Memorializing Our Fallen in Ramadi

Flopping Aces ^ | 05-25-15 | Wordsmith

[Starman417]

Why Ramadi matters:

The fall of Ramadi is highly symbolic and of substantial strategic significance, despite the protestations to the contrary of Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey. In a joint press conference with Defense Secretary Ashton Carter on April 16, Dempsey stated: "The city itself is not symbolic is any way. It's not been declared part of the (Islamic State) caliphate or central to the future of Iraq, but we want to get it back. The issue here is not brick and mortar, it's about defeating ISIL."

In fact, Ramadi is considered by ISIS to be part of its caliphate that now stretches from northern Syria to central Iraq. It is a key communications center along the Euphrates River corridor and the capital of al-Anbar province, a Sunni area in western Iraq that U.S. troops struggled to pacify for several years after the U.S. invasion in 2003.

AQI back in 2005 and the days of Zarqawi considered Ramadi the capital of their Islami State of Iraq. In early 2005, this is where the heart of the Iraqi insurgency boiled.

This Memorial Day, I am thinking of those soldiers who sacrificed their lives fighting in Ramadi.

A revisit of Michael Totten's excellent blogposts:

Anbar Awakens Part 1: The Battle of Ramadi

Anbar Awakens Part II: Hell is Over

In the Villages of Al Anbar

I'm in the middle of Dick Couch's "The Sheriff of Ramadi" which follows the story of the Navy SEAL Task Unit who helped achieve victory in Ramadi through a successful implementation of counterinsurgency strategy. It's sat on my bookshelf for the last few years and I had hoped to finish it before today.

Why does Ramadi matter? Why is its loss to ISIS so painful not only for Gold Star Moms like Debbie Lee? Why shouldn't their pain be our pain?

Ramadi is where Marc Lee became the first Navy SEAL to be KIA in Iraq.

Ramadi is where Michael Monsoor sacrificed his life.

It's where Iraqis lost Sheik Sattar- an important figure in the Awakening; a leader who came to realize who the true foreign invaders were.

During 2006, Ramadi and the Al-Anbar province accounted for half of the casualties endured by U.S. forces. By the end of 2006, there was a definite turnaround. And it was thanks in no small measure on account of the sacrifices made by those who gave the ultimate sacrifice.

It is important for Americans to know and to remember:

Any remembrance of war that doesn’t include the telling of individual stories lessens the purpose of the day–and why it is important that we remember.

[woofie]

We have had forces in Germany since the end of WWII (70 years and counting)
but we had to pull out all troops from Iraq.

[Old Sarge]

As I’ve said elsewhere, I was there during 2005-06, as documented right here on FR.

My unit alone lost over 200 troops and allies in a twelve-month period. There was no real “bad period” that stood out - the WHOLE YEAR was non-stop. We were under attack in one form or another every day during the rotation.

And there was no safe place - we had guys dying in the chow line, the motor pool, even the latrines - to say nothing of the convoys, the outposts and the missions outside the wire.