thedrifter
10-06-05, 12:08 PM
1/5 returns from tour in Iraq
MCB Camp Pendleton
Story by Cpl. Tom Sloan
MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (Oct. 6, 2005) -- The excitement intensified for the Marines and sailors as their convoy of white busses carried them closer to the camp here during the early-morning hours of Sept. 28.
The men knew what awaited them on the parade deck, which made them all the more eager to get there.
The warriors had spent the last seven months fighting against terrorism and for the freedom of others.
For seven long months, they’d been conducting stability and support operations in volatile Ar Ramadi, Iraq, and wanted desperately to see and embrace their loved ones.
More than 1,000 Marines and sailors with 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment returned home from war. Family members and fellow Marines met them on the parade deck and gave them a hero’s welcome.
The homecoming marked the unit’s third deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom since military operations in Iraq began in March 2003.
“This feels great,” said Cpl. Richie L. Gunter, with Company B, as he hugged his wife, Jenny, for the first time in seven months. “I’m so happy to be home and with her again.”
This was the 31-year-old Woodland, Calif., native’s third Iraq tour with 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, and it would be his last.
“It’s a huge weight lifted off my shoulders,” he added, referring to the fact that he’s now finished fighting.
Gunter is scheduled to leave the Corps in April, after which he plans on going to work for his father-in-law on his tomato farm.
The Marines conducted countless missions in the Al Anbar capital city in an effort to quell the insurgency and restore its infrastructure, explained Lt. Col. Eric M. Smith, the infantry battalion’s commander.
“Everyday Marines were out there doing heroic acts,” said the 40-year-old Marine leader from Plano, Texas. “Ramadi required a consistent level of action.”
The endeavor was often difficult and dangerous, Smith said, requiring his Marines to operate day and night.
“The Marines were selflessly devoted to the mission, and their actions were tireless,” he continued. “The important thing to remember is Ramadi has an ambient level of violence. We had to operate in a city with a healthy level of insurgency and also watch out for the well being of the civilian populace.”
Smith said fighting insurgents in Ramadi, which has fully operating hospitals, schools and markets, was a unique task for his Marines. It required them to be equal parts warrior and diplomat, he explained.
He said it was difficult to fully prepare yourself for a mission as difficult as Iraqs, but that they did they’re best and were helped by the training they did receive.
“There’re lots of different types of Iraq. We had to be good Marines.”
First Battalion, Fifth Marines also trained several hundred members of the Iraqi Security Forces to fight the city’s insurgency during the deployment.
“We stood up and introduced a company of ISF into Ramadi,” he said. “They’re living in the city and are conducting operations against the terrorists.”
According to Department of Defense officials, a competent force of ISF who are capable of providing security to Iraq without assistance is the ticket home for the U.S. military. “It was a milestone for us,” officials said.
The insurgents’ preferred weaponry came in the form of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), which they placed on roads throughout the city and used to target convoys.
Insurgents also attacked Marines with small arms fire.
The biggest engagement was in May when 20 insurgents attacked Marines at an entry control point.
“That gunfight resulted in us killing 13 insurgents,” Smith said. Marines captured the other seven, he said.
The infantry battalion suffered its own losses during the deployment.
Fifteen Marines and one Navy corpsman were killed while fighting terror on the urban battlefield.
“We left 16 good men behind and 125 were wounded, some of them severely,” Smith said. “It humbles me to know that these men were willing to sacrifice such things for the good of the mission. They fought and died for our brother Marines.”
Smith said it hurts him that he wasn’t able to bring home all his men.
“You can’t make (their death) right with them or their families,” he said. “You feel unfulfilled returning home without them.”
Smith said leading a battalion in combat was his ‘solemn duty.’
“It was my obligation, my duty,” he said. “I was surrounded by 1,000 brave men and America has a significant debt of gratitude to pay to these men. They’re no different from the men who fought in World War II and saved the world. There’s no difference in the Marines who attacked down central Ramadi and the Marines who stormed the beaches of Iwo Jima. It’s the same level of heroism. Marines are Marines, and they carry on the warrior tradition.”
Editor’s note: Cpl. Sloan deployed with 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, serving as the unit’s combat correspondent. Sloan is a native of Coleman, Texas.
