Posted on 03/31/2003 8:57:15 AM PST by CFW
Georgia officer rescues wounded Iraqi woman
A Georgia soldier made a daring rescue of an elderly woman who was caught in gunfire today as U.S. Army forces battled their way into Hindiyah, Iraq, 50 miles away from Baghdad.
Iraqi troops were trying to stop a column of U.S. tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles as they raced for a strategic bridge over the Euphrates River, which leads to Baghdad.
American soldiers spotted an elderly woman in a black chador lying wounded in the middle of the bridge. Using his Bradley fighting vehicle for cover, company commander Capt. Chris Carter of Watkinsville ran to the middle of the bridge, saw that she needed urgent help and called for an armored ambulance.
He used his M-16 rifle to provide cover while medics put her on a stretcher. Carter then returned to the U.S. side of the bridge.
At least 35 Iraqi troops were reported killed in the fighting in Hindiyah. One U.S. soldier was wounded in the leg.
An armored unit of the Third Infantry Division rolled into the town of 80,000 at dawn and was met by Iraqi fire.
Like many parents of children who have been deployed to the Middle East, the Carters know their son doesn't have much time to talk during a war.
The Carters' son was deployed to Kuwait in November, and is now in Iraq.
''We have no way of contacting him directly,'' Michael Carter said Tuesday. ''He had e-mail when he was in Kuwait, but we haven't heard from him in three weeks. They've cut down all of their electronic communications (to families).''
But the Carters, who have lived in the Athens area since the early 1970s, have a special means of following their son's progress during the Operation Iraqi Freedom military campaign - the media.
The Carters' son is U.S. Army Capt. Chris Carter, commander of A Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, part of the ''tip of the spear'' of thousands of coalition troops pushing toward Baghdad, the Iraqi capital.
Capt. Carter's high-profile position with the U.S. military helps his family keep track of him through various television and print media outlets. While the Carters say it's not a phone call, Capt. Carter's frequent sound bites on CNN and quotes within news stories help keep his local friends and family posted on his activities.
On Sunday, the Carters learned their son and the 3rd Infantry crossed the Euphrates River in their march on Baghdad. Together with the world, they will watch the descent on the capital city, which may come as soon as this weekend. ''It's not direct contact, but we are able to keep up with him'' through the news, said Michael Carter, adding proudly that, ''Chris is the type of son that every parent would want, but only 5 percent of parents actually get. He would make any parent proud.''
Michael Carter, who himself served in the Army, said the family has a history of military involvement, with some family members serving in Vietnam. Capt. Carter, an alumnus of both Oconee County High School and the University of Georgia, began his military career in high school when he joined the Georgia Army National Guard.
After high school, Capt. Carter, now 31, completed Army paratrooper school and is an Airborne Ranger. He has held assignments at Fort Stewart and Fort Benning, both in Georgia, and served in Kosovo.
''Chris is the kind of person that has known from the time he was very young, what his purpose in life was,'' said Shirley Carter. ''He's a very patriotic person and he's a gentle warrior. He has a tender heart, but can also be a very strong leader.''
Carter's leadership skills are currently being tested to the limit during the ongoing war in Iraq.
The Associated Press noted last week that the 3rd Infantry's mission is to attack Iraqi troops with the intent of forcing Saddam Hussein out of Iraq.
They also hope to help secure Baghdad. Although Capt. Carter's mission and the drive toward Baghdad are a source of pride for the Carter family, they're also the cause of much worry.
Operation Iraqi Freedom is Carter's first deployment for war, and U.S. officials have warned that taking Baghdad may force U.S. troops to engage in a potentially bloody urban combat.
Shirley Carter said she and her husband often rely heavily on prayer and the support of their church and friends to see them through the instability war brings. They don't know when - or if - their son will return home to the United States, but said their faith is with God.
''We're Christian and Chris is Christian, and so we're assured of God's presence with him,'' she said. ''But there is a great chance of harm (for soldiers) in Iraq. It seems like we are in constant prayer for both him and his soldiers.'' Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Wednesday, March 26, 2003.
For A Company, hurry up and wait
Commander from Watkinsville
By Chris Tomlinson and Michael Luo
Associated Press
NEAR KARBALA, Iraq - Every day, they're told they'll be moving soon, but every day has brought more of the same - waiting.
As other units fought near Nasiriyah and in Najaf, the men of A Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment washed their hair and enjoyed the desert sun.
