U.S. Marines test fragile peace in Fallujah

[thedrifter]

U.S. Marines test fragile peace in Fallujah

By: Evan Osnos - Knight Ridder/Tribune

FALLUJAH, Iraq -- In the first major test of a fragile peace in Fallujah, U.S. Marines drove with Iraqi forces into the heart of the city Monday and emerged without shots fired for the first time since intense violence erupted here more than a month ago.

Bristling with rifles, grenade launchers and machine guns, the convoy of wary Marines rumbled past block after block of stone-faced men. The troops were ordered to keep their guns ready but not aimed -- this was not an attack.

Marine commanders fully expected to face ambushes during their swift, choreographed sprint to the mayor's office for a meeting with tribal and paramilitary leaders. In Fallujah, the mere absence of bloodshed can be a minor triumph, and Marine commanders savored a tentative sign of progress toward breaking weeks of a standoff with armed insurgents.


"We have been through a difficult month," Maj. Gen. James Mattis, commander of the Marine Division, said at the meeting of local leaders as scores of Marines guarded the building.

"This is one of those small building blocks today," Mattis added.

The tense round trip, which lasted just over an hour and extended only a few miles into Fallujah, studiously avoided the Jolan area and other insurgent strongholds. It was the Marines' first trip to the center of this Sunni-dominated river city since March 18, when a similar push left 12 U.S. troops wounded.

Mattis declined an offer of lunch and met for just 25 minutes with Fallujah's mayor, sheiks and the leader of a new paramilitary brigade fashioned by civic leaders and Marine officers to restore order to the town.

In addition to testing the reception for U.S. troops, the tour was intended to foster ties with the Fallujah Brigade and its commander, former Iraqi army Gen. Mohammed Latif.

Since the brigade's formation late last month, members of the unit have proudly identified themselves as recent members of the insurgency, stirring questions about their willingness to work alongside Americans.

Marines deliberately displayed a small force of less than 70 men, but hundreds of others waited on the city's edge, and helicopters and fighter jets flew overhead, in case they were needed. The trip would have been aborted only in the event of an ambush or serious casualty. Every detail was negotiated with diplomatic precision: 10 U.S. vehicles, 10 Iraqi vehicles and an Iraqi-driven truck in the lead, both sides agreed.

Mattis chose the 3rd Battalion of the 4th Marine Regiment, a seasoned unit that helped seize Baghdad in April 2003. Two-thirds of the members of the unit involved in last year's invasion are back in Iraq.

Reviewing the plan the night before Monday's trip, battalion commander Lt. Col. Bryan McCoy cautioned his troop commanders not to expect too much.

"What's a few RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades) between friends?" McCoy said, only half-joking. "You will know the difference between harassing fire and a coordinated attack."

The Iraqi troops arrived Monday morning at a staging area on the edge of Fallujah packed into the backs of white Nissan pickup trucks and toting AK-47 assault rifles. They were a picture of conflicted loyalties -- waving a Hussein-era flag and wearing the fresh tan camouflage fatigues of the U.S.-trained Iraqi Civil Defense Corps -- but that is the balance that Marine commanders hope may point the way to a sustainable peace in Fallujah.

Mattis greeted Iraqi police Capt. Hammed al Ayash with a handshake and then placed his right hand over his heart in the Arab gesture of friendship.

"If we send engineers into the city to repair damage, would they be safe?" Mattis asked. "Or would we need to have fighting forces there to protect them?"

"They will be safer if you don't send a fighting force with them," al Ayash replied.

Before setting off, the expedition dodged a problem: Hours before they were set to depart, a roadside bomber was attempting to plant an explosive along the route when the bomb went off prematurely, killing him.

The convoy left at 10 a.m., rolling slowly through the main street, passing block after block of shuttered shops and garages.

There were no women in sight. Many men waved; many others flashed thumbs-down gestures or turned their backs. Along the way, Marine surveillance on the ground and from the sky identified black-clad armed men moving along surrounding streets, officers said, but they did not confront U.S. forces.

The convoy pulled up at the mayor's office and Mattis, McCoy and others officers went in. They greeted Latif and Mayor Mohammed Ibrahim, both in business suits, and 14 sheiks in traditional robes. They sipped tea and cracked open cold Pepsis. Mattis declared that they made the first moves to "recovering from the wounds we have suffered."

The meeting was courteous but quick. Gunners stayed in their hatches and drivers kept their motors running.

The meeting was a success, but Fallujah remains far from pacified. The new Fallujah Brigade has not yet fulfilled its orders to round up heavy weapons, ensure freedom of movement for U.S. forces throughout the city and arrest those responsible for the March 31 slaying and mutilation of four American contractors.

Back at the edge of the city, Mattis congratulated the small contingent of Marines.

"We didn't come here to fight these people. We came here to free them. But the first step to ending the senseless fighting was the meeting we just had," he said.

Turning away from the group, he added: "Two arms, two legs, one head still attached. Good signs."

