thedrifter
10-02-05, 05:21 AM
TOUR OF DANGER
A photographer embedded in Iraq with a Marine unit from Buffalo tells of night raids, squalid living conditions and heavy casualties
By TOM ERNST
News Staff Reporter
10/1/2005
The Marines from Buffalo's India Company had it as tough as any unit serving in Iraq, according to a man who should know.
Scott Olson, a photographer for Getty Images, spent more than six weeks in Iraq and was embedded with as many as 10 different units, including Buffalo-based India Company of the 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines - now on its way home following a seven-month deployment.
Olson took the accompanying photos during five days he spent with the Reserve unit last month and, now back home in Chicago, shared some of his impressions.
"They had the worst living conditions of any unit I saw," he said. "They were at a new base in an area [in the town of Hit in the Sunni Triangle northwest of Baghdad] they were just getting control of, and it was pretty nasty.
"The power was out much of the time, so there was no air conditioning, and the temperature was 120 degrees. A hose served as the shower.
"Plus, they took a lot of casualties."
While Olson was with the 160 Marines from India Company, the unit was split between an old school on the Euphrates River and someone's summer home on the other side, dubbed the "Pink Hotel" due to its color.
Because they were near the river, it was humid, and they had their choice of sleeping outside where it was slightly cooler but the mosquitoes vicious, or staying indoors. "I was sleeping outside one night when the mortars [aimed at the Marines] started popping so we went inside."
He accompanied the Marines one night on a series of raids of suspected insurgents' homes, leaving the Pink Hotel about 3 a.m.
"They had information that this guy was dirty, so we walked about half a mile to his house. They knocked at the door, and there was no answer so they kicked it in.
"The family was sleeping in the living room, and they searched the house but didn't find anything. There were two military-aged males living in the house and they did tests on their hands [to indicate if they had recently fired a weapon or handled ammunition] but they came up clean and were released."
Later that night, the Marines went to the home of a man whose son was suspected of making false documents.
The fact that it was his son who was suspected "apparently was enough" for the man to be detained, Olson said.
Cpl. William Maher of Hamburg was photographed blindfolding the man and handcuffing him.
Maher's mother, Donna, had already seen the photos of her son on the Getty Images Web site.
Her reaction?
"He's a Marine. That's what they do."
She and family members of other Marines said they have had only limited communication with their loved ones and - for security reasons - don't know much about what they were doing.
"I guess we'll have to wait until they get home [for information]," she said. "He doesn't want us to worry."
She said her son is looking forward to returning to his studies at Buffalo State College.
Olson said India Company frequently patroled with Iraqi Army units and from what he could tell, the Marines respected the Iraqis.
"But Hit [pronounced Heat] was a bad town with a lot of insurgents, and it's common knowledge that the Iraqi Army is infiltrated by insurgents, so you could never completely trust anyone," he said.
"But still they seemed to have a good relationship and joked around and ate together."
It wasn't that way with all units.
"Some [U.S. military personnel] consider the Iraqi soldiers worthless," he said.
Olson, 45, is a former Marine and feels that helped him become accepted by the Marines he photographed.
"One guy shared his fan with me and said he didn't do that with the reporter who was there before," he said.
He said the emotions ranged from those who hated Iraq, hated all Iraqis and were counting the days until they could go home, to those who support the war and feel they are serving a noble cause.
And there was no shortage of Marines "who loved to shoot" and would empty their weapons at the slightest pretext.
"Some wanted a firefight. They wanted that combat action ribbon," he said.
Olson, just back from covering Hurricane Rita, said he has a lot of respect for the troops he spent time with.
"I became part of them for a short time," he said, "but then I'd leave, and they would have to stay there."
Shortly after he left India Company, seven of its members were wounded, six by an improvised explosive device.
Lance Cpl. Mark Beyers of Alden was the most seriously wounded, and his right leg and arm were amputated.
"Oh no, I didn't know that," Olson said. "I remember him, he was a nice guy."
India Company suffered a number of casualties, including one fatality: Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Jeffrey L. Wiener, a corpsman from Long Island. Although a member of India Company, he was serving with a weapons company at the time of his death in combat on May 7.
