U.S. soldiers on the scene carry into the lobby of the Sheraton hotel an incapacitated Iraqi man who suffered heart pain when a group of Iraqi insurgents in a car attacked security personnel guarding the Palestine and Sheraton Hotel compound minutes earlier, in Baghdad, Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2004. According to witnesses several attackers were wounded and captured by Iraqi security forces before the attackers could flee the scene. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)
US marines stand guard at building they are stationed at in the restive city of Fallujah, 50 kms west of Baghdad.(AFP/Mehdi Fedouach)
A picture released by the US army shows Two Marines with Bravo Company, Battalion Landing Team, 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, ascending a staircase to search the second floor of a house while conducting a cordon-and-search mission through the town of Jurf al-Sakhr, south of Baghdad.(AFP/US Army-HO)
An Iraqi man walks past posters praising the police in Baghdad. Violence continued to simmer on the ground with at least one policeman killed in an attack by armed men against a police station in Samarra, north of Baghdad, and three people wounded in a bomb blast in the Iraqi capital.(AFP/Sabah Arar)
A Palestinian Red Crescent worker pauses in agency's pharmacy in Baghdad, Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2004. US forces raided Palestinian Red Crescent offices Tuesday night and arrested ten people. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)
U.S. Army Spc Thomas Wilson, left, speaks to US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, not pictured, during Rumsfeld's visit to Camp Udeira, 120 km (74 miles) north of Kuwait City, on Wednesday, Dec.8, 2004. Wilson, of the 278th Regimental Combat Team that is comprised mainly of citizen soldiers of the Tennessee Army National Guard, asked Rumsfeld why vehicle armor is still in short supply, nearly three years after the war in Iraq began. (AP Photo/Gustavo Ferrari)
Marines in Fallujah 'Get By' With Armor
By KATARINA KRATOVAC Associated Press Writer
NEAR FALLUJAH, Iraq (AP) -- Marines patrolling the former insurgent stronghold of Fallujah - some in open Humvees - say they've had some close calls, but "get by well" with the vehicle and body armor they have.
"I think the armor we have for the vehicles is getting better and our body armor is OK, I have nothing against it," Sgt. Aaron D'Amico said Wednesday.
Told about complaints from disgruntled soldiers who told Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld earlier Wednesday they lacked armored vehicles and other equipment, D'Amico said: "I'd definitely opt for higher production of armor but the Marines get by well with what we have."
D'Amico, 24, of Cleveland, Ohio, said his unit, the 1st Battalion of the 8th Marine Regiment, received new, upgraded vehicle armor a year ago, with Kevlar-protected seats. D'Amico's only complaint is that the open-roof Humvee provides no protection at the back.
The armor the Marines receive is "usually leftovers from the Army, the Army usually gets the better stuff," he added.
In November, U.S. deaths in Iraq reached 135, equaling the all-time high previously reached in April. Hundreds more were wounded. At least 54 deaths occurred during the Marine-led assault on Fallujah.
D'Amico said his closest call occurred four months ago in the town of Haditha in central Iraq, when a roadside bomb blew up by the side of his vehicle.
The blast and flying shrapnel nicked the side armor of the Humvee door but injured no one inside.
D'Amico said it was not just the vehicle armor that saved them, but also the bomb-makers' lack of skill in planting the device too deep to cause serious damage.
Cpl. Adam Golden, 21, of New York, agreed the armor they have is serving them well, but said he would prefer "castled-in armor," especially armor over the Humvee's open canopy.
"Our body armor stops appropriate rounds and it works great to save lives," added Golden. "There are always places you could get hit, such as on the sides of your chest or in the armpits. I know a lot of guys who got hit there."
He believes such body armor is now being designed but has not yet reached the troops.
Cpl. Joshua Munns said it isn't easy to make the best armor.
"It has to be tested against the heaviest weapons infantry would encounter," said Munns, 21, of Redding, Calif.
"The vehicle floor Kevlar, for example is not meant to stop an explosion but prevents the vehicle floor from breaking apart on the inside," Munns added.
Asked whether he would prefer a closed Humvee with bulletproof windows, Munns said "it's a yes-and-no answer."
"An enclosed vehicle reduces your visibility and if you are not able to see an attack you might as well have no armor at all," he said. "It needs to be a fine balance between visibility and protection."
Munns said he prefers mobility over the weight of extra body armor.
The three Marines agree that the most exposed person is their gunner in the turret.
"He has to think about the bigger stuff, he is up there, more exposed than any of us," Munns noted.
On the other side of the base, Capt. Joe Winslow, 36, of Dallas, said it is not so much the armor but the tactics of the Marines that has been a lifesaver.
"It's the aggressive convoy procedures, paying attention to the basics, vigilance by the gunner and the driver," said Winslow.
Winslow said he had just seen footage of the soldiers' exchange with Rumsfeld on television and was "surprised" because the armor we have is "top notch."
"I don't know why they said what they said. I can't speak for another person," he said.
"Every time I go outside the base, I am aware that what keeps me safe is not only in the equipment I have but in the mentality of being a Marine," said Gunnery Sgt. Mike Ritchie.