Posted on 12/08/2003 4:39:47 PM PST by Voice in your head
Two email vignettes written by an insider interviewing troops from the 3rd ID.
First Email
I spent all day yesterday interviewing the members of the 3-15 Infantry. They fought a two-day battle to hold objectives CURLEY, LARRY and MOE. These were each main east-west road intersections along the north-south MSR into the center of Baghdad. The two tank-heavy TFs of the 2nd BCT had attacked north along the main road to seize the heart of Baghdad. It was TF 3-15's mission to seize the intersections (large cloverleaf complexes) and retain them in order to allow movement of the ammunition and fuel re-supply convoys that would be needed if the armor forces were going to be able to stay in the city.
Each of the overpasses/intersections was defended with a level of fanaticism unknown to us since the Banzai charges of the Japanese in the Pacific. The fighting was heavy on all three, but on CURLEY, the most southern, it was particularly fierce, and it was there that the TF came closest to being defeated. LTC Stephen Twitty, the Commander of TF 3-15 did not have his entire force available to him at midnight when he received the brigade OPORD on the 6-7th of April. The WARNO that he had gotten three hours earlier had directed that he detach B Co with its commander, XO, and two Mech Infantry platoons to defend the BSA. He had under his command, a Tank Company from the 4-69th Armor, and one Mech Infantry company, along with the normal engineer, Scout, mortar, and FSO elements you would expect. LTC Twitty had not been at the Brigade order. He had been with the main body of the TF as it finished cleaning up the battlefield after fighting a major engagement all day long at OBJ Peach, the last bridge over the Euphrates before Baghdad. He sent his S3 to take the order and met him at the designated assembly area later, after nightfall. As his companies refueled and rearmed, he and his staff huddled in a bombed out building to come up with the order for the attack the next morning.
At 0100 Hours, LTC Twitty called his commanders to the building, its missing roof replaced with a tarp, and the windows blacked out with ponchos. He issued an order for the attack that had the attached armor company team seizing the farthest north objective (MOE), his Mech Infantry company seizing the center objective (LARRY) and TM ZAN seizing objective CURLEY in the south.
Team ZAN was a pick-up team consisting of a single Mech Infantry platoon, an Engineer squad, the mortar platoon, a Scout section, and the TF Command Sergeant Major with an M88 and a HMMWV. It was commanded by one of the battalion's battle captains, CPT Zan Hornbuckle (isn't that a great name?). CPT Hornbuckle had less than five hours from the time he received the mission to the time for crossing the LD. He used it well, meeting with all the different elements of the team and assigning them missions for the seizure and subsequent defense of CURLEY.
I can't tell the story of this fight in an email. It will take me at least an Infantry Magazine article, maybe a series of articles. The enemy at CURLEY turned out to be fanatical Syrian Jihadists, determined to die. They attacked incessantly for 12-14 hours, firing small arms and RPGs from buildings, trenches, bunkers, and rubble along side the cloverleaf intersection. They "charged" the US positions (the only word that fits), in taxis, cars, trucks with heavy machine guns mounted, and even in motorcycles with recoilless rifles tied to the side cars (not a war story, I saw one of them that the battalion captured). They drove cars loaded with explosives at high speed towards the US positions, hoping to take American with them in death when they exploded. The mortar platoon occupied the southern part of the objective with two tubes aimed north and two aimed south. They fired simultaneous indirect fire missions south and north, while the gunners on the .50 caliber machine guns fired direct fire to defend their positions. The mortar men continued to fire missions even while under ground assault and indirect fire. They fired over 20 direct lay missions against buildings housing enemy forces and against "Technical Vehicles" firing against the position. They supported the forces on the two other objectives with nine DANGER CLOSE missions, especially after the supporting FA unit fired a mission that struck US positions and wounded two soldiers. The Bn FSO was so angry at the FA that he ceased calling them and used the mortars exclusively for over 12 hours.