Once the convoy left the city, hundreds of Fallujans filled the streets, shouting "God is great" and declaring victory over the Americans. Some Iraqi insurgents with red-and-white checked scarves concealing their faces held up rocket-propelled grenades.

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004/05/11/military/21_20_105_10_04.txt

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Marines on a Mission to Win Friends in Iraq
Armed with toys and candy for the children and seeds and farm tools for the adults, U.S. troops reach out to villagers near Fallouja.

By Tony Perry, Times Staff Writer


SECHER, Iraq — For Marines here Saturday, it was the way it was supposed to be.

Accompanied by Navy corpsmen and a chaplain, the Marines spent much of the day handing out toys, candy, crackers, backpacks and soccer balls to eager children in this farming village adjacent to Fallouja.

For adults, the Americans had bags of planting seed, farm tools and sluice gates to help with irrigation.

This was to be the Marines' strategy for winning friends in the restive Sunni Triangle region. But when four American civilian contractors were killed and their bodies mutilated, the newly arrived Marines were ordered to place a cordon around Fallouja, where they battled heavily armed insurgents for nearly a month.

Now, as a result of an agreement cobbled together with help from former Iraqi generals and Iraqi politicians, the shooting appears to be over, at least temporarily.

No one knows whether the truce will hold, or whether the Fallouja Brigade will prove capable, or willing, to bring the insurgency movement to heel. But this much is known: For five days, not a shot has been fired at the Marines.

So Marines on Saturday fanned out in the surrounding countryside, distributing goodies to kids and farming implements to adults. They also asked what battle damage the village had suffered; a Marine lawyer will do follow up and decide on compensation.

When the Marines in mid-March assumed responsibility for much of Al Anbar province from the Army's 82nd Airborne Division, they hoped to emphasize the first part of the 1st Marine Division's motto, "No better friend." Instead they found themselves emphasizing the second part, "No worse enemy."

Now they're attempting a new beginning.

"We're trying to do as much good as we can," said Navy corpsman Marcos Figueroa, 28, of Culver City. "The children are less hostile than the adults. They're the key to the adults. If you're good to someone's kids, it makes them feel better about you."

As the Marine convoy rolled into the village center, barefoot children came running in anticipation. "Mistah, mistah, mistah," they pleaded.

Soon men and young girls, often with babies in arms, also came near the Humvees. Women peeked out from behind curtains in their one-story cinderblock homes; they are rarely seen in public here, and almost never heard.

Sheik Ahmed Huraysh Mohammed Jumaill, the elder of a local tribe, arrived to inquire about compensation for battle damage. He was told that a lawyer would arrive Monday for discussions. He nodded but then stomped off.

At one group of homes, the Americans were offered small glasses of chilled goat milk. Thin and sour, the milk was seen as a peace offering, and the Americans took large gulps.

"We just want them to know we're here to be their friend," said Cpl. Reynold Rosado, 20, from the Cleveland area. "It's our primary mission now. In the end, it's for their benefit."

Corpsmen looked at three ailing adults: a middle-aged man with high blood pressure, an elderly woman suffering hip problems and a man who said he was still having trouble with injuries received while in an Iranian prison during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s. He said he was 52; he looked much older.

The convoy was restricted to farming areas just north of Fallouja. Someday, Marines hope to go into the city of 300,000 on a similar goodwill mission.

"Maybe the people in the city will see this and say: Look, we could have had that but we decided to fight," said Sgt. David McLaughlin, 27, of Dickson, Tenn. "Maybe they'll realize they could have this too."

The Americans were surprised at the amount of happiness a small gift could bring.

Children receiving ballpoint pens smiled and ran off excitedly. Other children hugged small toiletry kits. A Navy chaplain's assistant showed pictures of his family as curious children gathered.

One child, as a Marine put a pair of sunglasses on the boy's head, smiled and said, "Gorgeous."

The village is not unfamiliar to the Marines. During recent fighting, insurgents in a nearby factory sprayed the Americans with bullets. It is possible that some of the villagers sided with the insurgents.

At least two motorcycles were seen of the type that insurgents were known to favor as they positioned themselves at night for attacks on Marine positions.

"You have to put that aside," said Staff Sgt. Frank Ortega, 37, of Oceanside. "You know that some of these people were probably shooting at us last week. But this week, if they don't shoot at us, we can make good things happen for them.

"You have to be a professional and drive on."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-marines9may09,1,4215344.story?coll=la-home-world


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Submitted by: 1st Force Service Support Group
Story Identification Number: 200459121653
Story by Lance Cpl. Samuel Bard Valliere



CAMP TAQADDUM, Iraq(May 9, 2004) -- With the newly formed Fallujah Brigade operating under the helm of Marines in a renewed hope of stabilizing the city, the nearby surgical units of the 1st Force Service Support Group stand poised to aid their new allies.

Each one located a stone's throw from Fallujah, the Bravo Surgical Company at Camp Fallujah and Surgical/Shock Trauma Platoon here have opened their doors to the volunteer fighters, giving them the same medical care afforded American troops.