India Company was one of five companies serving with the 3rd Battalion, and the battalion lost 48 servicemen, including nine from Lima Company, based in Columbus, Ohio, in the deadliest roadside bombing of U.S. troops in Iraq. Lima Company lost a total of 16 reservists.
e-mail: ternst@buffnews.com
Ellie
A photographer embedded in Iraq with a Marine unit from Buffalo tells of night raids, squalid living conditions and heavy casualties
By TOM ERNST
News Staff Reporter
10/1/2005
The Marines from Buffalo's India Company had it as tough as any unit serving in Iraq, according to a man who should know.
Scott Olson, a photographer for Getty Images, spent more than six weeks in Iraq and was embedded with as many as 10 different units, including Buffalo-based India Company of the 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines - now on its way home following a seven-month deployment.
Olson took the accompanying photos during five days he spent with the Reserve unit last month and, now back home in Chicago, shared some of his impressions.
"They had the worst living conditions of any unit I saw," he said. "They were at a new base in an area [in the town of Hit in the Sunni Triangle northwest of Baghdad] they were just getting control of, and it was pretty nasty.
"The power was out much of the time, so there was no air conditioning, and the temperature was 120 degrees. A hose served as the shower.
"Plus, they took a lot of casualties."
While Olson was with the 160 Marines from India Company, the unit was split between an old school on the Euphrates River and someone's summer home on the other side, dubbed the "Pink Hotel" due to its color.
Because they were near the river, it was humid, and they had their choice of sleeping outside where it was slightly cooler but the mosquitoes vicious, or staying indoors. "I was sleeping outside one night when the mortars [aimed at the Marines] started popping so we went inside."
He accompanied the Marines one night on a series of raids of suspected insurgents' homes, leaving the Pink Hotel about 3 a.m.
"They had information that this guy was dirty, so we walked about half a mile to his house. They knocked at the door, and there was no answer so they kicked it in.
"The family was sleeping in the living room, and they searched the house but didn't find anything. There were two military-aged males living in the house and they did tests on their hands [to indicate if they had recently fired a weapon or handled ammunition] but they came up clean and were released."
Later that night, the Marines went to the home of a man whose son was suspected of making false documents.
The fact that it was his son who was suspected "apparently was enough" for the man to be detained, Olson said.
Cpl. William Maher of Hamburg was photographed blindfolding the man and handcuffing him.
Maher's mother, Donna, had already seen the photos of her son on the Getty Images Web site.
Her reaction?
"He's a Marine. That's what they do."
She and family members of other Marines said they have had only limited communication with their loved ones and - for security reasons - don't know much about what they were doing.
"I guess we'll have to wait until they get home [for information]," she said. "He doesn't want us to worry."
She said her son is looking forward to returning to his studies at Buffalo State College.
Olson said India Company frequently patroled with Iraqi Army units and from what he could tell, the Marines respected the Iraqis.
"But Hit [pronounced Heat] was a bad town with a lot of insurgents, and it's common knowledge that the Iraqi Army is infiltrated by insurgents, so you could never completely trust anyone," he said.
"But still they seemed to have a good relationship and joked around and ate together."
It wasn't that way with all units.
"Some [U.S. military personnel] consider the Iraqi soldiers worthless," he said.
Olson, 45, is a former Marine and feels that helped him become accepted by the Marines he photographed.
"One guy shared his fan with me and said he didn't do that with the reporter who was there before," he said.
He said the emotions ranged from those who hated Iraq, hated all Iraqis and were counting the days until they could go home, to those who support the war and feel they are serving a noble cause.
And there was no shortage of Marines "who loved to shoot" and would empty their weapons at the slightest pretext.
"Some wanted a firefight. They wanted that combat action ribbon," he said.
Olson, just back from covering Hurricane Rita, said he has a lot of respect for the troops he spent time with.
"I became part of them for a short time," he said, "but then I'd leave, and they would have to stay there."
Shortly after he left India Company, seven of its members were wounded, six by an improvised explosive device.
Lance Cpl. Mark Beyers of Alden was the most seriously wounded, and his right leg and arm were amputated.
"Oh no, I didn't know that," Olson said. "I remember him, he was a nice guy."
India Company suffered a number of casualties, including one fatality: Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Jeffrey L. Wiener, a corpsman from Long Island. Although a member of India Company, he was serving with a weapons company at the time of his death in combat on May 7.
India Company was one of five companies serving with the 3rd Battalion, and the battalion lost 48 servicemen, including nine from Lima Company, based in Columbus, Ohio, in the deadliest roadside bombing of U.S. troops in Iraq. Lima Company lost a total of 16 reservists.
e-mail: ternst@buffnews.com
Ellie