The Combat Engineers earned that title. They were magnificent both as Infantrymen and as engineers. They exposed themselves to incredible fire to blow light poles down to make Abatis to stop the suicide taxis. The ACE drivers went outside the perimeter, alone, to build berms and remove guardrails to allow movement between positions. They formed up scratch teams, along with radio operators and drivers, and cleared trenches and bunkers against fanatical defenders, at least one of who was a woman, armed and fighting to the death in the trench line.
Everyone fought! There was not choice, it is not overly dramatic to state that it was a case of "fight, or die". OBJ CURLEY had to be held. If it could not keep the MSR open, the rest of TF 3-15 and the two armor task forces further north would be cut off and isolated deep within the city. Already the BCT commander had ordered the tankers to shut off their engines in order to save the little remaining fuel. Everyone was critically short ammunition, but the company team fighting on OBJ MOE was "BLACK" on main gun, coax, and small arms ammo. If CURLEY fell, so would MOE, and TF 3-15 would face defeat in detail.
The Task Force commander called and asked the key question of CPT Hornbuckle..."Can TM Zan hold CURLEY and let the ammunition and fuel HEMMTs roll north to the other forces?" CPT Hornbuckle said that he thought he could hold, but the TF commander heard the stress and worry in his voice. He knew that CPT Hornbuckle was a fighter, but he worried that TM ZAN was facing a crisis and he needed to know for certain. He called the CSM and asked him, straight up, did the team need help? CSM Robert Gallagher, who had been wounded fighting with the 75th Rangers at Mogadishu, didn't hesitate. He told LTC Twitty that he needed to do something to help relieve TM ZAN, and he had to do it fast! At that time, CSM Gallagher was already wounded again, and he was standing on one leg beside his M88 firing his M4 carbine. The medics had armed themselves, and all the drivers and RTOs that could be spared were fighting to protect the company TOC against suicide attackers working their way through the rubble and along the off-ramps of the cloverleaf.
LTC Twitty had no other forces, but he did have the uncommitted elements of his last mech infantry Company, back a the FSB. Although they had been fighting a series of running fights themselves, they were ready to move. LTC Twitty called the Commander, CPT Ronnie Johnson, and told him get ready to send a platoon to CURLEY. CPT Johnson made a counter-recommendation. He wanted to take his entire company, the two mech platoons, the BFIST, and the Maintenance and 1SGS's M113s, all the armored fighting vehicles he could lay his hands on. This was probably the crucial decision of the battle. LTC Twitty agreed, and asked the BCT commander to release the company, which he did. B Co, 3-15 Infantry roared north, every gun in the convoy firing, to fight its way to Obj CURLEY. It arrived literally in the nick of time, although it lost a Scout HMMWV and one NCO KIA by an RPG. With the additional forces, CPT Johnson, who took over command at CURLEY, reinforced the defenders and pushed the perimeter further out, far enough that the vital re-supply convoy that was right behind him had a chance to make it through.
Even then, the situation was not secure. The sight of 20 heavy trucks loaded with ammunition and fuel reinvigorated the Syrian Jihadists attacking CURLEY. They opened up with renewed fury. In a moment, several trucks were burning, and the fire was spreading. A sergeant ran out into a hail of fire to try to start one of the trucks to move it away, but it was already too damaged to drive. At this time, LTC Scott Rutter, an old SGI from Fort Benning arrived with the lead elements of TF 2-7. He had been sent, with only an hour's notice, on a long circuitous route from his position near the airport to reinforce the 2nd BCT. He fought his way thru to the objective and assumed control at CURLEY. CPT Johnson moved the remaining re-supply trucks to MOE and LARRY with his forces, and then escorted them further north for the armored task forces, thus ensuring that they could stay in the city for the night and the next day. Scott had a hellava fight at CURLEY the next day, but after that, the heart had been cut out of the enemy forces, and the 3rd Infantry Division was in Baghdad to stay.