The Group, the Marines' logistical element in Iraq, provides the I Marine Expeditionary Force-led Iraqi brigade with emergency medical care, as well as basic equipment necessary to complete its mission.

The help the medical units provide under the new arrangement is not much more extensive than what they've already been providing Iraqis.

At Camp Fallujah, the surgical company has already treated a dozen members of the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps with combat-related injuries, said Senior Chief Petty Officer Richard C. Daugherty, 44, the company's top enlisted member.

Patients are not limited to coalition troops, though. The Law of War requires U.S. military personnel to collect and care for the wounded, whether friend or foe.

So far, 44 of the 146 patients the S/STP has seen here have been Iraqi civilians, some even insurgents who were injured during firefights. All received the same medical attention a Marine would have.

"We do medical triage, not political triage," said Navy Capt. H.R. Bohman, 54, a surgeon with the platoon here.

Both units are capable of providing virtually the same service, but where the patient is taken is usually based on their condition, the threat, the distance and mode of transportation available.

Bravo Surgical tends to receive more vehicle-borne casualties than the S/STP because it is located closer to Fallujah, said Lt. Cmdr. Carl H. Manemeit, 44, the Group's health service support officer.

Since Camp Taqaddum has an airfield, its S/STP usually receives casualties who have been air lifted out of a combat zone.

Anticipating the 1st Marine Division to be engaged in Fallujah for a longer period of time, the S/STP recently requested 24 additional sailors from naval hospitals at San Diego and Camp Pendleton, Calif., to be sent here to boost its numbers.

The extra hands will include three new surgeons and enough sailors to operate a waiting area for those needed medical evacuation elsewhere for recovery or follow-on care.

Another surgical company, which supports troops near Al Asad, and two Shock Trauma Platoons that possess fewer surgical capabilities than the S/STP are also dispersed throughout the western part of I MEF's operating area.

Supporting the Iraqi brigade is just a fraction of the Group's multi-faceted mission of providing I MEF's air and ground elements with supplies, maintenance, transportation, engineering and health care and general services.

The 1st FSSG also supported to the Fallujah Brigade May 1 when its Marines delivered an initial shipment of weapons, ammunition and uniforms to outfit the new Iraqi troops.

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/main5/EE881E23571B1DC285256E8F00596FDE?opendocument


Ellie

[thedrifter]

1st FSSG puts equipment on fast track to Fallujah Brigade <br />
Submitted by: 1st Force Service Support Group <br />
Story Identification Number: 20045252132 <br />
Story by 1st FSSG Public Affairs <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
CAMP...

[thedrifter]

Issue Date: May 10, 2004

Reporter’s Notebook
Troops try to keep sane, make do in combat zone

By Gidget Fuentes
Times staff writer

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq — Marines, sailors and soldiers are living in some degree of comfort here — air-conditioned tents and toilets, quick Internet connections, religious services, and nightly movies offer a relatively comfortable and safe haven.
But the daily rumblings of mortar blasts, the “oomphs” of outgoing artillery cannons and the “rat-tat-tats” of machine guns quickly stir them out of that comfort and back to the reality of life in a combat zone.

So, no one here says “good-bye” or “see you later” any more. Almost universally, the phrase of choice is “be safe.”

Just one opinion

What’s Iraq really like?

A first sergeant with 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, from Camp Pendleton, Calif., was talking with two journalists at Camp Ramadi recently about the rocket or mortar attacks and the improvised explosives that seem to choke nearby roads, injuring or killing Marines and soldiers, and damaging vehicles, almost daily.

Just then, the winds blew strongly, kicking thin particles of white sand into the area. The sergeant coughed, noting that he, too, has the “crud” cough that seems to plague every newcomer to Iraq.

“What a miserable place,” he said.

Never too early

Cpl. Daniel Morris, a rifleman with Headquarters and Service Company, 2/4, grew up on a Marine Corps diet. His father, Randy Morris, served in Force Reconnaissance units and later became a Navy SEAL commando.

The younger Morris, now 21, is quite adept at handling his M16A4 rifle. It’s a skill he perfected as a toddler when his father was teaching him the basics of life:

1. “Learn your alphabet.”

2. “This is how you eat.”

3. “This is how you disassemble a weapon.”

In every clime and place

A few Marine aviators wouldn’t let a blinding sandstorm/thunderstorm stop them from training for this year’s Marine Corps Marathon.

Most troops huddled in their tents, trailers, vehicles and buildings as a fierce storm blew through the sprawling al-Asad Air Base, near the town of Baghdadi.

Infantrymen with 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, based at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, in Twentynine Palms, Calif., share the base with aviators from Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 352 out of Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif., and VMGR-234 from Fort Worth, Texas.

Winds pounded the encampment of aluminum trailers that serve as barracks and threatened to blow them over as heavy raindrops splattered wet, burnt-orange sand onto every surface.

