Thank you, Eurotwit. Amazing Soldiers, amazing reporter who sees, and writes their amazing story with respect. (blurry screen alert!)
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The men of C Company, 2nd Battalion, 37th Armored Regiment of the 2nd Armored Cavalry ("Crusaders") got their introduction to urban combat - sprawling Sadr City slum. Black-clad fighters came within spitting distance of the American tanks and soldiers - a 4-mile journey through grenades, bullets and burning barricades.
.... to rescue a 20-man patrol - U.S. soldiers pinned down in an alley. One man was dead, four others wounded - survivors - fighting for their lives amid a Shiite uprising triggered by a fiery Muslim cleric.
..In all the unit killed at least 70 fighters and wounded perhaps 200 more...
Moore's report on the mission reveals extraordinary acts of courage. All 24 soldiers were recommended for citations, including five for Silver Stars for gallantry.
Army Sgt. Michael W. Mitchell, 25, of Porterville, Calif.; assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 37th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division, Ray Barracks, Friedberg, Germany; killed April 4 when his unit was attacked with rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire in Baghdad.
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Sgt. Michael W. Mitchell found love when the Army stationed him in Germany, and he planned to bring his German fiancee home after his stint as a tank mechanic ended. Instead, Bianca Liebl had to make plans to go to Porterville, Calif., on her own. Mitchell, 25, was one of eight soldiers killed in a firefight April 4 in Baghdad. In high school, Mitchell ran cross-country and wrestled. A coach, Rich Lambie, called Mitchell "a scrappy, tenacious competitor." Months after graduation, Mitchell enlisted in the Army. He was stationed in Germany, just as his father, Bill Mitchell, had been during the Vietnam War. An older sister, Christine Jayroe, remembered Mitchell as "my little playmate." "I used to drag him and play in the dirt," Jayroe said.
— Associated Press
Killed: April 04, 2004
