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Stranded Marines Fight To Last Bullets
London Times ^ | April 16, 2004 | James Hider

Posted on 04/16/2004 8:05:45 AM PDT by sean327

THE 15 Marines were trapped in a house, surrounded by hundreds of Iraqis armed with rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles, their armoured vehicle in flames on the street outside. Each man was down to his last two magazines.

“It was in my head, we just got to go. Whoever makes it back, makes it back, those who fall, fall,” said Staff Sergeant Ismail Sagredo, sitting in the relative safety of Bravo Company’s forward base yesterday, as mortars and machinegun fire sounded a few streets away.

“That was the decision I’d have had to make, and I’m glad I didn’t have to do it.”

It was one of the most dramatic actions of the war.

Sergeant Sagredo, 35, had been in one of two Amphibious Assault Vehicles running out from the Marines’ frontline close to the centre of Fallujah, trying to trap insurgents who had ambushed a supply vehicle.

But as they headed down the narrow, parallel streets of Fallujah, where Sunni tribesmen have battled the Marines for more than a week, their vehicle came under fire from rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), the guerrillas’ weapon of choice.

Unable to turn the large vehicle around, the squad charged their attackers, but lost contact when they hit a bend in the road. They were driving into unknown territory. Then they turned another corner and saw hundreds of guerrillas.

“I’ve never seen so many RPGs. A lot of them were propped up against the walls with extra rounds,” said the sergeant.

The Iraqis, not expecting a lone American vehicle so far behind their lines, ran frantically for their weapons as the Marines opened up with M16 rifles and machineguns.

Rockets started smashing into their vehicle. One pierced the armour at the front, taking a large chunk out of the leg of Lieutenant Christopher Ayres, the officer in command. The rocket did not explode, but hit the engine, setting it ablaze.

Still under intense fire, the driver swerved south along a route known to the Marines as “Sh**head Alley”, desperate to find a turning to the east, towards their own lines. The gunner was dead from enemy fire, and several men had been knocked down by the continuing rounds of missiles.

The blaze was spreading toward the stockpiles of grenades when the engine gave out completely.

With the engine dead, the rear gate would not open. The men had to climb out of the hatch one by one, still taking small-arms fire. Luckily for them, their dash down the gauntlet of Sh**head Alley had left their attackers — up to 600 of them — behind. But only for a while.

“When we stepped out I was relieved. At least I wasn’t going to burn,” said Lance Corporal Abraham McCarver, a machinegunner.

The men had to help Lieutenant Ayres, who was crawling blindly toward the fire. Sergeant Sagredo and Corporal McCarver pulled him, but his webbing caught on a rack.

They were still taking fire, conscious that the vehicle could explode at any moment. Then the webbing ripped, and they carried the wounded officer to a nearby house, kicking down the door.

The Marines took up firing positions on the roof as more than 150 Iraqi gunmen converged on the small house.

“All the Iraqis surged south to join the festivities,” Sergeant Sagredo said. He now found himself in charge of an impossible situation reminiscent of scenes in Black Hawk Down, the film of a doomed US raid in Somalia that the sergeant had seen back home in America.

“It did remind me of that soldier being dragged through the streets back then,” he said, aware that a similarly gruesome scene had involved four US contractors just streets away, the trigger for the Marines’ invasion of Fallujah.

Ironically, Bravo Company’s call-sign is Blackhawk.

The Marines could hear the Iraqi fighters shouting outside, could see their feet shadowed under the front gate.

“I opened a window because I heard voices and I thought it was Americans,” said Corporal Koreyan Calloway. “There was a guy in a headscarf with an AK47 standing there looking at me, so I shot him.”

The attackers were darting down narrow alleyways beside the house, and lobbing grenades from neighbouring rooftops.

“They were running across our line of fire like we weren’t even shooting at them,” the corporal said.

“It was just like a range, we were just shooting them down,” said Corporal Jacob Palofax.

In the midst of the firefight, with the armoured vehicle’s munitions blowing up, an ambulance pulled up. The Marines thought they were being rescued. Instead, 15 men with RPGs jumped out and started firing.

