Marines uncover weapons cache

North County Times ^ | April 19, 2004 | Darrin Mortenson

[concentric circles]

FALLUJAH, Iraq ---- Without firing a shot or shedding any blood, Marines struck a huge blow to the insurgency on Monday when they uncovered a sizeable cache of heavy weapons in a roughneck neighborhood in northwest Fallujah.

Lance Cpl. Patrick Larson, 21, of Gowrie, Iowa, discovered the secret stash just before sunset on a drizzly, cold day while he was setting booby traps near some brick stables where he and other Marines had chased a grenade-toting rebel the night before.

He said he and fellow Marines Lance Cpl. Gene Rader, 21, of Marlton, N.J., and Lance Cpl. Jason Picchi, 21, of Chicago forced open a locked door and found a room full of rocket-propelled grenades, rockets and a complete 120 mm mortar tube and base plate.

One room led to several more rooms where Marines from Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment found explosives, a huge military locker with bomb-making materials, bags of grenades and machine guns.

"I knew there had to be something over here," Larson said, obviously proud of his find.

He said he had just been complaining that he was fighting a war, "but I never get any glory."

His discovery Monday made up for it, he said. He got kudos from superiors and watched with satisfaction as it took three Humvees to haul the loot away.

Military officials said the biggest finds were the bomb-making materials and the 120 mm mortar. The shells fired by the mortar are considered to be in the category of artillery because of their size. The largest mortar used by the Marines fires an 81 mm shell, and their howitzers fire 155 mm rounds.

Marines say they believe the insurgents in and around Fallujah only had a few of the 120 mm tubes in and around the city.

"Now they've got one less," said 2nd Lt. Patrick Reddick, leader of Fox Company's 1st Platoon. "And they're going to be pissed!"

Marines are holding their ground in defensive positions in and around Iraqi homes and farm buildings in the northwest corner of Fallujah near the Euphrates River while they await orders.

A weeklong cease-fire has calmed ---- but not ended ---- the fighting that began in Fallujah two weeks ago when Marines surrounded the city and penned in the insurgents.

Talks between U.S. military officials and Iraqi civic leaders apparently yielded some compromises, including a weapons turn-in program in which insurgents who are not hell-bent on dying for their cause can give up their arms and blend in with the population, avoiding the destruction the Marines promise they will wreak if they have to take the town by force.

Publicly, Marine leaders say they are encouraged by the prospects of a political solution.

But privately, most Marines on the front line say they have little confidence the Iraqi politicians have any control over the thousand or so Iraqi and foreign fighters thought to be trapped in the old Jolan neighborhood of Fallujah along the river.

They expect most of those fighters to fight to the end ---- an end the Marines say they'll be more than happy to arrange.

Marine leaders said that while they will continue to scour the piece of Fallujah they occupy for more arms, they say the huge cache on the fringe only hints at what the insurgents have ready in the center of the cramped and irregular Jolan borough where they have had two weeks now to prepare for the final showdown.

"I hate to say it," said Fox Company's commander, Capt. Kyle Stoddard. "But what this tells me is that there's a lot of fight left out there."

Staff writer Darrin Mortenson and staff photographer Hayne Palmour are reporting from Iraq, where they are with Camp Pendleton Marines. Their coverage is collected at www.nctimes.com/military/iraq.

[concentric circles]

Marine Cpl. Donald Jordan, 20, from Palmdale, Calif., removes a rocket launcher made of plastic tubing from a cache of heavy weapons found in a building near where Marines of 2nd Platoon, Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment are living in northwest Fallujah, Iraq on Monday Hayne Palmour IV

A Marine looks through a box of bomb-making materials that was found along with a cache of heavy weapons Hayne Palmour IV

Marines remove heavy weapons from a large cache they found in a stable near where Marines of 2nd Platoon, Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment are living in northwest Fallujah, Iraq on Monday, April 19, 2004. Hayne Palmour

[MEG33]

Great job..many lives saved!

