- Introduction
Introduction to the writer - Breaking the News
How I told my family I was leaving in ten days. - The Road to War
Planning for combat operations aboard the USS Bataan enroute to the Middle East - Hurry Up & Wait
Life in the assembly area - Camp Shoup, Kuwait - Attack Positions
Occupation of final staging areas in Kuwait - Crossing the Line of Departure
Attacking into Iraq. - Mr. Toad's Wild Ride
Speeding down the highway at night, without lights (going the wrong-way). - Attack!
Attack to seize key bridges in An Nasiryah. - "Punch out the TAC CP"
More action in the Battle of An Nasiriyah. - Running the Gauntlet
Racing through 4 miles of enemy held city. - Return to Friendly Lines
My encounter with an Iraqi tank on the return trip. - Counter Attack!
Iraqi night attack on our rear area. - Jessica Lynch Rescue
The rescue of Jessica Lynch and the next mission.
Operation Iraqi Freedom
A Personal Account of the Battle of An Nasiriyah
Breaking the News
December was a busy month for me. As the Commanding Officer of the Second Marine Division Communications Company, I was tasked with providing several detachments of personnel and equipment to units that were on standby to deploy to Kuwait for a possible invasion of Iraq. I wasn’t scheduled to deploy. This resulted in some mixed feelings, which I tried to keep to myself.
I was glad to remain with my family. I have a wonderful wife and three young children. I wasn’t too excited about leaving them behind for several months or, for that matter, forever if I were to become a casualty. Equally heavy was the emotion of being left out of combat again, as I was in the last Gulf War. I’ve trained for 13 years for a mission such as this, and felt like a football player who was told not dress out for the big game. At any rate, I resolved to do my duty knowing I was doing important work no matter where it was. The possibility of combat made the time I spent with my wife and children all that more precious.
This was my attitude when I took my oldest daughter to the Base Theater on New Year’s Day, 2003 to see a movie. After the show, as we were shuffling out, I heard the Executive Officer (XO) of the 2d Marine Regiment call out my name.
Second Marines was the nucleus of Regimental Combat Team Two and had just received a warning order to deploy. I had previously worked with him and the Regimental Commanding Officer (CO) at Headquarters Marine Corps. The XO asked me to drop by his office the following day. He said that the CO had something to discuss with me. He was purposely not mentioning the subject, and because of this, I was confident that he wanted to talk to me about the deployment.
For the rest of the evening, I was both deeply saddened and elated by the prospects of deploying. Much to the chagrin of my wife, I could not sleep that evening. I was honored that, when faced with combat, fellow Marines wanted me with them in the starting line up. I was deeply troubled by the prospect of leaving my family behind and the possibility that their father and husband may never return to them.
The following evening, I dutifully reported to 2d Marines CO at his headquarters. He confirmed that they were deploying to the Persian Gulf by amphibious shipping within the next two weeks and that he was going to ask the Division Commander to send me with him. He told me to get myself and my family ready for deployment.
I was supposed to stop by the video store on the way home that evening and pick up a movie that my wife had requested. She called me as I was driving home to inquire if I had picked up the video. I told her I had not gone to the video store at all. She was curious and concerned and asked if something was wrong. I informed her that we would discuss it when I got home.
Upon arriving at home, my wife knew what I had to say the moment I walked in the door and instructed me to wait until after dinner when the kids were in bed to tell her. Telling my wife and children that I was deploying was one of the hardest things I have ever done. I felt like I was betraying them because part of me was excited about the prospect of going into harm’s way and I had also assured them I was not going to deploy in my current job. I had not considered being requested by 2d Marines.
The next nine days were a blur of writing Fitness Reports, inventorying the equipment for which I had been responsible at Communications Company, shopping for necessities for the deployment, and preparing my family for my absence. The sad thing about unscheduled deployments in the Marine Corps is that you are the busiest at work just when you should be spending the most time at home. Before I knew it, my wife and children were dropping me off in the dark of the morning where the bus would pick me up to take me to the beach where the ship was waiting.
It took several minutes to compose myself after they drove off. I had told them to not wait and I was thankful that they didn’t. It was very sad to see the other wives and children crying and clinging to their Marine for hours until it was time for him to go. My wife and I had experienced that prolonged and painful kind of goodbye once before and we vowed never to do it again, so they dropped me off and went home.
Eventually it was time for me to board the bus and make my way to the beach where I would catch a ride to the ship that would be my home for the next month.
Next...
The Road to War
Planning for combat operations aboard the USS Bataan enroute to the Middle East