 meters from the U.S. positions. When a Bradley fighting vehicle fired at the wrecked car with its 25ram cannon, the result was a huge secondary explosion that rocked the heavy armored vehicles at the overpass. "I owe my life to that ACE driver!" (LTC Twitty).

THE BATTLE AT OBJECTIVE MOE

The fighting on Objective Moe, furthest to the north, was equally intense. Large numbers of enemy infantry armed with RPGs and automatic weapons were dug in along Highway 8 and firing from adjacent buildings. The enemy at Objective Moe was different from those at Curley. At Moe, the opposition was a combination of mounted and dismounted regular army and Republican Guard forces. They attacked using T-72 tanks, BMP1 armored personnel carriers and large-caliber anti-aircraft weapons used in the direct fire mode.

Alpha Company "Gator" led the attack up Baghdad's "RPG Alley," Highway 8, while under intense small arms and RPG fire. The company destroyed an estimated 30 enemy personnel firing from trenches and buildings before arriving at the critically important highway cloverleaf at Objective Moe.

Objective Moe proved a veritable hornet's nest of resistance, constantly reinforced by the enemy who streamed in from the east and west. Team GATOR came under intense 360-degree direct and indirect fire. Several hundred enemy troops were entrenched along the road with a trench and bunker complex among the palms and brush, and others occupied prepared positions in adjacent buildings dominating the interchange.

As soon as Team GATOR arrived, armed enemy vehicles and truck bombs began to drive towards the cloverleaf. Iraqi infantry swarmed into the area and occupied positions behind some low walls, boxing-in the intersection, and in the buildings dominating the objective.

Captain Josh Wright, the A company commander, realized that the company's best course of action was to immediately attack into the defending Iraqis to push them back. Alpha Company made a mounted attack that temporarily cleared the cloverleaf of dismounted Iraqis.

Finding the enemy growing in numbers, and receiving reports of Iraqi tanks moving to his position, along with infantry maneuvering around his flank, Captain Wright decided to carry the attack beyond his assigned objective and fight even deeper into Baghdad.

He sent LT Daniel Van Kirk's M1A1 tank platoon charging into the city north of the objective, where they began destroying several strong points established in buildings, some air defense guns firing in the direct fire mode, and multiple Iraqi armored vehicles.

Following this limited objective spoiling attack, Alpha Company consolidated on Objective Moe and began simultaneous efforts to complete the clearance of the trenches, build obstacles on the approaches, and destroy the enemy firing on them from all sides.

The 2nd Platoon, A Company, 10th Engineers, under First Lieutenant Adam Hess and Sergeant First Class Palmer, blocked approaches to Objective Moe by cutting down light poles to form a modern version of the ancient abatis, and by using an ACE, driven by Sergeant Miller, to push debris and burning cars into defensive berms.

These efforts proved worthwhile when the obstacles allowed the company to stop a savage last-light attack that climaxed with the destruction of a car bomb just 60 meters from the perimeter.

After eight hours of sustained combat and after firing six danger-close mortar missions and 20 danger-close artillery missions, a survey of the battlefield indicated that Alpha Company had destroyed more than 60 vehicles and as many as 200 enemy infantrymen. However, the company team was desperately short of ammunition.

THE RESUPPLY CONVOY MOVES NORTH

The Team GATOR commander reported to LTC Twitty that he was in "black" status on main gun ammunition for his tank platoon, coax machine gun ammunition for the Bradleys and tanks, and on small arms ammunition for his infantrymen. If it was to hold for much longer, Team GATOR at Objective Moe would need a resupply of ammunition. That meant that soft-wheeled vehicles would have to run the gauntlet from the 2nd BCT logistical area at Objective Saints all the way up to Moe, and even beyond.

The armor-heavy task forces further north were already shutting down their tanks to conserve fuel as they fought vicious gunfights with scattered Iraqi RPG teams and armored vehicles.

