2RHPZ
05-06-2004, 03:44 PM
http://www.military.com/NewContent/0,13190,042804_Nasiriyah,00.html?ESRC=army-a.nl
The Battle of An Nasiriyah
April 28, 2004
By Richard S. Lowry
The following is a story detailing events that happened during battles around
and in An Nasiriyah during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. The well-known
ambush that saw Jessica Lynch and Shoshana Johnson taken prisoner, and events
that followed, are revealed in detail here.
March 23rd was the first anniversary of Task Force Tarawa's bloody battle at An
Nasiriyah. One year later, it remains the costliest day of our struggle in Iraq.
As the sun began to rise on that clear Sunday morning, thirty-three members of
the Army's 507th Maintenance Company unknowingly drove directly through Iraqi
prepared defenses in, and around, the ancient desert city of An Nasiriyah. A
series of misfortunes, poor decisions, and just plain - bad luck, had led this
convoy into the jaws of death.
There are not many of us that do not know the story of Jessica Lynch's ambush,
capture, and subsequent rescue. Most Americans were horrified at the news of the
ambush and the sight of young American soldiers being questioned by their Iraqi
captors. Jessica and her fellow prisoners were the lucky ones. Eleven soldiers
died in the ambush that morning, and eighteen Marines lost their lives that
afternoon.
What is not generally known is that the Marines of Task Force Tarawa were
traveling on the heels of Captain King's beleaguered supply convoy. Brigadier
General Richard Natonski's Camp Lejeune Marines were moving to secure the
eastern bridges on the highway through An Nasiriyah. These bridges were vital to
the Marines' plans for the attack toward Baghdad. Colonel Ron Bailey's
Regimental Combat Team 2 (RCT-2) was methodically advancing north toward An
Nasiriyah on the same road that the 507th had traveled a few hours earlier when
they encountered some of the surviving members of the 507th who were fleeing
south from the ambush.
Captain King pleaded with the Marines to save his soldiers. General Natonski
ordered his lead battalion commander, LtCol Rick Grabowski, to press forward and
find the remaining soldiers of the 507th. He said to Grabowski, "We have to save
those soldiers; they would do it for us."
Now LtCol Grabowski's Marines had two missions; secure the bridges and rescue as
many of the stranded soldiers as they could. He immediately ordered Major Bill
Peeples to move forward with his M1 tanks. TEAM TANK pressed forward and soon
they were receiving fire from both sides of the road.
Meanwhile, ten soldiers had abandoned their shot-up vehicles and raced for cover
in a trench along the side of the road. Running low on ammunition and with five
wounded, they resigned themselves to the fact that they would not survive the
day. They all resolved that they would go down fighting. They lay in the trench
for nearly an hour, waiting for the Iraqis to close in on their position and
their final stand against the enemy. Suddenly, Staff Sergeant Tarik Jackson, the
most seriously wounded, cocked his head, "Listen!" he exclaimed.
"Do you hear that?"
"It sounds like our tanks!"
Someone peeked up out of the trench and saw Major Peeples Marine tanks
approaching.
TEAM TANK moved in and straddled the trench. They began picking targets and
methodically destroying the enemy. COBRA helicopters swooped in and continued
the fight. Soon the wounded were being treated and these ten lucky soldiers were
being moved to safety.
The day was just beginning for LtCol Grabowski's 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines.
They continued north into the city. Unfortunately, they only found burning hulks
of the remaining 507th vehicles. The occupants had all been removed. It would be
weeks before the fate of the remaining soldiers was known.
So, now Grabowski's Marines focused back on securing the bridges through An
Nasiriyah. After a short pause to refuel, Bravo Company led the battalion across
the Euphrates River Bridge and into the city. Captain Michael Brooks' Alpha
Company raced across the river next and set up defensive positions while Bravo
Company turned northeast to skirt the eastern edge of the city. Objective 1, the
first bridge was secure. They had accomplished half of their mission.
Captain Dan Wittnam raced across the Euphrates River Bridge with his Charlie
Company, riding in eleven Amphibious Assault Vehicles (AAVs or "tracks").