But that didn’t stop Lt. Col. Albert Conord, who commands VMGR-352, from joining Lt. Col. Clark Clodfelder, Maj. Javier Garcia and Capt. Bill Thomas of VMGR-234 for a run.

Their training sessions for the marathon involve running a 4.3-mile route, with speed intervals on stretches that they have marked on a camp road.

Garcia said the squadrons are hoping to hold a race sometime this summer.

Overheard at Normandy Gate

Overheard in late March at Normandy Gate, an arched entrance to Camp Blue Diamond, the 1st Marine Division headquarters base near Ramadi:

Marine on foot: “How’s it going?”

Marine at gate: “I’m alive.”

Marine on foot: “That’s a good thing.”

Die Hard

Seen at Camp Al-Asad, home of 2/7:

A Marine running in midafternoon, decked out in olive running shorts, olive T-shirt, sneakers and flak vest, with armor plates inside. But no helmet.

Die Hard II

Seen at Camp Al-Asad:

Four Marines, wearing olive running shorts, T-shirts and sneakers, running in late afternoon — with their gas masks on. And it wasn’t even “Gas Mask Wednesday.”

Bird brains

One joke going around the Marines’ camps in Fallujah:

“What’s Iraq’s national bird?”

“Duck.”

In quotes

• ”People really wave when you’re holding a SAW.” — A Marine private first class, while manning his M249 Squad Automatic Weapon during a patrol through the narrow streets of Hit.

• One Marine to another sprinting down a road — in full flak vest, helmet and rifle — during a sniper-response training drill: “Maybe we should drive.”

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story.php?f=1-MARINEPAPER-2820810.php


Ellie

[thedrifter]

1st Marine Division's wounded press on
Submitted by: 1st Marine Division
Story Identification #: 200451085234
Story by Gunnery Sgt. Mark Oliva



CAMP BLUE DIAMOND, Iraq(May 9, 2004) -- Pfc. Quintin D. Graves thought the Purple Heart was some sort of mysterious and antiquated medal when he joined the Marine Corps in July 2003.

Less than a year later, he's wearing two of them.

"I thought it was for people from World War II or Vietnam," said the 19-year-old from Salt Lake City. "I didn't think this many people would be injured in Iraq."

Commanders knew different. Maj. Gen. James N. Mattis, commanding general of the 1st Marine Division, warned Marines in his letter to all hands before deploying to Iraq that the road to victory would be paid for in blood.

"This is our test - our Guadalcanal, our Chosin Reservoir, our Hue City," Mattis wrote. "We must be under no illusions about the nature of the enemy and the dangers that lie ahead."

For that reason, the Purple Heart, rarely seen on a Marine's uniform for years, is destined to become more common. In all, 608 Marines, sailors and soldiers assigned to the 1st Marine Division have earned the right to wear the Purple Heart as of May 9th, with 370 already awarded. Second Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment has the dubious distinction of authorizing the most for a battalion at 143.

The ranks run from private first class through lieutenant colonel. Still, the numbers continue to climb.

Six Marines, including Graves, received the medal twice.

Other two-time recipients include Pfc. Michael J. Jones from Battery L, 3rd Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, awarded for wounds received on April 11th and 26th. Gunnery Sgt. Wallace M. Mains from Company A, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment earned his Purple Hearts on April 6th and again ten days later. Lance Cpl. Lucas P. Seielstad, from Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment was awarded the medal on April 22nd and 26th. Lance Cpl. Gary Vanleuven, from Company L, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment earned the right to the Purple Heart March 30th and again posthumously April 17, when he was killed in action.

Purple Heart history

The Purple Heart is oldest military decoration for the U.S. military, according to the Military Order of the Purple Heart, a fraternal organization for those who wear the decoration. It was originally authorized by Gen. George Washington Aug. 7, 1782 in Newburgh, N.Y., at his headquarters. It was created as the Badge of Military Merit, but fell out of use after the Revolutionary War.

The U.S. War Department revived the award on Feb. 22, 1932, to be awarded to members of the military wounded by an instrument of war by the enemy. It was also presented to the next of kin for those killed in action or those who died as a result of their wounds. The medal, in its reintroduction, was specifically designated as a combat decoration, retaining the words "For Military Merit" on the reverse side.

Still, the Marines and sailors weren't authorized to wear the medal until President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued an Executive Order Dec. 3, 1942. President Ronald Reagan amended the order Feb. 23, 1984 to include those who were wounded or killed as the result of international terrorists.

One medal not wanted

Graves had the distinction of being the first Marine in the division to be awarded the Purple Heart twice during this deployment. But Graves never thought he'd be among those who wear the Purple Heart. Even after two weeks in Iraq and hearing the stories from the soldiers, he thought it couldn't be as bad as they made it out.

He described the day he was first wounded, March 13.

"Everybody was sitting straight up in the humvee," Graves explained. "We weren't getting down behind the blast doors. We didn't think it could be that bad."

Graves thought his corporal was being overly cautious when he told him to crouch down in the vehicle. Five minutes later, he said, the world seemed to erupt around him.