The 2nd BCT logisticians put together a 20-vehicle convoy full of ammunition and fuel for the units to the north. As it moved out, escorted by the scout platoon from Task Force 3-15 Infantry, it immediately began to draw fire.

FIRST FRIENDLY KIAs

During the short drive from the old B Co., 3-15th Infantry blocking position at Phase Line SNAKE to Objective Curley, the task force suffered its first fatal casualty of the battle. The Scout platoon sergeant, Sergeant First Class John Marshal, had positioned himself and his armored HMMWV in a critical position at the head of the convoy and was firing suppressive fire from his vehicle-mounted MK- 19 automatic grenade launcher when he was struck and killed by an RPG. The convoy continued to move despite the loss.

Just seconds later, another RPG killed the battalion maintenance NCO, Staff Sergeant Robert Stever, who was firing a heavy machine gun, this one from the maintenance section's M113 armored personnel carrier. This vehicle continued to move with the convoy. The loss of these two well-respected NCOs, coming as it did so close together, shocked the task force members who saw it or heard of it on the radio.

It was small consolation to the task force that both of these NCOs died fighting, setting an example for all around them. Witnesses reported that just prior to his death SFC Marshal had been calmly directing the defense of the column over the radio while simultaneously suppressing the enemy's fire with his automatic grenade launcher. He even had the presence of mind to make a small joke with his crew, keeping up their morale, as they tired rapidly and accurately from the vehicle's windows.

The sacrifice these two men made, and the heavy and accurate fire from their weapons, aided the large convoy immeasurably as it pounded northward to Objective Curley, every weapon it owned firing as it passed the Iraqi RPG teams and riflemen in the buildings along the highway.

THE RESUPPLY CONVOY AT CURLEY

The leader of the TF 3-15 Infantry's support platoon had arranged the convoy into two sections. The lead section did not stop at Curley. It continued on to Objective Larry. However, the other section, consisting of 20 heavy vehicles containing the resupply for Team ZAN, rattled into Objective Curley and pulled into a tight coil on the level ground just outside the overpass, inside the circling on and off ramps. Although not completely safe from enemy fire, this was the best position that could be found for the moment.

Soldiers from Objective Curley began immediately to unload ammunition and pass it out to the dispersed forces around the intersection, still busy fighting the Iraqi and Syrian dismounted infantry.

The mortar platoon, which had been firing almost continual fire for effect missions, at least seven of them "danger close," had actually run out of ammunition after firing more than 240 of the huge 120 mm rounds. The ammunition handlers from each squad would run to the supply trucks, load up three of the heavy rounds in their arms, and run back to their squad mortar track, fully exposed to fire in the right lane of the main highway. As fast as those three rounds could be handed up and fired, the Soldiers would run back for three more. This went on for more than 30 minutes, with the ammunition carriers continually exposing themselves as they brought desperately needed ammo to the mortars.

THE LOSS OF AMMUNITION AND FUEL VEHICLES

It was during this time at Objective Curley that what some witnesses reported as an Iraqi RPG struck one of the ammunition resupply vehicles. It immediately began to burn, and the sight of the burning and exploding supply vehicle caused the enemy to renew his fire and increase it if that was even possible.

Despite efforts to unload the remaining ammunition, the fire rapidly spread to four other vehicles. Specialist Julio Valles and Staff Sergeant Joe Todd both voluntarily exposed themselves to enemy fire to run to the cab of a vehicle and attempt to move it away from the spreading fires.

THE MOVEMENT NORTH

In the chaos of the Syrian and Iraqi fire, the exploding ammunition, and the screams and shouts of Task Force 3-15 Infantry Soldiers fighting to save the remaining vehicles, CPT Johnson made the decision to get the remaining fifteen resupply vehicles moving north, out of Objective Curley and towards Objective Larry and Moe. He had just learned that another unit, Task Force 2-7 Infantry, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Scott Rutter, was heading north to assume responsibility for the defense of Objective Curley and to release B Company to escort the remaining resupply vehicles northwards.