I have left out so much that I want to write, but there is only so much I can do. I have it in my notes, in my head, and in my heart. I have never in my life been more proud of the American soldier. I stand humbled before these men.
Second Email
This fight HAS to be written about. It happened while TF 1-69 Armor and TF 4-69 Armor were driving into the center of the city, and they stole the focus of the world media. TF 3-15 had been the unit that David Bloom was with, but of course he was dead by the time the unit fought on CURLEY, LARRY and MOE. Dennis Steele from ARMY MAGAZINE was there ... but if Bloom had still been alive, the whole world would know of the battle for the three overpasses south of the Baghdad city center.
It was the supporting effort that ensured success. Scott Rutter made an interesting observation while we were discussing his unit's missions during the war. He observed that if we are successful in focusing our strength against his weakness, then almost by definition, our supporting efforts will be directed against his strength. Scott had a lot of really tough fights, almost never with his whole TF present, almost always as the supporting effort, but he saved 2nd BCT's ass by moving so quickly to support them after the 2BCT TOC was hit by a Surface-to-Surface rocket.
That was a horrible scene...dead and wounded laying everywhere amongst smashed and burning vehicles. The Sergeant Major had the skin peeled away from his forearms on both arms and it was hanging like a glove over his hands, but all he was concerned about was finding his driver, who unfortunately had been decapitated and had both legs blown off. As badly as they were hurt, and it was REALLY bad, the TOC was back in limited operation and back in the fight in two hours! These are truly professional soldiers. They have a focus and drive that is awe-inspiring. Scott's battalion has the only MOH recommendation for the war, so far. His platoon leader has an absolutely amazing story of good luck and heroism.
The mortar platoon leader, CPT Paul (promoted during train-up, Scott decided not to move him until after the war), was looking for a better firing position than the one that he had occupied in the dark the early morning before first light. Along with his base gun squad leader, he walked less than 100 yards thru a screen of brush to look at a large open area shown on the map. While there, he hears a tank engine and turns to see an M1 towing another M1 drive up from the route they had taken the night before. He waves, just to ensure the tank crew knows he is friendly, and turns back to the task at hand. Less than two minutes later, he hears another tank engine and turns to wave again. This time, however, it's a pair of T-72s, only 50 meters away. The Iraqi crew is actually waving at him, but he can hear their fire commands as the turret traverses towards him.
He dives into a shallow ditch next to the road, and the NCO with him runs thru the screen of bushes. The nearest T-72 begins to coax the ditch, but he is below the line of fire by inches. The tank fires several bursts at him while he is screaming into his radio for the Platoon Sergeant to move the platoon, that there are tanks only 100 meters away. The platoon sergeant won't leave him! He orders the mortar platoon to break out the two AT-4s it has, and then does an amazing thing. He jumps in his HMMWV and drives into the field, waving his arms to draw the tankers' attention, trying to draw their fire to allow the platoon leader to escape. The tankers find other targets, vehicles driving along an elevated roadway. First they shoot a FOX NBC vehicle, then they kill an M2 with a sabot round. The platoon leader is still in the ditch as the tanks advance to within 30 meters of his position. He knows that as soon as the loader sees him in the ditch, he will machine gun him from short range. The platoon leader told me that he knew that he was dead, that there was no way to escape.
Suddenly, bursting thru the screen of bushes, came the M1 tank, still towing the other tank. As soon as they saw it, the Iraqi crew began to scream in terror, but before they could even traverse their turret, the M1 fired, then fired again, killing both of them in less than four seconds. The platoon leader escaped injury, but he was deaf for a while from the loudness of the explosion that close to him. Can you imagine this stuff going on for day after day after day? Can you imagine the cohesiveness of a unit where rather than move away from a tank attack the platoon sergeant drives out to draw fire away from his platoon leader?
Only if it's tipping over in their direction.
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