Graves' humvee was blasted by an improvised explosive device. He figured he must have blacked out. When he realized what was going on, the humvee was sitting still. No one was moving. He reached back for his corporal, only to see he was severely wounded. One Marine lost an eye. Another's jaw was torn apart.

He said he remembered pulling a patch of gauze from his pocket and wondering how he was going to patch the wounds of his fellow Marines.

"I didn't even know I was injured until everyone was medevaced and I was checked out," Graves said. "They said I was hit."

"I took shrapnel to my left arm," he added. "I made it out easy. I didn't want the Purple Heart for that, but there's nothing you can do. I guess it's not up to me."

Graves' second award came April 7, during the fighting in Ar Ramadi. His platoon was sent out to reinforce another unit pinned down. They came upon a dead terrorist who was shot while trying to emplace an IED - a trigger for an ambush - when someone tossed a grenade over a wall.

"I looked back and it happened to be luck," he explained. "I saw it land. It was one of those pineapple-looking grenades. We just started running and I kept thinking 'It should have blown by now.'"

When it did, Graves was all too aware. Shrapnel peppered his left calf, left thigh, buttocks, his back and left shoulder.

"I knew I was it," he said. "It was like someone punched me. After it blew I was still running so I figured it couldn't be that bad. A hail of gunfire followed and I kicked in a gate to a house and took cover.

"I felt blood coming down my butt," he added. "It burned so bad."

Another Marine patched Graves' wounds and he finished out the mission. For the second time in less than a month, he called home to his mother.

"I tried to explain it wasn't that bad," Graves said. "I couldn't lie and say I'm not around the fighting. That lie doesn't work anymore."

Kuster's still standing

Cpl. Thomas W. Kuster figured there was no way he'd be hit in Iraq this year. After all, he was wounded last year in Baghdad. The odds seemed to be in his favor.

"They got me once," said the 28-year-old from Citrus Heights, Calif. "I figured they weren't getting me again."

Kuster was in a machine gun squad in Baghdad April 10, 2003 when he took cover between two cars during street fighting.

"It didn't cover me from the guy on the roof," he said. "I got a lot of 'frag' in the hand and the arm."

Kuster said he felt more pressure than pain when he was hit last year.

"My initial reaction was I was ****ed," he said. "My Marines took him out."

But luck wasn't on his side. On April 12, almost a year to the day of his first wounds, Kuster's squad moved from a checkpoint outside of Fallujah to check out some dead space from where they received fire. They couldn't find any sign and turned to move back to their original position.

"As soon as the vehicle turned, they fired," Kuster said.

One round hit Kuster on the side of his left kneecap as he stood behind his MK-19 automatic grenade launcher.

"It was excruciating pain," Kuster said. "I pulled myself back up and they started shooting again. I got off a couple bursts. I could see a bullet hole in my cammies and thought, "Oh ****.' It ****ed me off more than anything."

Kuster fought to keep his gun in action. He battled the pain to stand behind his gun when it jammed. He couldn't stand any longer. By then, the humvee he was in had broken contact.

"I was laughing and joking about it," Kuster said. "I told everyone I was going to be back out soon. I wasn't going home."

Doctors removed the bullet from the back of Kuster's knee. He had a fractured tibia, but otherwise, was ready to return to his Marines.

continued.....

[thedrifter]

1st Marine Division's wounded press on
Submitted by: 1st Marine Division
Story Identification #: 200451085234
Story by Gunnery Sgt. Mark Oliva



CAMP BLUE DIAMOND, Iraq(May 9, 2004) -- Pfc. Quintin D. Graves thought the Purple Heart was some sort of mysterious and antiquated medal when he joined the Marine Corps in July 2003.

Less than a year later, he's wearing two of them.

"I thought it was for people from World War II or Vietnam," said the 19-year-old from Salt Lake City. "I didn't think this many people would be injured in Iraq."

Commanders knew different. Maj. Gen. James N. Mattis, commanding general of the 1st Marine Division, warned Marines in his letter to all hands before deploying to Iraq that the road to victory would be paid for in blood.

"This is our test - our Guadalcanal, our Chosin Reservoir, our Hue City," Mattis wrote. "We must be under no illusions about the nature of the enemy and the dangers that lie ahead."

For that reason, the Purple Heart, rarely seen on a Marine's uniform for years, is destined to become more common. In all, 608 Marines, sailors and soldiers assigned to the 1st Marine Division have earned the right to wear the Purple Heart as of May 9th, with 370 already awarded. Second Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment has the dubious distinction of authorizing the most for a battalion at 143.

The ranks run from private first class through lieutenant colonel. Still, the numbers continue to climb.

Six Marines, including Graves, received the medal twice.

Other two-time recipients include Pfc. Michael J. Jones from Battery L, 3rd Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, awarded for wounds received on April 11th and 26th. Gunnery Sgt. Wallace M. Mains from Company A, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment earned his Purple Hearts on April 6th and again ten days later. Lance Cpl. Lucas P. Seielstad, from Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment was awarded the medal on April 22nd and 26th. Lance Cpl. Gary Vanleuven, from Company L, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment earned the right to the Purple Heart March 30th and again posthumously April 17, when he was killed in action.