Charlie Company drove straight through the center of town, toward the second,
northern bridge. Enemy fire erupted all around them. Charlie Company plowed
forward through the ever-increasing enemy fire. Lance Corporal Edward
Castleberry was driving the lead vehicle -C201.
Castleberry kept his track moving forward. Several Iraqis ran to the middle of
the road stopped and began shooting RPGs at the vehicle. Two rockets whizzed by,
scraping the side of C201 as they passed. Other RPGs were duds and just bounced
off the armored vehicle. Castleberry watched in terror as another Iraqi jumped
into the road and leveled a RPG at his lead track. He rummaged around in the
driver compartment trying to keep the 28-ton vehicle driving down the road while
he struggled to bring his M-16 rifle up through the hatch. Unable to free his
rifle, he steered straight for the enemy soldier and accelerated, crushing the
threatening Iraqi under his treads before he could let loose his deadly
projectile. Finally, Castleberry managed to free his weapon. Now he was driving
forward and shooting his rifle at the same time. The track commander, Sergeant
William Schaefer, looked over and said to Castleberry, "What in the hell are you
doing?"
"It makes me feel better." Castleberry replied.
Charlie Company pushed forward through the city. The entire Company had nearly
traversed the four kilometer gauntlet when the second to last track, C211, was
hit in the right rear with an RPG. The warhead hit in the vehicle's "Achilles
Heel" just below the track. The explosion spewed shrapnel into the crowded troop
compartment, wounding five Marines. Sergeant Randy Glass was the closest to the
impact. A large chunk of metal almost completely severed his leg. Smoke poured
out of the troop compartment as the entire right rear of C211 continued to burn.
The crippled track continued forward and managed to get across the northern
bridge before it ground to a stop and more than twenty Marines scrambled out,
taking the wounded with them.
C211
All of Charlie Company was now under heavy direct and indirect fire from all
sides. The Weapons Platoon leader set up his three mortars and began returning
fire. Lieutenant Ben Reid ordered one of his mortar teams to move south with him
and set up a position to fire back into the town. Just as they were setting up,
the team took a direct hit from an enemy artillery round. Lieutenant Reid was
thrown to the ground. "I thought my arm had been blown off" Reid said later.
Fortunately, it had only been broken. He turned and found his mortar team
decimated. Five Marines lay dead and another four were severely wounded.
Reid ran up the road for help but another artillery round knocked him to the
ground. As he lay face down in the Iraqi sand, all he could see was a mass of
blood pooling up in the dirt. The shell had peppered his face with shrapnel. He
got back on his feet and continued his run to the mortar track, C208. Reid went
directly to his Gunny Sergeant and asked him if his eye was still intact. The
Gunny looked at Reid's wound and replied, "You're good to go, sir."
Two Air Force A-10s appeared overhead looking for work. Because of the confusion
of the battle and many problems on the ground with communications, the battalion
forward air controller did not know that Charlie Company had moved north of the
Saddam Canal so he cleared the two Warthog pilots hot north of the bridge.
The A-10s swooped in, not knowing that there were Marines in their target area.
They dropped eight 500lb bombs and made several strafing runs with their high-powered
30mm gatling guns. They also fired three Maverick missiles. The aircraft that
the Iraqis had dubbed "whispering death" made pass after pass, destroying many
Iraqi emplacements, vehicles, and buildings.
Unfortunately, several Marine AMTRACS were hit by stray fire. One of the stray
30mm rounds hit and killed a Marine and other canon rounds wounded several more.
By the end of the day eighteen Marines had died fighting for the northern bridge
and another fifteen had been wounded, including Lieutenant Reid, who had been
knocked to the ground a third time with a gunshot wound to his shoulder.
At An Nasiriyah, the Marines of Task Force Tarawa had kicked open the door for
the First Marine Division to charge through to Baghdad. It would take the
Marines more than a week to subdue the Iraqi resistance inside Nasiriyah but the
Marines of RCT1 would start moving through "Ambush Alley" by the next morning.
©2004 Richard S. Lowry. All opinions expressed in this article are the author's
and do not necessarily reflect those of Military.com.