Earlier in the week, A Company, along with the rest of the U.S. Army 3rd Infantry Division's 2nd Brigade, dashed full speed across the western desert, intending to surprise Saddam Hussein's Republican Guard near the holy city of Najaf.
Now it appears it may have moved too quickly. Other U.S. troops in the invasion's main thrust have become bogged down by unexpected resistance along the way. The rest of the 3rd division has paused at Najaf, and the 1st Marine Division has been struggling to catch up to their Army counterparts.
So the soldiers of ''Attack'' Company have been idling 50 miles south of Baghdad, waiting for the big battle to come.
They reached Najaf last Sunday, covering more than 225 miles in less than 40 hours, one of the fastest penetrations of hostile territory ever recorded. After a night punctuated by artillery and tank fire, the 2nd Brigade was ordered to push their 2,500 vehicles northwest toward Karbala.
Along the way, they came under mortar fire, which fell harmlessly. The convoy arrived near Karbala without further incident and set up camp in the desert.
Attack Company's job was to protect the battalion's western flank. Capt. Chris Carter, the company commander, ordered his men to set their eight Bradley fighting vehicles 100 yards apart with machine gun nests between them. Carter, from Watkinsville, graduated from Oconee County High School and the University of Georgia.
After their first good night's rest in days, most troops in Carter's company woke Tuesday in good spirits. They shaved and cleaned themselves as best as they could with baby wipes.
Tuesday, when a sandstorm hit, the men retreated to their cramped Bradleys as winds reached 50 mph. The company positioned two Bradleys and an armored personnel carrier as a windbreak and stretched green tarps in the gaps. They unrolled sleeping bags on the ground, zipping them over their heads in a vain attempt to keep out the grit.
Wednesday, the 3rd Division's 1st Brigade came under attack nearby, so two Bradleys kept watch for Attack Company constantly.
Inside their vehicles, gunners took apart their 25 mm cannons and their 7.62 mm coaxial machine guns, spreading the parts out in front of them. Using shaving brushes, toothbrushes and thick tissues, the men cleaned and oiled their sand-coated weaponry.
''I'm not sure how much sand this equipment can take,'' said Staff Sgt. Bryce Ivings, a baldheaded master gunner from Sarasota, Fla. ''But I'm not taking any chances.''
Later, conversation turned to food - the kind you can't get in the desert.
''Have you ever tasted a Krispy Kreme doughnut as soon as it has left the assembly line?'' Ivings asked. ''Pure heaven.''
Outside, visibility was zero. Soldiers tied strings around their waists and attached them to their Bradleys so they wouldn't get lost walking away to go to the bathroom.
The sandstorm broke just after midnight Thursday. A water tanker arrived, and the men rushed to wash. Although the temperature was in the mid-40s, infantrymen stripped to the waist and poured water over their heads, washing their hair for the first time in nearly a week.
Later, as they sat on the ramps of the vehicles cleaning their weapons, the conversation again turned to food.
Specifically, which variety of the Army's prepackaged meals, known as MREs, should be phased out. ''Thai chicken. They need to get rid of that one,'' said Spc. Dean Bryant, in his Oklahoma accent.
They'd had their fill of that one after going days without a resupply, and they were overjoyed now that new supplies had finally arrived. With new boxes of MREs to choose from, the men dug in for their favorites.
''Where's the spaghetti?'' Ivings said, shoving away the vegetarian meals and the bean-and-rice burrito.
In the distance, A-10 Warthogs swooped on Iraqi vehicles. Iraqi armored personnel carriers had been probing U.S. defenses during the sandstorm, and the sudden clearing of the skies exposed them to a pounding from the Warthogs.
Thursday morning, one of the Warthogs' missiles struck an oil pipeline, and an engineering unit set out to fix it, accompanied by one of Attack Company's Bradley's.
As they approached, a single Iraqi in civilian clothes walked toward them, hands raised in surrender. The infantrymen ordered him closer, but he refused. He looked over his shoulder repeatedly, then dropped to the ground.
The Bradley pulled back and called for reinforcements, but by the time it arrived, the Iraqi was gone. He may have been trying to lure the men into an ambush; two dust plumes in the distance appeared to give away two trucks speeding off.
Suddenly, from behind some sand berms, several groups of Iraqis emerged waving white flags.