Purple Heart history

The Purple Heart is oldest military decoration for the U.S. military, according to the Military Order of the Purple Heart, a fraternal organization for those who wear the decoration. It was originally authorized by Gen. George Washington Aug. 7, 1782 in Newburgh, N.Y., at his headquarters. It was created as the Badge of Military Merit, but fell out of use after the Revolutionary War.

The U.S. War Department revived the award on Feb. 22, 1932, to be awarded to members of the military wounded by an instrument of war by the enemy. It was also presented to the next of kin for those killed in action or those who died as a result of their wounds. The medal, in its reintroduction, was specifically designated as a combat decoration, retaining the words "For Military Merit" on the reverse side.

Still, the Marines and sailors weren't authorized to wear the medal until President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued an Executive Order Dec. 3, 1942. President Ronald Reagan amended the order Feb. 23, 1984 to include those who were wounded or killed as the result of international terrorists.

One medal not wanted

Graves had the distinction of being the first Marine in the division to be awarded the Purple Heart twice during this deployment. But Graves never thought he'd be among those who wear the Purple Heart. Even after two weeks in Iraq and hearing the stories from the soldiers, he thought it couldn't be as bad as they made it out.

He described the day he was first wounded, March 13.

"Everybody was sitting straight up in the humvee," Graves explained. "We weren't getting down behind the blast doors. We didn't think it could be that bad."

Graves thought his corporal was being overly cautious when he told him to crouch down in the vehicle. Five minutes later, he said, the world seemed to erupt around him.

Graves' humvee was blasted by an improvised explosive device. He figured he must have blacked out. When he realized what was going on, the humvee was sitting still. No one was moving. He reached back for his corporal, only to see he was severely wounded. One Marine lost an eye. Another's jaw was torn apart.

He said he remembered pulling a patch of gauze from his pocket and wondering how he was going to patch the wounds of his fellow Marines.

"I didn't even know I was injured until everyone was medevaced and I was checked out," Graves said. "They said I was hit."

"I took shrapnel to my left arm," he added. "I made it out easy. I didn't want the Purple Heart for that, but there's nothing you can do. I guess it's not up to me."

Graves' second award came April 7, during the fighting in Ar Ramadi. His platoon was sent out to reinforce another unit pinned down. They came upon a dead terrorist who was shot while trying to emplace an IED - a trigger for an ambush - when someone tossed a grenade over a wall.

"I looked back and it happened to be luck," he explained. "I saw it land. It was one of those pineapple-looking grenades. We just started running and I kept thinking 'It should have blown by now.'"

When it did, Graves was all too aware. Shrapnel peppered his left calf, left thigh, buttocks, his back and left shoulder.

"I knew I was it," he said. "It was like someone punched me. After it blew I was still running so I figured it couldn't be that bad. A hail of gunfire followed and I kicked in a gate to a house and took cover.

"I felt blood coming down my butt," he added. "It burned so bad."

Another Marine patched Graves' wounds and he finished out the mission. For the second time in less than a month, he called home to his mother.

"I tried to explain it wasn't that bad," Graves said. "I couldn't lie and say I'm not around the fighting. That lie doesn't work anymore."

Kuster's still standing

Cpl. Thomas W. Kuster figured there was no way he'd be hit in Iraq this year. After all, he was wounded last year in Baghdad. The odds seemed to be in his favor.

"They got me once," said the 28-year-old from Citrus Heights, Calif. "I figured they weren't getting me again."

Kuster was in a machine gun squad in Baghdad April 10, 2003 when he took cover between two cars during street fighting.

"It didn't cover me from the guy on the roof," he said. "I got a lot of 'frag' in the hand and the arm."

Kuster said he felt more pressure than pain when he was hit last year.

"My initial reaction was I was ****ed," he said. "My Marines took him out."

But luck wasn't on his side. On April 12, almost a year to the day of his first wounds, Kuster's squad moved from a checkpoint outside of Fallujah to check out some dead space from where they received fire. They couldn't find any sign and turned to move back to their original position.

"As soon as the vehicle turned, they fired," Kuster said.

One round hit Kuster on the side of his left kneecap as he stood behind his MK-19 automatic grenade launcher.

"It was excruciating pain," Kuster said. "I pulled myself back up and they started shooting again. I got off a couple bursts. I could see a bullet hole in my cammies and thought, "Oh ****.' It ****ed me off more than anything."

Kuster fought to keep his gun in action. He battled the pain to stand behind his gun when it jammed. He couldn't stand any longer. By then, the humvee he was in had broken contact.

"I was laughing and joking about it," Kuster said. "I told everyone I was going to be back out soon. I wasn't going home."

Doctors removed the bullet from the back of Kuster's knee. He had a fractured tibia, but otherwise, was ready to return to his Marines.

continued.....