©2004 Military Advantage
The Battle of An Nasiriyah
April 28, 2004
By Richard S. Lowry
The following is a story detailing events that happened during battles around
and in An Nasiriyah during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. The well-known
ambush that saw Jessica Lynch and Shoshana Johnson taken prisoner, and events
that followed, are revealed in detail here.
March 23rd was the first anniversary of Task Force Tarawa's bloody battle at An
Nasiriyah. One year later, it remains the costliest day of our struggle in Iraq.
As the sun began to rise on that clear Sunday morning, thirty-three members of
the Army's 507th Maintenance Company unknowingly drove directly through Iraqi
prepared defenses in, and around, the ancient desert city of An Nasiriyah. A
series of misfortunes, poor decisions, and just plain - bad luck, had led this
convoy into the jaws of death.
There are not many of us that do not know the story of Jessica Lynch's ambush,
capture, and subsequent rescue. Most Americans were horrified at the news of the
ambush and the sight of young American soldiers being questioned by their Iraqi
captors. Jessica and her fellow prisoners were the lucky ones. Eleven soldiers
died in the ambush that morning, and eighteen Marines lost their lives that
afternoon.
What is not generally known is that the Marines of Task Force Tarawa were
traveling on the heels of Captain King's beleaguered supply convoy. Brigadier
General Richard Natonski's Camp Lejeune Marines were moving to secure the
eastern bridges on the highway through An Nasiriyah. These bridges were vital to
the Marines' plans for the attack toward Baghdad. Colonel Ron Bailey's
Regimental Combat Team 2 (RCT-2) was methodically advancing north toward An
Nasiriyah on the same road that the 507th had traveled a few hours earlier when
they encountered some of the surviving members of the 507th who were fleeing
south from the ambush.
Captain King pleaded with the Marines to save his soldiers. General Natonski
ordered his lead battalion commander, LtCol Rick Grabowski, to press forward and
find the remaining soldiers of the 507th. He said to Grabowski, "We have to save
those soldiers; they would do it for us."
Now LtCol Grabowski's Marines had two missions; secure the bridges and rescue as
many of the stranded soldiers as they could. He immediately ordered Major Bill
Peeples to move forward with his M1 tanks. TEAM TANK pressed forward and soon
they were receiving fire from both sides of the road.
Meanwhile, ten soldiers had abandoned their shot-up vehicles and raced for cover
in a trench along the side of the road. Running low on ammunition and with five
wounded, they resigned themselves to the fact that they would not survive the
day. They all resolved that they would go down fighting. They lay in the trench
for nearly an hour, waiting for the Iraqis to close in on their position and
their final stand against the enemy. Suddenly, Staff Sergeant Tarik Jackson, the
most seriously wounded, cocked his head, "Listen!" he exclaimed.
"Do you hear that?"
"It sounds like our tanks!"
Someone peeked up out of the trench and saw Major Peeples Marine tanks
approaching.
TEAM TANK moved in and straddled the trench. They began picking targets and
methodically destroying the enemy. COBRA helicopters swooped in and continued
the fight. Soon the wounded were being treated and these ten lucky soldiers were
being moved to safety.
The day was just beginning for LtCol Grabowski's 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines.
They continued north into the city. Unfortunately, they only found burning hulks
of the remaining 507th vehicles. The occupants had all been removed. It would be
weeks before the fate of the remaining soldiers was known.
So, now Grabowski's Marines focused back on securing the bridges through An
Nasiriyah. After a short pause to refuel, Bravo Company led the battalion across
the Euphrates River Bridge and into the city. Captain Michael Brooks' Alpha
Company raced across the river next and set up defensive positions while Bravo
Company turned northeast to skirt the eastern edge of the city. Objective 1, the
first bridge was secure. They had accomplished half of their mission.
Captain Dan Wittnam raced across the Euphrates River Bridge with his Charlie
Company, riding in eleven Amphibious Assault Vehicles (AAVs or "tracks").