Ellie
MCB Camp Pendleton
Story by Cpl. Tom Sloan
MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (Oct. 6, 2005) -- The excitement intensified for the Marines and sailors as their convoy of white busses carried them closer to the camp here during the early-morning hours of Sept. 28.
The men knew what awaited them on the parade deck, which made them all the more eager to get there.
The warriors had spent the last seven months fighting against terrorism and for the freedom of others.
For seven long months, they’d been conducting stability and support operations in volatile Ar Ramadi, Iraq, and wanted desperately to see and embrace their loved ones.
More than 1,000 Marines and sailors with 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment returned home from war. Family members and fellow Marines met them on the parade deck and gave them a hero’s welcome.
The homecoming marked the unit’s third deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom since military operations in Iraq began in March 2003.
“This feels great,” said Cpl. Richie L. Gunter, with Company B, as he hugged his wife, Jenny, for the first time in seven months. “I’m so happy to be home and with her again.”
This was the 31-year-old Woodland, Calif., native’s third Iraq tour with 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, and it would be his last.
“It’s a huge weight lifted off my shoulders,” he added, referring to the fact that he’s now finished fighting.
Gunter is scheduled to leave the Corps in April, after which he plans on going to work for his father-in-law on his tomato farm.
The Marines conducted countless missions in the Al Anbar capital city in an effort to quell the insurgency and restore its infrastructure, explained Lt. Col. Eric M. Smith, the infantry battalion’s commander.
“Everyday Marines were out there doing heroic acts,” said the 40-year-old Marine leader from Plano, Texas. “Ramadi required a consistent level of action.”
The endeavor was often difficult and dangerous, Smith said, requiring his Marines to operate day and night.
“The Marines were selflessly devoted to the mission, and their actions were tireless,” he continued. “The important thing to remember is Ramadi has an ambient level of violence. We had to operate in a city with a healthy level of insurgency and also watch out for the well being of the civilian populace.”
Smith said fighting insurgents in Ramadi, which has fully operating hospitals, schools and markets, was a unique task for his Marines. It required them to be equal parts warrior and diplomat, he explained.
He said it was difficult to fully prepare yourself for a mission as difficult as Iraqs, but that they did they’re best and were helped by the training they did receive.
“There’re lots of different types of Iraq. We had to be good Marines.”
First Battalion, Fifth Marines also trained several hundred members of the Iraqi Security Forces to fight the city’s insurgency during the deployment.
“We stood up and introduced a company of ISF into Ramadi,” he said. “They’re living in the city and are conducting operations against the terrorists.”
According to Department of Defense officials, a competent force of ISF who are capable of providing security to Iraq without assistance is the ticket home for the U.S. military. “It was a milestone for us,” officials said.
The insurgents’ preferred weaponry came in the form of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), which they placed on roads throughout the city and used to target convoys.
Insurgents also attacked Marines with small arms fire.
The biggest engagement was in May when 20 insurgents attacked Marines at an entry control point.
“That gunfight resulted in us killing 13 insurgents,” Smith said. Marines captured the other seven, he said.
The infantry battalion suffered its own losses during the deployment.
Fifteen Marines and one Navy corpsman were killed while fighting terror on the urban battlefield.
“We left 16 good men behind and 125 were wounded, some of them severely,” Smith said. “It humbles me to know that these men were willing to sacrifice such things for the good of the mission. They fought and died for our brother Marines.”
Smith said it hurts him that he wasn’t able to bring home all his men.
“You can’t make (their death) right with them or their families,” he said. “You feel unfulfilled returning home without them.”
Smith said leading a battalion in combat was his ‘solemn duty.’
“It was my obligation, my duty,” he said. “I was surrounded by 1,000 brave men and America has a significant debt of gratitude to pay to these men. They’re no different from the men who fought in World War II and saved the world. There’s no difference in the Marines who attacked down central Ramadi and the Marines who stormed the beaches of Iwo Jima. It’s the same level of heroism. Marines are Marines, and they carry on the warrior tradition.”
Editor’s note: Cpl. Sloan deployed with 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, serving as the unit’s combat correspondent. Sloan is a native of Coleman, Texas.
Ellie