A Glint of Silver at 23

The (Memphis) Commercial Appeal ^ | 27 November 2005 | by Jon W. Sparks

[Maigrey]

Marine's help to comrades in Fallujah firefight earns medal

Abraham McCarver is slightly uncomfortable with the fuss.

He understands discomfort.

He's had three tours in Iraq.

So the 23-year-old Marine lance corporal is putting up with the attention that comes with being awarded the Silver Star -- the third-highest combat decoration given by the military -- presented to him last month.

He came home Thanksgiving Day for a weekend of family and food. On Saturday, the White Station High School graduate was at his grandparents' home in the Sea Isle area, joking around with aunts, uncles and cousins.

But to tell his story to a reporter, he retreated to a quiet corner of the house with his girlfriend, Elise Wainwright.

There, his chronicle of gallantry in action on April 13, 2004, unfolded in amazing, heartbreaking detail. McCarver was already in his second tour and the Marines were making the first major push into Fallujah.

Sixteen members of the Second Squad of the 2nd Platoon, Company B, 1st Battalion, Fifth Marine Regiment were packed into an amphibious assault vehicle ripping into the city.

They were cut off from friendly forces. The fighting was ferocious. McCarver saw the vehicle's gunner die when the Marine took a rocket-propelled grenade in the chest. The platoon leader, Lt. Christopher Ayers, was seriously wounded in the leg.

"When the vehicle started to vibrate and shake, we knew it wasn't going to last much longer," McCarver said quietly.

The Marines jumped out and took cover in a nearby house.

But there was still a dead Marine and the wounded platoon leader in the vehicle.

There was simply no question what had to be done.

"I went around front and gave covering fire. Then Gunny Sagredo climbed up trying to get Lt. Ayers down."

Gunnery Sgt. Ismael Sagredo and McCarver struggled to get Ayers out of the vehicle and into the house. The lieutenant was big and weighted down with gear that got caught on a bolt. Enemy fire was pinging off the vehicle as the snag finally gave way and the Marines got into the house.

Rescue came about an hour later, a long hour spent dodging grenades and killing any enemy that came in range. McCarver moved from room to room in the house, dragging Ayers along. The lieutenant, dosed up on painkillers, still had the presence of mind to keep ordering "save the ammo!"

It wasn't nearly over yet.

"We were there another three or four hours because we weren't leaving the vehicle there," McCarver said. "We had a dead Marine inside."

That meant going back to the hot zone.

"Me and a friend, Jeff Starr, went out and helped hook it up," McCarver said, describing how they jury-rigged it to be towed. "Then we took a Humvee in front of four tanks and two other armored vehicles and drove them out. That's with no armor on our Humvee, Jeff standing up with two guns and me driving."

In fact, this is not a story he relishes telling, except for taking pride in how the men in his unit did what they were trained to do. "Everyone knew exactly where to go and what to do. Everything we learned kicked in."

Eight Marines were wounded in the battle, in addition to the one killed. Nine grenade holes were in the vehicle. A hundred insurgents were estimated killed. McCarver, like most of the rest of his unit, had a couple of rounds left.

After that April's three-week siege of Fallujah, the Marines turned over security to the Iraqis. The effort failed and U.S. troops overran the city last November.

But McCarver has hope for Iraq. "In my three years, I've seen a lot of progress."

McCarver is stationed at Camp Pendleton, Calif., and will be getting out of the Marines in April. "I'm coming home and going to school," he says. "I want to do something that will get me into federal law enforcement, something like the DEA or ATF."

His family, many of whom have served in the military, backs him up. "My cousin Danny was in the Army and he went to Afghanistan," McCarver said. "My brother goes to West Point, my other cousin that's not here yet is an officer in Korea with the Army. My grandfather was in the Air Force."

And of course, one more question comes up. Yes, he's seen "Jarhead."

"It's a good movie," he grins. "It gets a little Hollywoodish with guys shooting guns in the air, but as far as the ..." he pauses to find the right word "... interesting things we do on a daily basis, it portrays it very well."

[GBA]

That's great news about Bruce Willis! The time is right for such a movie and either Mel Gibson or Bruce Willis would be the right people to git-r done.

[Valin]

Battle for Fallujah, our warfighters towered in maturity and guts
http://www.talkingproud.us/Military042805.html

No True Glory : A Frontline Account of the Battle for Fallujah (Hardcover)
by Bing West (Valin says, Must read)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0553804022/104-4914374-6174369?v=glance&n=283155&s=books&v=glance&tagActionCode=satisfactiong-20

From the Inside Flap
This is the face of war as only those who have fought it can describe it."–Senator John McCain
Fallujah: Iraq’s most dangerous city unexpectedly emerged as the major battleground of the Iraqi insurgency. For twenty months, one American battalion after another tried to quell the violence, culminating in a bloody, full-scale assault. Victory came at a terrible price: 151 Americans and thousands of Iraqis were left dead.

The epic battle for Fallujah revealed the startling connections between policy and combat that are a part of the new reality of war.

The Marines had planned to slip out of Fallujah "as soft as fog." But after four American contractors were brutally murdered, President Bush ordered an attack on the city–against the advice of the Marines. The assault sparked a political firestorm, and the Marines were forced to withdraw amid controversy and confusion–only to be ordered a second time to take a city that had become an inferno of hate and the lair of the archterrorist al-Zarqawi.

Based on months spent with the battalions in Fallujah and hundreds of interviews at every level–senior policymakers, negotiators, generals, and soldiers and Marines on the front lines–No True Glory is a testament to the bravery of the American soldier and a cautionary tale about the complex–and often costly–interconnected roles of policy, politics, and battle in the twenty-first century.

[Gucho]

Thanks for the ping - A great story.

[UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide]

Thank God for corporals with more guts than the generals and politicians.
Fallujah should have been incinerated within two days of the bridge incident as an example.

[Maigrey]

Don't I know. I also think (sunday afternoon quarterbacking here) that we would have had 10x less trouble had we cleaned out the roach hotel back in April.

Alas, we can't change the past, but we can learn from it, so our finest don't blunder again.

[river rat]

Thanks for the ping, I would have missed that story...

Semper Fi

[sam_paine]

Semper Fi from a former Marine.

If you're going to get hoity toity, then remember that there's no such thing as a "former" Marine.

[AlaskaErik]

If you're going to get hoity toity, then remember that there's no such thing as a "former" Marine.

The saying is..."There's no such thing as an ex-Marine. Those of us who no longer serve are entitled to be called former Marines.