In fact, about this time the $3 of Task Force 2-7 Infantry, Major Rod Coffey, arrived to coordinate the relief in place. He was in a Bradley fighting vehicle and was leading an unarmored HMMWV as he drove up to Task Force 3-15 Infantry's TOC under the overpass on Objective Curley to conduct necessary adjacent unit coordination,

An overpass protected the TOC from the north, but scattered fire seemed to come in from all other directions. MAJ Coffey realized they were taking effective small arms fire. As soon as he dismounted his Bradley, the situation changed for the worse.

The fire became heavier, and RPGs began sizzling in from both sides of the highway. Shocked, he looked around and realized no one was returning fire. Instead, several exhausted Soldiers had their heads down behind anything providing cover leaving their weapons unmanned. He tried to communicate with his Bradley crew and get them back in the Bradley.

MAJ Coffey yelled, "Move forward and engage the enemy!" The Bradley thundered forward, dropping the two-man security team who began suppressing the enemy, killing several with well-aimed M- 16 shots.

The gunner began firing the Bradley 25mm chain gun, suppressing and destroying the enemy. A Special Forces Soldier at the TOC manned one of the .50 cal machine guns and returned fire.

MAJ Coffey was hit by enemy fire while he was scrambling through the HMMWV trying to get to cover. An RPG round hit and exploded near him. Near the burning HMMWV, two fuel tankers also began exploding, sending flames and debris high into the air. Major Coffey sustained severe injuries to his foot, breaking bones and getting hit with nearly 12 pieces of shrapnel. He refused medical evacuation at the time.

Although he was eager to get the vehicles moving and away from the confusion at Objective Curley, CPT Johnson would not give the order to move until he had checked and double-checked that all the members of Team ZAN and his rifle company were accounted for.

He was in his BFV, talking on the radio with his first sergeant, yelling over the noise, "1 am not leaving this objective until l know for certain that everyone is on board! Do you understand that! I am not leaving!" (LTC Twitty). Later, a news report on the incident made much ado about the tone of voice and words he used with his first sergeant. LTC Twitty dismissed it as just one of those things that happens in life-or-death situations, as this was.

In their efforts to get mortar ammunition off the burning trucks, three members of the mortar platoon, Privates First Class White, Voua Lor and Waggner, had become isolated northeast of their platoon, unable to get back to their vehicles because of the fire and the increasingly violent explosions.

Without being told, one of the mortar squad leaders, Specialist Smith, drove his armored vehicle through the explosions and flames to their location. He did a pivot steer, turned the vehicle around smartly, dropped the ramp, and all three of the ammunition handlers piled in for the return trip.

When he had finally determined to his satisfaction that all his Soldiers were accounted for, CPT Johnson moved the remaining resupply vehicles out of the tight coil in which they had been parked and shepherded them north under the protection of his armored fighting vehicles. His timing was exquisite.

Just as he was pulling out, the lead elements of TF 2-7 Infantry were fighting their way into Objective Curley from the south. Some rounds from the lead BFVs of TF 2-7 struck the trail elements of B Company, but no one was injured and no serious damage was done to any vehicles.

CPT Johnson's column moved north, pounding fire against the Iraqis forces along the route from every vehicle, armored and wheeled. "Drivers were hunched down low in the cabs, driving with their left hand and firing their M16s out the window with their right" (LTC Twitty).

LTC Twitty realized that it was critical that the convoy not get delayed before it reached Objective Moe. He ordered CPT Johnson not to stop at Objective Larry, to keep going to Objective Moe.

"I watched Ronny Johnson and the convoy roar past us on the way to Objective Moe. It was an incredible sight! Drivers and assistant drivers were firing as fast as they could, and they were FLYING! They must have been going 50 miles an hour when they passed me. I just cheered them on" (LTC Twitty).