Charlie Company drove straight through the center of town, toward the second,
northern bridge. Enemy fire erupted all around them. Charlie Company plowed
forward through the ever-increasing enemy fire. Lance Corporal Edward
Castleberry was driving the lead vehicle -C201.
Castleberry kept his track moving forward. Several Iraqis ran to the middle of
the road stopped and began shooting RPGs at the vehicle. Two rockets whizzed by,
scraping the side of C201 as they passed. Other RPGs were duds and just bounced
off the armored vehicle. Castleberry watched in terror as another Iraqi jumped
into the road and leveled a RPG at his lead track. He rummaged around in the
driver compartment trying to keep the 28-ton vehicle driving down the road while
he struggled to bring his M-16 rifle up through the hatch. Unable to free his
rifle, he steered straight for the enemy soldier and accelerated, crushing the
threatening Iraqi under his treads before he could let loose his deadly
projectile. Finally, Castleberry managed to free his weapon. Now he was driving
forward and shooting his rifle at the same time. The track commander, Sergeant
William Schaefer, looked over and said to Castleberry, "What in the hell are you
doing?"
"It makes me feel better." Castleberry replied.
Charlie Company pushed forward through the city. The entire Company had nearly
traversed the four kilometer gauntlet when the second to last track, C211, was
hit in the right rear with an RPG. The warhead hit in the vehicle's "Achilles
Heel" just below the track. The explosion spewed shrapnel into the crowded troop
compartment, wounding five Marines. Sergeant Randy Glass was the closest to the
impact. A large chunk of metal almost completely severed his leg. Smoke poured
out of the troop compartment as the entire right rear of C211 continued to burn.
The crippled track continued forward and managed to get across the northern
bridge before it ground to a stop and more than twenty Marines scrambled out,
taking the wounded with them.
C211
All of Charlie Company was now under heavy direct and indirect fire from all
sides. The Weapons Platoon leader set up his three mortars and began returning
fire. Lieutenant Ben Reid ordered one of his mortar teams to move south with him
and set up a position to fire back into the town. Just as they were setting up,
the team took a direct hit from an enemy artillery round. Lieutenant Reid was
thrown to the ground. "I thought my arm had been blown off" Reid said later.
Fortunately, it had only been broken. He turned and found his mortar team
decimated. Five Marines lay dead and another four were severely wounded.
Reid ran up the road for help but another artillery round knocked him to the
ground. As he lay face down in the Iraqi sand, all he could see was a mass of
blood pooling up in the dirt. The shell had peppered his face with shrapnel. He
got back on his feet and continued his run to the mortar track, C208. Reid went
directly to his Gunny Sergeant and asked him if his eye was still intact. The
Gunny looked at Reid's wound and replied, "You're good to go, sir."
Two Air Force A-10s appeared overhead looking for work. Because of the confusion
of the battle and many problems on the ground with communications, the battalion
forward air controller did not know that Charlie Company had moved north of the
Saddam Canal so he cleared the two Warthog pilots hot north of the bridge.
The A-10s swooped in, not knowing that there were Marines in their target area.
They dropped eight 500lb bombs and made several strafing runs with their high-powered
30mm gatling guns. They also fired three Maverick missiles. The aircraft that
the Iraqis had dubbed "whispering death" made pass after pass, destroying many
Iraqi emplacements, vehicles, and buildings.
Unfortunately, several Marine AMTRACS were hit by stray fire. One of the stray
30mm rounds hit and killed a Marine and other canon rounds wounded several more.
By the end of the day eighteen Marines had died fighting for the northern bridge
and another fifteen had been wounded, including Lieutenant Reid, who had been
knocked to the ground a third time with a gunshot wound to his shoulder.
At An Nasiriyah, the Marines of Task Force Tarawa had kicked open the door for
the First Marine Division to charge through to Baghdad. It would take the
Marines more than a week to subdue the Iraqi resistance inside Nasiriyah but the
Marines of RCT1 would start moving through "Ambush Alley" by the next morning.
©2004 Richard S. Lowry. All opinions expressed in this article are the author's
and do not necessarily reflect those of Military.com.
©2004 Military Advantage