At the same time, a call over the radio: ''Pull back, now!'' ''We have made contact with people waving white flags,'' Carter replied. ''We plan to investigate.''
''Pull back now,'' an operations officer repeated. Following orders, Carter coordinated a withdrawal. Later, the battalion commander explained he thought Carter's men might have ventured too far north and exposed themselves to ambush.
As night fell Friday, Carter and his men heard reports that Republican Guard troops were moving toward Karbala and might test their defenses.
''Do you there will be a hell of a fight?'' said 1st Lt. Eric Hooper.
''I don't think it will be a hell of a fight,'' Carter said, ''but it will be something.''
Oconee captain at Baghdad's gates
By Chris Tomlinson
Associated Press
NEAR BAGHDAD, Iraq - The battle for Baghdad reached its international airport Thursday, after U.S. forces rolled through a six-mile shooting gallery - a single-lane road on the capital's southern outskirts with Iraqi fighters firing from all sides.
Artillery fire could be heard near Saddam International Airport. Tracer rounds raced through the blackened sky; officers of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division said the attack on the airport had begun.
To the southeast, in Kut, Marines fought building to building, at one point mowing down a small group of Iraqis with AK-47s who tried a suicide charge against a tank. To the northwest, at Lake Tharthar, Special Operations forces raided one of Saddam Hussein's palaces.
The focus, though, was on Baghdad, and on the looming battle for the capital city.
Thousands of 3rd Division vehicles moved on Baghdad from the southwest - at one point, using a four-lane freeway, where one of the exits marked in English and Arabic read ''Baghdad Airport.''
But on a road on Baghdad's southern fringes, the 3rd Division pressed through a phalanx of gunfire. For four hours in punishing heat, the tanks and Bradley armored vehicles tried to pick out the soldiers and fighters amid civilians standing next to their houses, watching the armored column pass.
''They're running alongside us,'' Staff Sgt. Bryce Ivings of Sarasota, Fla., shouted into the intercom.
''Fire, fire, kill them,'' said Capt. Chris Carter of Watkinsville.
Carter, a 32-year-old Army Ranger who graduated from Oconee County High School and the University of Georgia, commands A Company of the 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment.
Then Ivings spotted another group of fighters. ''He's got a weapon, oh ... there's civilians in the way, he's using these people as shields,'' Ivings said. He did not fire.
Under fire from the main gun of the M1A1 Abrams tank and the 25mm cannon on the Bradleys, treelines 200 yards off the road across farmer's fields exploded in orange flashes.
At least one U.S. soldier was killed by friendly fire; he was outside his vehicle when U.S. forces blasted an Iraqi tank nearby. Three were wounded by Iraqi fire, and three soldiers collapsed from heat exhaustion as temperatures rose to about 90 degrees outdoors and over 100 degrees inside the tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles.
The troops destroyed more than seven Iraqi armored personnel carriers and more than 15 Iraqi tanks. The number of Iraqis killed was unknown.
Iraqis fired a rocket-propelled grenade that hit the turret of one of the Bradleys, injuring one of the soldiers seriously. Another soldier was shot in the leg as he stepped from his refueling vehicle along the route.
''My point man was hit in the turret. He's now on the street unprotected,'' shouted First Lt. Jeff McFarland. Infantrymen inside the Bradley ran out and pulled the soldier to safety while an armored ambulance rushed to the scene.
Along the road from the Euphrates River to Baghdad, there were hundreds of burning vehicles, both civilian and military. Hundreds of dead Iraqis, most in uniform, lay next to the vehicles.
The drive stalled briefly at a bridge over the Euphrates, as U.S. engineers removed explosives left by the Iraqis.
At Kut, a military town on the Tigris River southeast of Baghdad, the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines battled Iraqis building to building. The Marines jumped from rooftop to rooftop and went through all the rooms in some buildings.
They fought at close range in a date palm grove, tossing grenades at each other. Late in the battle, a small group of Iraqis with assault rifles tried a suicide charge against a tank.
''At the end, they came charging in a human wave - 10 to 15 guys with AKs that we mowed down,'' said Lt. Col. B.P. McCoy. All told, he said, 30 Iraqis were killed.
A Sea Knight helicopter evacuated three injured Marines; two suffered minor gunshot and shrapnel wounds, but the third died in the helicopter. Another died when the truck he was driving slammed into another on a dusty road, injuring at least 10 others.
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