The Americans were almost out of bullets. An Iraqi round hit a kitchen pipe and gas started whistling out as RPGs slammed into the building.

A guerrilla burst through the gate with an RPG and was shot dead. Another tried to follow and was wounded.

“Then the men started shouting that they could hear tanks. The first one went past, then the second,” Sergeant Sagredo said.

Horrified that the rescuers would miss him, Sergeant Sagredo radioed to tell them to back up. They did. A rifle muzzle appeared through the gate, and Captain Jason Smith of the 5th Marine Regiment came through shouting: “Marines, Marines, friendlies!”

It took an hour for the tanks to hook up with the burnt-out vehicle, but they were determined not to leave a dead Marine behind inside it.

Sergeant Sagredo does not want a medal for saving his men. “A decoration would only remind me of what happened. This is something I want to forget. Unfortunately, if it doesn’t affect me now, I know it will haunt me later.”


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: fallujah; gutsandglory; iraq; marines
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To: saquin
I have three gens of Marines.
Semper Fi.
141 posted on 04/16/2004 8:28:50 PM PDT by opbuzz
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To: wolicy_ponk
The c-130 and it's variants are my favorite platform!
142 posted on 04/16/2004 8:36:12 PM PDT by opbuzz
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To: MindBender26
Kinda like the Cobras.
143 posted on 04/16/2004 8:39:23 PM PDT by opbuzz
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To: Betaille
However it draws attention to the fact that we need to flatten fallujah.

I'm starting to think that we need to MOAB that entire effing city.

Where are all the so-called innocent civilians?

144 posted on 04/16/2004 9:07:42 PM PDT by IDontLikeToPayTaxes
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To: IDontLikeToPayTaxes
Yeah, use the Col. Kilgore solution:

You smell that? Do you smell that?... Napalm, son. Nothing else in the world smells like that. I love the smell of napalm in the morning. You know, one time we had a hill bombed, for twelve hours. When it was all over I walked up. We didn't find one of 'em, not one stinkin' dink body. The smell, you know that gasoline smell, the whole hill. Smelled like... victory.

145 posted on 04/16/2004 9:34:00 PM PDT by Norman Arbuthnot
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To: Norman Arbuthnot
You smell that? Do you smell that?... Napalm, son. Nothing else in the world smells like that. I love the smell of napalm in the morning. You know, one time we had a hill bombed, for twelve hours. When it was all over I walked up. We didn't find one of 'em, not one stinkin' dink body. The smell, you know that gasoline smell, the whole hill. Smelled like... victory.

I can't believe you would memorize those lines from Apocalypse Now. I would never do something like that !

*lie*

146 posted on 04/16/2004 10:20:07 PM PDT by IDontLikeToPayTaxes
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To: Ragtime Cowgirl
Interesting how the Agence France Presse omits the use of Iraqi ambulances as weapons/troop carriers.
147 posted on 04/17/2004 2:15:24 AM PDT by XHogPilot
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To: Dog Anchor
Why can't we have unmanned armoured vehicles decoys?
Send one in and let the insurrgents clamor for it by the dozens. Then ac-130 them.

Hey, don't give away all our secrets.

148 posted on 04/17/2004 2:30:29 AM PDT by XHogPilot
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To: opbuzz
Cobras are great, but remember, they are primarilly designed as tank killers. Their primary angle of attack is straight ahead They are a little heavy for small, platoon and squad operations. You want something that can react very quickly, work low and in close. You also want something that works in circles, like a Spectre.

Spectre is great, but it's huge A/C needing approval probably all the way up to Division for employment. Little Bird gets in NOW, gets job done, goes home.
149 posted on 04/17/2004 3:43:12 AM PDT by MindBender26 (For more news as it happens, news first, fast, 5 minutes sooner, stay tuned to FReeper Radio!)
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To: HiJinx
Heavy Tac Air takes too much coordination of too many elements, too much approval, coordination from Highers. When you can do job with one little cheap A/C that you can deploy NOW, do it.

