thedrifter
07-03-07, 11:14 AM
Waukesha native awarded Bronze Star for heroism in Iraq
Marine honored for his role in directing troops through ambush in 2005
By JUSTIN KERN - GM Today Staff
July 3, 2007
WAUKESHA - It was the final day of Operation Steel Curtain, where U.S. Marines in November 2005 searched for insurgents and weapons in three cities along the Euphrates River in Iraq.
Capt. Brian Gilbertson - a native of Waukesha - had flown refueling planes in his previous tour of duty in Iraq in 2003, but this time he was on the ground. That meant nearly two weeks of storming into homes where Marines were shot once they walked through the front door - how one of his fellow service members was killed - and pacing through a field of makeshift explosives.
He watched a friend, a higher ranking officer, die in that mine field, and he himself thought "maybe I was going to be killed" there.
But by the time the 2nd Battalion had made it to New Ubaydi, the final stop in the operation, the fighting and danger had lessened.
Then came the ambush.
Gilbertson, 32, speaking on the phone Monday from his home in San Diego, was atop a three-story building and operating land maneuvers during that Marine operation. Insurgents had scared the appearance of tranquility into residents of the Iraqi city, while having videotaped previous Marine raids to ready themselves for the ambush, Gilbertson said.
First, a man with an AK-47 shot at them from a tree, and other insurgents then created a cross fire of bullets and grenades directed at the Marines as they approached a barn at the edge of the city, Gilbertson said. He shot the insurgent in the tree and called in air attack forces that gave the Marines fire power and time to tend to the wounded and assess casualties.
"I actually had a bullet rip through a metal grate in front of me and bounce off my leg," said Gilbertson, who was uninjured by the innocuous bullet.
Five Marines were killed in the battle, and 18 insurgents were killed while their position was decimated. From that fire fight and accompanying rescue effort with his battalion, Gilbertson has been nominated by other service members for the Bronze Star Medal, the fourth-highest combat award of the U.S. Armed Forces given for bravery or merit.
Ellie
Marine honored for his role in directing troops through ambush in 2005
By JUSTIN KERN - GM Today Staff
July 3, 2007
WAUKESHA - It was the final day of Operation Steel Curtain, where U.S. Marines in November 2005 searched for insurgents and weapons in three cities along the Euphrates River in Iraq.
Capt. Brian Gilbertson - a native of Waukesha - had flown refueling planes in his previous tour of duty in Iraq in 2003, but this time he was on the ground. That meant nearly two weeks of storming into homes where Marines were shot once they walked through the front door - how one of his fellow service members was killed - and pacing through a field of makeshift explosives.
He watched a friend, a higher ranking officer, die in that mine field, and he himself thought "maybe I was going to be killed" there.
But by the time the 2nd Battalion had made it to New Ubaydi, the final stop in the operation, the fighting and danger had lessened.
Then came the ambush.
Gilbertson, 32, speaking on the phone Monday from his home in San Diego, was atop a three-story building and operating land maneuvers during that Marine operation. Insurgents had scared the appearance of tranquility into residents of the Iraqi city, while having videotaped previous Marine raids to ready themselves for the ambush, Gilbertson said.
First, a man with an AK-47 shot at them from a tree, and other insurgents then created a cross fire of bullets and grenades directed at the Marines as they approached a barn at the edge of the city, Gilbertson said. He shot the insurgent in the tree and called in air attack forces that gave the Marines fire power and time to tend to the wounded and assess casualties.
"I actually had a bullet rip through a metal grate in front of me and bounce off my leg," said Gilbertson, who was uninjured by the innocuous bullet.
Five Marines were killed in the battle, and 18 insurgents were killed while their position was decimated. From that fire fight and accompanying rescue effort with his battalion, Gilbertson has been nominated by other service members for the Bronze Star Medal, the fourth-highest combat award of the U.S. Armed Forces given for bravery or merit.
Ellie