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thedrifter
06-21-05, 06:26 AM
Proactive Marines place posters, attempt to get community involved
Submitted by: 2nd Marine Division
Story Identification #: 200561923554
Story by Lance Cpl. Athanasios L. Genos



CAMP DELTA, Iraq (June 19, 2005) -- Lance Cpl. Toben Medeiros and Marines of Company I, 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment passed out leaflets to citizens and posted them on trees and light poles, encouraging them to alert coalition and Iraqi forces of insurgent activity in their city.

After the success of Operation Clear Decision, the Marines continue to work with the local community in an effort to keep up citizens’ involvement in reporting suspicious activities or known whereabouts of the insurgents to the Marines and ISF.

Medeiros, led by Sgt. Nicholas W. Jenkins, 1st Squad Leader, 2nd Platoon, moved through the outskirts of the city to hang posters with the same messages to help root out attackers.

“We stopped to put up some posters on a couple of trees and a man came up asking us in broken English if something was wrong and if he could help us,” the 2003 Dartmouth High School graduate said.

“Along with our counter IDF (indirect fire) operations we were putting up the posters to be proactive in getting the community involved in eliminating the insurgents who are placing IED’s (improvised explosive devices) and shooting mortars,” said Jenkins, a Twin City, Ga. native explained.

Medeiros began the patrol as point man for his squad, searching the roads and ditches ahead for improvised explosive devices. He scanned the area for anything suspicious while checking his global positioning system to make sure he was taking the squad in the right direction.

The locals played a large part in feeling out the area to see if there were any indications of insurgent activity in the area.

“It’s like a see-saw, some days it’s good and then the insurgents will get to the people and intimidate them and we go back out passing candy and medical supplies to them, attempting to get them to work with us again,” Medeiros explained.

Though this is Medeiros’ first deployment supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom, this is not the first time he’s deployed. He has a short deployment to Haiti under his belt. In Haiti, he worked in the streets conducting raids, ambushes and regular patrols on a daily basis.

“Haiti was a good stepping stone for us coming here,” he explained. “There’s a lot of good experiences we brought with us, helping us be more prepared for what was to come here.”

Company I, and the rest of the battalion work as much as possible with the Iraqi Security Forces and the local public to help work toward a free Iraq.

“We are working with the local public to stop the everyday attacks that injure civilians and our Marines in an attempt to one day make this country free,” Jenkins explained.

Ellie