BTW, Little Bird does not stop and hover in attack mode, like helos did in Blackhawk Down. It remains in 120 kt orbit. RPG useless against it at that speed.
150 posted on 04/17/2004 3:48:24 AM PDT by MindBender26 (For more news as it happens, news first, fast, 5 minutes sooner, stay tuned to FReeper Radio!)
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To: opbuzz
No such thing.

You have it confused wth the Medal of Honor.

INFO

"The Medal of Honor is the highest award for valor in action against an enemy force which can be bestowed upon an individual serving in the Armed Services of the United States. Generally presented to its recipient by the President of the United States of America in the name of Congress, it is often called the Congressional Medal of Honor."

151 posted on 04/17/2004 4:11:45 AM PDT by varon (Allegiance to the constitution, always. Allegiance to a political party, never.)
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To: New Horizon
"What are they terms used to define the enemy here?"
"Sh**heads? Ragheads?"

"I like diaper-heads and/or camel-humpers myself."

I rather like the idea of calling them Jihadists, or Jihadis. That way, once you kick the Jeez out of them, they are simply Haddists.

It's more accurate, less disrespectful of the true Iraqui patriots, and it can be printed in normal letters.

152 posted on 04/18/2004 12:00:07 PM PDT by NicknamedBob (Some people think outside the box. I say "Box? There's a box?")
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To: infowarrior
"The rear door on any armored personnel carrier is extremely heavy, almost half a ton in weight, or more. It needs hydraulic pressure to quickly and safely raise or lower it, obviously. Your solution is?"

Gravity drop for emergencies, obviously. You prolly wouldn't be able to close the door again w/out equipment, but it would allow the troops to exit if the hydraulics didn't work.

153 posted on 04/18/2004 6:10:38 PM PDT by jjm2111
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To: HiJinx
Oh, Hell, wait a minute!! UAVs!!! Where the Hell are the UAVs?

Do you really believe our forces are operating without them?

154 posted on 04/19/2004 4:28:02 AM PDT by Coop (Freedom isn't free)
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To: Coop
Not really....I keep saying something similar to friends of mine who insist we aren't using snipers and night vision, and that we really should be.

We are hearing less than half of what's really going on in the hotspots, and that's the way it should be.
155 posted on 04/19/2004 7:21:29 AM PDT by HiJinx (Go with Courage, go with Honor, go in God's good Grace. Come home when you're done. We'll be here.)
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To: HiJinx
Funny. I just finished reading a very interesting article on snipers in Iraq less than a minute ago. :-)
156 posted on 04/19/2004 7:28:55 AM PDT by Coop (Freedom isn't free)
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To: Coop; Ragtime Cowgirl
I figured you had...I saw that, too.

I'll be the first to say how much I appreciate Ragtime Cowgirl's efforts to bring the good military news to FR.
157 posted on 04/19/2004 7:43:15 AM PDT by HiJinx (Go with Courage, go with Honor, go in God's good Grace. Come home when you're done. We'll be here.)
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To: HiJinx
You are very welcome.

It's a joy!

I think you might like this one: (^:

8 U.S. Snipers Seen As 'Weapons' in Iraq ~ AP via Washington Times | 4/19/04 | Denis D. Gray

158 posted on 04/19/2004 8:20:55 AM PDT by Ragtime Cowgirl ("He spares nothing to get to his Marines..They love him." re the command Chaplain in Fallujah,Ramadi)
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To: dead
Not that stupid. They know enough to use an ambulance to get through. Using our concept of mercy against us! This is great and needs to transmitted out to everyone!
159 posted on 04/19/2004 8:31:51 AM PDT by 7thson (I think it takes a big dog to weigh a hundred pounds!)
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To: sean327
SSgt Sagredo is my fiancee' and I have never been prouder to say that. As a former Marine myself, I steeled myself against the news of firefights and casualties knowing that all that is in a Marine's day's work. But this article has finally hit home. My resolve crumbled and I shed more tears than I thought possible, knowing that the man I love came so close to not coming home. I told Ismael before he left, "Baby...don't you go over there trying to be a hero." But Ismael doesn't try. He just is.
160 posted on 04/22/2004 4:42:11 PM PDT by oneproudusmcgf
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