CPT Johnson resupplied the forces at Moe, and then escorted the remaining trucks further north to resupply Task Forces 1-64 Armor and 4-64 Armor. Later, he had to send one mechanized rifle platoon back to Objective Saints to provide security and to assist the 2nd BCT recover from the devastating missile strike against the TOC. He moved to join LTC Twitty on Objective Larry before nightfall.

After a relatively quiet night on its two remaining objectives, Task Force 3-15 Infantry fought another battle the next day, 8 April. The fighting was almost as fierce as the day before, but with the task force consolidated into a more compact defense, the Iraqis were not able to press them as hard as they had the day before. After the battle on the 8th of April, TF 3-15 Infantry consolidated around a large Ba'ath Party complex near Objective Moe.

By the time Task Force 3-15 Infantry fought this battle in Baghdad, the Iraqis had finally learned that the U.S. could, in fact, see and fight at night. Earlier the Iraqi forces, especially the irregular Saddam Fedayeen, had often exposed themselves at night, standing in the open from 200 to 400 meters from U.S. vehicles and positions.

Of course, at that range, the thermal and image intensification sights on U.S. weapons could detect and engage them very effectively. Many Fedayeen were killed in that way early in the fighting. By the time the task force fought its major battle around Objective Peach, the Iraqi night movement and night attacks had begun to slack off (LTC Twitty). Fewer and fewer Iraqis would risk attacking U.S. forces in the dark.

By the battle of Baghdad on 7-9 April, the night attacks had ceased almost entirely. There was little or no contact around the defensive positions at night, just a little vehicle movement and the occasional burst of fire. At sunup, however, the battle would resume, "It was as if someone flipped on a light switch at dawn, and they all opened up at once!" (LTC Twitty).

THE ACTIONS OF TF 2-7 INFANTRY ON OBJECTIVE CURLEY 7 APRIL 2003

TF 2-7 Infantry, originally part of the 1st BCT, had been engaged heavily on 3 thru 5 April 2003 in fighting east of the Baghdad airport, with numerous patrols reported receiving fire and at least three Iraqi counterattacks defeated. On 5 April, the Task Force 2-7 Infantry's heavy mortar platoon fired eight significant missions, supporting all three companies with fire.

Task Force 2-7 was planning to continue its attack to the east along Highway 8 against heavy resistance when instead Brigade issued orders to conduct a relief in place with 2-187 Infantry from the 101st Air Assault Division. The intent was to give TF 2-7 Infantry at least a 24-hour rest and refit period.

LTC Scott Rutter, the task force commander, found a Special Republican Guard training compound on the airfield. It was soon cleared for use by the task force. Amenities included running water, a weight room, and most importantly, no enemy contact. Units began to move in and occupy their designated locations along what the task force called "Able Avenue."

However, duty called, and mere hours later, the task force received a mission to move to Objective Saints and secure 2nd Brigade Combat Team's lines of communication. Within four hours of notification, Task Force 2-7 left the safety and comfort of Able Avenue behind having spent only part of one night at rest. Because of the press of their duties, most leaders only got four or five hours of sleep during this refit period before they were called on to move again.

Convoying around the southwest corner of Baghdad, the task force halted at Objective Saints, the intersection of Highway 1 and Highway 8, directly south of Baghdad. Only a little earlier, the Iraqi surface-to-surface missile had struck the 2nd Brigade Combat Team TOC. When TF 2-7 Infantry arrived, smoke still rose behind the newly established TOC where the missile had impacted against a building.

With the report of the $3 injured, LTC Rutter began rapidly moving with Team RAGE to stabilize the situation. RAGE, along with LTC Rutter's track, engaged the enemy with 25ram HE fire. HQ 66 destroyed a suicide truck approaching the commanding general's vehicle, as he also happened to be there, observing the fight.

LTC Rutter, working with the FSO and the enlisted terminal attack controller (ETAC), destroyed the building the enemy had been using as a base of fire ensuring the security of that portion of2nd BCT's LOC.