[wardaddy]

Great job Marines.


I just want to know why I never stumble across such great caches....dammit.

[TomasUSMC]

Why don't some good ole B52s just fly over and pulverize the "old Jolan neighborhood of Fallujah along the river" till it looks like the ground zero of WTC?

[Squantos]

My favorites were when we were called to RSP old OSS type caches located by the original snake eaters that placed em in Europe ............Really cool !

Stay safe !

[Free Trapper]

They said it was a "roughneck" neighborhood.

Try stumblin' around oilpatch housing. ;)

[gortklattu]

Suggestion for Iraq Mineral Deposits

[Allegra]

I just want to know why I never stumble across such great caches....dammit.

Yeah, me too. LOL I keep my eyes open.

[Asclepius]

... while he was setting booby traps near some brick stables ...

Cool.

[capocchio]

�insurgents who are not hell-bent on dying for their cause...

They expect most of those fighters to fight to the end ---- an end the Marines say they'll be more than happy to arrange.

This is great reporting!! None of that wishy washy stuff the polluted maiinstream press dish out. Much more upbeat, more fair to our guys, none of that doom and gloom attitude just to be doomy and gloomy.

So, CC, post more reports from these imbeds.

By the way, your handle brings to mind a book by John Dolibois called Patterns of Circles. It's about the interrogation of the Nazi's leaders in Luxemborg before the Nuremberg trials. Dolibois, who was Reagan's ambassador to Luxemborg, had been born there but came to the US before the war started. The book is a good read, sort of goes along with Buckley's recent novel Nuremberg.

Buckley goes off on a bit of a tangent about how Goering got the poison with which he evaded the hangman. Buckley fingers an interrogator who had a secret that Goering was hiding. I think the Germans working at the site were more sympathetic to at least the military leaders (as opposed to pure Nazis) on trial than we have recognized. Helping a decorated war hero (WW I) die a less ignominious death might have not seemed so bad to them.

[Ben Chad]

I would have enjoyed: Take pictures of the loot in place, then booby trap the place to blow upon opening the door.

[Amelia]

You go, Lance Cpl. Patrick Larson!!

BTTT

[Tom Bombadil]

thousand or so Iraqi and foreign fighters thought to be trapped in the old Jolan neighborhood

'Didn't realize that they couldn't roam through the whole city.

They seem to have bitten off more than they could chew by inviting the US Marines to their party.

[Tunehead54]

Good news bump. Thanks!

---

;-)

[SuziQ]

Good for Corporal Larson! Here's hoping they'll find more of these caches in the coming days and take away the chance they'll be used on our guys!

[deanjames]

Here's another good one from 4 days ago, from Centcom.

April 16, 2004
Release Number: 04-04-15

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MARINES UNCOVER SIGNIFICANT WEAPONS CACHE

CAMP FULLUJAH, Iraq -- Marines in Fallujah April 16 discovered a significant weapons cache and engaged enemy forces after coming under fire.

Marines discovered a large weapons cache in a two-story home in Fallujah and another on the edge of a wheat field. Marines recovered the following from the house:
One AK-47 with two full magazines
One surface-to-air missile launcher with one missile

From the wheat field, Marines found:
One surface-to-air missile launcher
Six homemade surface-to-air missile launchers
A complete 50mm mortar system, with aiming sights
One RPK machine gun
Two cans 7.62mm machine gun ammunition (200 rounds each)
Seven rockets for rocket-propelled grenades
Three 40mm high-explosive mortar rounds
Seven 82mm mortars
72 igniting charges
One base plate for a 120mm mortar
One AK-47 with a full magazine

Shortly after discovering these two weapons caches, an even larger one was found not far away containing:

Two missiles
One RPG launcher and 40 RPG rockets
47 rockets
Five 180mm rounds
Ten 155mm artillery rounds
50 120mm rounds
59 60mm rounds
One 120mm mortar complete
Two 82mm mortars complete
Seven rockets
Two improvised rocket launchers

Marines and soldiers from the 1st Brigade Combat Team, serving under the 1st Marine Division, raided a suspected meeting place for leadership among enemy forces in Ar Ramadi. Six were detained after being positively identified as targets for capture.

