Dust and Stars An Iraq War Journal

The American Enterprise ^ | June 2003 | Karl Zinsmeister

[Valin]

Final Assault

I got wind that the climactic raid of the 82nd Airborne's liberation of Samawah will take place starting around midnight tonight, and culminating in an infantry assault across the bridges spanning the Euphrates. The dense north side of the river--the stronghold of the guerillas who had poured withering fire onto the 325 during the first push to take the bridges a couple days earlier--will now be frontally attacked and occupied.

This time, the men will be immediately preceded over the bridges by Bradleys and other armored vehicles from the 41st Infantry Regiment, assigned to support the 82nd here. In addition, the 82nd's artillery, plus AC-130 gunships, will bombard the riverfront bunkers and buildings where many of the machine guns, mortars, and RPG firing positions are dug in. And Apache and Kiowa helicopters will be in the air with us, armed with missiles, rockets, and machine guns.

That is all any foot soldier could ever hope for. But the final responsibility for sweeping the streets and cleaning out the buildings--one room at a time--is going to fall on men working the old-fashioned way: with rifles, pistols, and knives.

[tyen]

Great read, thanks for catching and sharing this article. I especially liked the description of the sniper shot:

While perched on a high tower on a nearly moonless night, Stewart scoped, all the way across the city, the silhouette of a man with an RPG strapped to his back. The man was moving on the roof of a building, and visible only in flickering outline. Using a .50 caliber rifle in the seated position, Stewart lined up his shot....

Even with the high muzzle velocity of the .50 cal., it took more than two full seconds after the gun fired before the bullet arrived at its target. Suddenly, the guerilla slumped and rolled off his building. Stunned, the Sergeants checked the grid locations. A 1,440 meter rifle shot--a colossal achievement that got Stewart written up the next day for a medal nomination.

Damn...that is some fine, fine shooting. The training level of our military is incredible.