After the enemy attack at Objective Curley was squelched, at least temporarily, the Special Forces operator approached Sergeant Stephens, Major Coffey's Bradley gunner, asking what unit he was with. With a dirty face and a burning cigarette hanging from his lips, SGT Stephens proudly responded that he was with "2-7 Infantry, from 1st Brigade Combat Team."

The Special Forces operator thanked SGT Stephens, claiming without their arrival and the Bradley getting into the fight, most of the TOC personnel could have been killed. Equally thankful, the commanding general's aide thanked LTC Rutter for his crew's quick destruction of the suicide truck.

That evening (7 April) the task force began to expand off the road network to ensure security of the Lines of Communication, working for 2nd BCT along Highway 8 in southern Baghdad.

Companies moved into sector KNIGHT at Objective Larry, RAGE in the north on Objective Moe and BUSHMASTER in the south at Objective Curley. Large walls surrounded every building and the combat engineers with Task Force 2-7 Infantry began the arduous task of knocking down walls to clear sectors of fire and eliminate possible ambush sites.

As the armored combat earthmovers punched holes in the wall, Bradleys and M1 s provided security. At Objective Moe, an ACE breached a wall and opened a hole directly in front of an Iraqi RPG team and an Iraqi armored vehicle. Hearing the heavy engineer vehicle pounding the wall, the enemy Infantry had prepared to ambush the unsuspecting Americans.

Staff Sergeant Lincoln Hollinsaid, the engineer platoon sergeant, guided the ACE through the wall and took the brunt of the first RPG impact. The rocket exploded at his feet and SSG Hollinsaid sustained extensive injuries to his legs. He died within minutes.

His death hit the task force extremely hard; he had replaced Sergeant First Class Paul Smith who had been killed in similar circumstances three days earlier at the Baghdad airport. In four days, this engineer platoon lost two platoon sergeants.

The Iraqi soldiers were preparing to attack RAGE when SSG Hollinsaid was killed. Had the engineers not located and killed the Iraqi soldiers, many more task force Soldiers could have perished in the enemy attack. The Iraqis could have sneaked up on RAGE, heavily armed with RPGs and automatic rifles. Later in the evening, around the overpass area, RAGE engaged and destroyed four BMPs and about 20 enemy Infantry with no friendly casualties.

Despite the loss of SSG Hollinsaid, more work needed to be done and combat pauses for nothing. Hours later, in the middle of the night, north of RAGE in KNIGHT's sector, engineers continued knocking down walls and clearing sectors of fire. An ACE punched through a wall and pulled forward, moving along the inside of the wall. Creeping forward, the vehicle flushed an Iraqi from his hiding place. Darting across the road, he hopped over the wall.

Using their thermal sights, a tank positioned outside the compound identified the armed Iraqi scaling down the wall and fired at him. The main gun round killed the enemy soldier and punched into the wall. The explosive round blew through the wall, spraying the armored combat earthmover with shrapnel and chunks of the wall.

Fragments ricocheted off the blade, striking the driver, Private First Class Jason Meyer, in the neck, killing him instantly. The tank crew was unaware the American vehicle was behind the wall, and would not have shot had they known.

It was a saddened but grimly determined group of Soldiers from TF 2-7 Infantry and TF 3-15 Infantry that watched the sun rising over Baghdad on the morning of 8 April. They had fought a determined and fanatical enemy to a standstill. They had taken and held all their objectives, absorbing the enemy's heaviest blows without breaking.

As the sun came up that day on the 3rd Infantry Division, it was setting on Saddam Hussein's murderous regime, set by the brave Soldiers of the Marne Division and their comrades-in-arms that were crushing the tyrants forces wherever they found them.

Arthur A. Durante is currently serving as deputy chief of Doctrine, Doctrine and Collective Training Division, Combined Arms and Tactics Directorate, Fort Benning, Georgia.

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COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group