[thedrifter]

1st Marine Division's wounded press on
Submitted by: 1st Marine Division
Story Identification #: 200451085234
Story by Gunnery Sgt. Mark Oliva



CAMP BLUE DIAMOND, Iraq(May 9, 2004) -- Pfc. Quintin D. Graves thought the Purple Heart was some sort of mysterious and antiquated medal when he joined the Marine Corps in July 2003.

Less than a year later, he's wearing two of them.

"I thought it was for people from World War II or Vietnam," said the 19-year-old from Salt Lake City. "I didn't think this many people would be injured in Iraq."

Commanders knew different. Maj. Gen. James N. Mattis, commanding general of the 1st Marine Division, warned Marines in his letter to all hands before deploying to Iraq that the road to victory would be paid for in blood.

"This is our test - our Guadalcanal, our Chosin Reservoir, our Hue City," Mattis wrote. "We must be under no illusions about the nature of the enemy and the dangers that lie ahead."

For that reason, the Purple Heart, rarely seen on a Marine's uniform for years, is destined to become more common. In all, 608 Marines, sailors and soldiers assigned to the 1st Marine Division have earned the right to wear the Purple Heart as of May 9th, with 370 already awarded. Second Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment has the dubious distinction of authorizing the most for a battalion at 143.

The ranks run from private first class through lieutenant colonel. Still, the numbers continue to climb.

Six Marines, including Graves, received the medal twice.

Other two-time recipients include Pfc. Michael J. Jones from Battery L, 3rd Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, awarded for wounds received on April 11th and 26th. Gunnery Sgt. Wallace M. Mains from Company A, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment earned his Purple Hearts on April 6th and again ten days later. Lance Cpl. Lucas P. Seielstad, from Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment was awarded the medal on April 22nd and 26th. Lance Cpl. Gary Vanleuven, from Company L, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment earned the right to the Purple Heart March 30th and again posthumously April 17, when he was killed in action.

Purple Heart history

The Purple Heart is oldest military decoration for the U.S. military, according to the Military Order of the Purple Heart, a fraternal organization for those who wear the decoration. It was originally authorized by Gen. George Washington Aug. 7, 1782 in Newburgh, N.Y., at his headquarters. It was created as the Badge of Military Merit, but fell out of use after the Revolutionary War.

The U.S. War Department revived the award on Feb. 22, 1932, to be awarded to members of the military wounded by an instrument of war by the enemy. It was also presented to the next of kin for those killed in action or those who died as a result of their wounds. The medal, in its reintroduction, was specifically designated as a combat decoration, retaining the words "For Military Merit" on the reverse side.

Still, the Marines and sailors weren't authorized to wear the medal until President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued an Executive Order Dec. 3, 1942. President Ronald Reagan amended the order Feb. 23, 1984 to include those who were wounded or killed as the result of international terrorists.

One medal not wanted

Graves had the distinction of being the first Marine in the division to be awarded the Purple Heart twice during this deployment. But Graves never thought he'd be among those who wear the Purple Heart. Even after two weeks in Iraq and hearing the stories from the soldiers, he thought it couldn't be as bad as they made it out.

He described the day he was first wounded, March 13.

"Everybody was sitting straight up in the humvee," Graves explained. "We weren't getting down behind the blast doors. We didn't think it could be that bad."

Graves thought his corporal was being overly cautious when he told him to crouch down in the vehicle. Five minutes later, he said, the world seemed to erupt around him.

Graves' humvee was blasted by an improvised explosive device. He figured he must have blacked out. When he realized what was going on, the humvee was sitting still. No one was moving. He reached back for his corporal, only to see he was severely wounded. One Marine lost an eye. Another's jaw was torn apart.

He said he remembered pulling a patch of gauze from his pocket and wondering how he was going to patch the wounds of his fellow Marines.

"I didn't even know I was injured until everyone was medevaced and I was checked out," Graves said. "They said I was hit."

"I took shrapnel to my left arm," he added. "I made it out easy. I didn't want the Purple Heart for that, but there's nothing you can do. I guess it's not up to me."

Graves' second award came April 7, during the fighting in Ar Ramadi. His platoon was sent out to reinforce another unit pinned down. They came upon a dead terrorist who was shot while trying to emplace an IED - a trigger for an ambush - when someone tossed a grenade over a wall.

"I looked back and it happened to be luck," he explained. "I saw it land. It was one of those pineapple-looking grenades. We just started running and I kept thinking 'It should have blown by now.'"

When it did, Graves was all too aware. Shrapnel peppered his left calf, left thigh, buttocks, his back and left shoulder.

"I knew I was it," he said. "It was like someone punched me. After it blew I was still running so I figured it couldn't be that bad. A hail of gunfire followed and I kicked in a gate to a house and took cover.

"I felt blood coming down my butt," he added. "It burned so bad."

Another Marine patched Graves' wounds and he finished out the mission. For the second time in less than a month, he called home to his mother.

