Free Republic

The American PlatoonThe Battle of Fallujah and its impact on a group of young Marines Following your dream shouldn’t cost you your life. But for many of the members of First Platoon, that’s exactly what happened.This week marks the seventh anniversary of the Battle of Fallujah. During the battle, I was embedded as a combat historian with the Marine First Platoon, Lima Company, 3/1, as they fought house-to-house. First Platoon suffered some of the highest casualties in Fallujah: four killed in action — Lance Cpl. Nick Larson, Lance Cpl. Nathan Wood, Lance Cpl. Mike Hanks, and Lance Cpl. Benjamin Bryan...

WASHINGTON (AP) - In the chaos of an early morning assault on a remote U.S. outpost in eastern Afghanistan, Staff Sgt. Erich Phillips' M4 carbine quit firing as militant forces surrounded the base. The machine gun he grabbed after tossing the rifle aside didn't work either. When the battle in the small village of Wanat ended, nine U.S. soldiers lay dead and 27 more were wounded. A detailed study of the attack by a military historian found that weapons failed repeatedly at a "critical moment" during the firefight on July 13, 2008, putting the outnumbered American troops at risk of...

From Above, Afghan and Iraqi Disparities Come Into Focus KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- Military helicopter crews over Afghanistan and Iraq know better than most what the wars in those countries have in common: There's more below than meets the eye. They also have an unmatched view of what makes the conflicts different. A Black Hawk helicopter crew in Afghanistan skims along above the desert as the crew watches for signs of the enemy below. For miles, the land is empty. Then someone spots a mud compound with a dozen men around it but not a single sheep or goat in sight....