Marines in the western portion of Al Anbar Province near the Syrian border discovered a weapons cache in a palm grove while conducting a dismounted patrol. Marines recovered the following:
Two AK-47s with 11 magazines
Three bayonets
220 7.62mm rounds
35 feet of detonation cord
10 sticks of dynamite.

http://www.centcom.mil/CENTCOMNews/news_release.asp?NewsRelease=20040415.txt

[StarCMC]

They expect most of those fighters to fight to the end ---- an end the Marines say they'll be more than happy to arrange.

OUR TROOPS ROCK!!!

[masadaman]

Isn't it somewhat strange that there never seems to be a 'country of origin' attribution to these discoveries of weapons caches? Most armament experts could precisely I.D. a rocket launcher as being French, American or Chinese. Another P.C. arrangement?

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Without firing a shot or shedding any blood, Marines struck a huge blow to the insurgency on Monday when they uncovered a sizeable cache of heavy weapons in a roughneck neighborhood in northwest Fallujah.

Lance Cpl. Patrick Larson, 21, of Gowrie, Iowa, discovered the secret stash just before sunset on a drizzly, cold day while he was setting booby traps near some brick stables where he and other Marines had chased a grenade-toting rebel the night before.

...Publicly, Marine leaders say they are encouraged by the prospects of a political solution.

But privately, most Marines on the front line say they have little confidence the Iraqi politicians have any control over the thousand or so Iraqi and foreign fighters thought to be trapped in the old Jolan neighborhood of Fallujah along the river.

They expect most of those fighters to fight to the end ---- an end the Marines say they'll be more than happy to arrange.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Great post!

Darrin Mortenson and staff photographer Hayne Palmour are reporting from Iraq, where they are with Camp Pendleton Marines. Their coverage is collected at www.nctimes.com/military/iraq.

Shieks are warning the people that anyone disrupting the peace will die. The Iraqis are relieved at that proclamation...the "will of the majority of the Iraqi people" - a voice mostly missing from our press, who continue to hand their mighty pens to former Iraqi Info Ministry workers and other enemies of freedom.

More about these bad neighborhoods,  what local Iraqis know about these thug-infested enemy territories (and what they think of our mutual enemies).

Potential (Iraqi) FReepers:

8http://iraqataglance.blogspot.com

8http://hammorabi.blogspot.com

8http://messopotamian.blogspot.com

8http://www.iraqthemodel.blogspot.com

8http://healingiraq.blogspot.com

Marine's Prayer

Almighty Father, whose command is over all and whose love never fails, make me aware of Thy presence and obedient to Thy will. Keep me true to my best self, guarding me against dishonesty in purpose and deed and helping me to live so that I can face my fellow Marines, my loved ones, and Thee without shame or fear. Protect my family.

Give me the will to do the work of a Marine and to accept my share of responsibilities with vigor and enthusiasm.

Grant me the courage to be proficient in my daily performance. Keep me loyal and faithful to my superiors and to the duties my Country and the Marine Corps have entrusted to me. Help me to wear my uniform with dignity, and let it remind me daily of the traditions which I must uphold.

If I am inclined to doubt, steady my faith; if I am tempted, make me strong to resist; if I should miss the mark, give me courage to try again.

Guide me with the light of truth and grant me wisdom by which I may understand the answer to my prayer.

Amen.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

   * Troop prayer thread 10: A Year of Victory! Welcome!
    ~ Add a loved one to the prayer list, pray for others. 
     TEXOKIE and amom take requests! (Open 24/7)

[wardaddy]

I can charter an old 707 on a moments notice I swear ....