"I tried to explain it wasn't that bad," Graves said. "I couldn't lie and say I'm not around the fighting. That lie doesn't work anymore."

Kuster's still standing

Cpl. Thomas W. Kuster figured there was no way he'd be hit in Iraq this year. After all, he was wounded last year in Baghdad. The odds seemed to be in his favor.

"They got me once," said the 28-year-old from Citrus Heights, Calif. "I figured they weren't getting me again."

Kuster was in a machine gun squad in Baghdad April 10, 2003 when he took cover between two cars during street fighting.

"It didn't cover me from the guy on the roof," he said. "I got a lot of 'frag' in the hand and the arm."

Kuster said he felt more pressure than pain when he was hit last year.

"My initial reaction was I was ****ed," he said. "My Marines took him out."

But luck wasn't on his side. On April 12, almost a year to the day of his first wounds, Kuster's squad moved from a checkpoint outside of Fallujah to check out some dead space from where they received fire. They couldn't find any sign and turned to move back to their original position.

"As soon as the vehicle turned, they fired," Kuster said.

One round hit Kuster on the side of his left kneecap as he stood behind his MK-19 automatic grenade launcher.

"It was excruciating pain," Kuster said. "I pulled myself back up and they started shooting again. I got off a couple bursts. I could see a bullet hole in my cammies and thought, "Oh ****.' It ****ed me off more than anything."

Kuster fought to keep his gun in action. He battled the pain to stand behind his gun when it jammed. He couldn't stand any longer. By then, the humvee he was in had broken contact.

"I was laughing and joking about it," Kuster said. "I told everyone I was going to be back out soon. I wasn't going home."

Doctors removed the bullet from the back of Kuster's knee. He had a fractured tibia, but otherwise, was ready to return to his Marines.

"I've got a pretty good-sized hole in my knee that's taking it's own sweet time to heal," he said.

April 16, he made the phone call home to his girlfriend to tell her he was fine. He reassured his parents that he was back inside the base and there were never attacks there. But he spoke too soon.

Third time's a charm

Kuster laid down in his tent after he was done with his phone calls. That's when he heard rockets scream into the base. Shrapnel tore through the tent, hitting him dead center in his back.

"It wasn't bad," he explained. "It was a laceration. It wasn't really that deep."

He tried to keep away from the doctors, but was ordered to the battalion aid station where medical officers looked at him, saying, "No Kuster, don't even tell me."

Despite his three times being wounded, none of Kuster's Marines think he's a bad luck charm. In fact, they see it the opposite way.

continued

[thedrifter]

"Nobody around me seems to get hit," he said laughing. "A couple of my friends joke that I'm a bullet sponge."

In fact, Kuster doesn't even worry about his three Purple Hearts. He doesn't go out on combat patrols for now, but volunteers to help out where he can. He doesn't want to be anywhere else.

"My parents begged me to come home," Kuster said. "Everyone can't believe this is happening. But, I felt like if I was to go, I'd be turning my back on my Marines."

In fact, Kuster's more confident now than ever that he wants to make a career out of the Corps, although, he is considering a job change.

"I was thinking about intelligence," he said. "That seems fun. The doctors said I should be able to make a full recovery. The rocket hits were the only thing that truly rattled me inside, but I'm pretty much the same as I was... except I walk with a limp."

Sticking it out

Kuster's attitude of sticking with his unit isn't uncommon among the Marines wounded in Iraq. Among those wounded, 427 have returned to duty.

"Right after I got hit the first time, I wanted to go home," Graves admitted. "I didn't care about what we were trying to do. I'd only been here two weeks and got hit.

"I couldn't do that now," he added. "I wouldn't be able to leave my platoon behind. That would bug me for the rest of my life. It's one of those honor things, I guess... honor, courage and commitment."

"We've got tons of heroes from all ranks" said Sgt. Maj. Wayne R. Bell, sergeant major for 1st Marine Division.

"When I see those acts... that's what is expected when you're put in this division," said the 47-year-old Bostonian.

Graves' wounds are pretty much healed now, but he said one thing still nags him. He knows that once he returns to Camp Pendleton, he'll be getting stares.

"It makes me feel like everyone will be looking at me, especially if I'm still a (private first class)," he said. "Now that I have the medal, some of the mystery is gone, but it still holds a lot of respect for me."

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/Lookup/200451085446/$file/heart1lr.jpg

Pfc. Quinton D. Graves, a 19-year-old from Salt Lake City and assigned to Company G, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines the first Marine in the 1st Marine Division to be awarded the Purple Heart twice during this deployment to Iraq. Graves was wounded first on March 13 after being struck by and improvised explosive device and was wounded again April 7 from shrapnel from a grenade. In all, 554 Purple Hearts have been awarded throughout the 1st Marine Division, with six Marines earning the award twice.
(USMC photo by Gunnery Sgt. Mark Oliva) Photo by: Gunnery Sgt. Mark Oliva

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/main5/044164C43753AD6585256E900046BB62?opendocument

Ellie