thedrifter
09-15-07, 06:45 AM
Buttry describes experiences in Iraq; battles the heat, mites and Al-Qaida
By BRADEN WILLIS, Of The Times Staff
Carmi Times, United States
S/Sgt. Patrick Buttry, home on leave from his second tour of combat duty in Iraq as a Marine infantryman with Golf Co., 2nd Bn., 7th Marines (2/7,) told The Times Thursday afternoon that U.S. troops in Iraq are making a difference.
Pulling them out now would negate the sacrifices so many have made, he said, in a war that has now lasted longer than World War II.
Buttry is a 1994 Carmi-White County High School graduate and enlisted in the Marine Corps shortly after his graduation. His first duty was in Rota, Spain, where he served a tour on barracks duty. His next duty was with 2nd Bn., 1st Marines (2/1), where he pulled two West-Pac (Western Pacific) deployments, one from March 1996 until September 1996 and the other from December 1998 until June 1999.
During that first West-Pac, he went ashore in Kenya, Africa, when civil disorder erupted in a port town. He and his fellow Marines were sent ashore to secure American interests there, including airfields and ports. Buttry referred to the incident as a "stability operation."
From 2/1, Buttry went to Edson Range at Camp Pendleton, Calif., where he served as a shooting coach and later as a primary marksmanship instructor. He went from the range to recruiting duty in Peoria, Ill., until being reassigned to his current unit, Golf 2/7, with whom he deployed to Iraq from July 2005 until January 2006 and again from January 2007 until returning home this time.
He is scheduled for 30 days leave before reporting back to his unit, only to check out and head back to Edson Range, where he will become a staff non-commissioned officer in charge (SNCOIC) of one of the many weapons ranges. He anticipates being assigned there for three years. He plans to retire after serving 20 years and returning to Carmi.
Buttry's first tour in Iraq found him and his unit in a rural farming community a few kilometers west of Fallujah. Fallujah is west of west of Baghdad and situated on the Euphrates River, while Baghdad sits on the Tigris River. The second tour also found Buttry and his unit in a rural farming community, at first northwest of Fallujah before being moved to a rural province about 10 kilometers southeast of Fallujah called Zaidon.
Buttry's battalion suffered casualties in both deployments, totaling 13 killed in action during the first deployment and eight killed in action on this most recent deployment. Buttry estimated the number of wounded in action at more than 100 during both deployments. He said the Marines spend most of their time battling the 120-degree (and up) heat while being burdened with hot, heavy and cumbersome gear, and the mites. Buttry's lower legs are scarred from the tiny insects' bites, and he said his were less severe than many of the men he served with in Iraq.
Then there's the enemy, who Buttry said mostly prefer to fight during daylight hours and in sporadic, shorter than a minute bursts before they will break contact and run for cover. He said his unit was having an impact on the area and had befriended many of the locals who grew tired of Al-Qaida operatives in the area. Buttry said some locals don't like the Marines and didn't want them there, but they got tired of Al-Qaida, who Buttry said the locals wanted out even more than the Marines. At one time, he said, the locals would fight both the Marines and Al-Qaida, but once they grew to hate Al-Qaida more, they turned to the Marines for help in driving the foreign fighters from Iraq.
Buttry said Al-Qaida's tactics are brutal toward the locals and the locals came to realize the Marines were there to help them stabilize their country, not continue to destabilize it, and the Marines are helpful, not brutal, to the locals.
He said he doesn't watch the news because it does not show the good things the U.S. military is accomplishing in Iraq. "There's schools being built. We provide security and train their people how to provide it for themselves. The news doesn't show us doing this stuff," he said. "We trained more than 300 Iraqi Security Forces in our area." And his area of responsibility was rural.
Buttry's closest call with being wounded or worse came during the longest engagement with the enemy he personally experienced: A three-day firefight with Al-Qaida troops, with both sides firing at each other over that time from positions of cover, as one might envision a war based on their knowledge of movie warfare.
While the details of that engagement remain classified, the Marines killed a large number of Al-Qaida forces while suffering only one wounded during the engagement. Buttry was almost the second casualty. While directing fire from a bunker, a sniper zeroed in on Buttry and put a round into a wall just a few inches to the left of Buttry's ear. "It was close," he said, his scariest moment "by far."
"It's definitely worth the people's time they're spending over there," Buttry said. "Pulling out now is not going to get us anywhere and would make all the sacrifices we've made seem not worthwhile."
Buttry said he hears the dissent in his country against the war and admits some Marines may feel it in Iraq, but it isn't discussed. "We're too busy with the task at hand. Our job is just to follow the orders. It's not my job to question my orders. We're definitely making progress or the generals wouldn't be talking about troop down-sizing. We're making progress and we're winning the trust of the locals. That makes it worthwhile."
Buttry is looking forward to his next assignment and his next promotion. Currently a staff sergeant (E-6), he has been selected for promotion to gunnery sergeant (E-7) and expects to pin the rank on some time in the next few months.
He said he appreciates the support he gets from family and friends at home and really enjoyed the letters and the care packages he shared with his men in his command. (He deployed to Iraq as a platoon commander due to an injury his lieutenant suffered during pre-deployment training.) "That's what helps the Marines get through it," he said. "It's the little things. Just a letter from home can mean so much. Even a quick e-mail."
Ellie
By BRADEN WILLIS, Of The Times Staff
Carmi Times, United States
S/Sgt. Patrick Buttry, home on leave from his second tour of combat duty in Iraq as a Marine infantryman with Golf Co., 2nd Bn., 7th Marines (2/7,) told The Times Thursday afternoon that U.S. troops in Iraq are making a difference.
Pulling them out now would negate the sacrifices so many have made, he said, in a war that has now lasted longer than World War II.
Buttry is a 1994 Carmi-White County High School graduate and enlisted in the Marine Corps shortly after his graduation. His first duty was in Rota, Spain, where he served a tour on barracks duty. His next duty was with 2nd Bn., 1st Marines (2/1), where he pulled two West-Pac (Western Pacific) deployments, one from March 1996 until September 1996 and the other from December 1998 until June 1999.
During that first West-Pac, he went ashore in Kenya, Africa, when civil disorder erupted in a port town. He and his fellow Marines were sent ashore to secure American interests there, including airfields and ports. Buttry referred to the incident as a "stability operation."
From 2/1, Buttry went to Edson Range at Camp Pendleton, Calif., where he served as a shooting coach and later as a primary marksmanship instructor. He went from the range to recruiting duty in Peoria, Ill., until being reassigned to his current unit, Golf 2/7, with whom he deployed to Iraq from July 2005 until January 2006 and again from January 2007 until returning home this time.
He is scheduled for 30 days leave before reporting back to his unit, only to check out and head back to Edson Range, where he will become a staff non-commissioned officer in charge (SNCOIC) of one of the many weapons ranges. He anticipates being assigned there for three years. He plans to retire after serving 20 years and returning to Carmi.
Buttry's first tour in Iraq found him and his unit in a rural farming community a few kilometers west of Fallujah. Fallujah is west of west of Baghdad and situated on the Euphrates River, while Baghdad sits on the Tigris River. The second tour also found Buttry and his unit in a rural farming community, at first northwest of Fallujah before being moved to a rural province about 10 kilometers southeast of Fallujah called Zaidon.
Buttry's battalion suffered casualties in both deployments, totaling 13 killed in action during the first deployment and eight killed in action on this most recent deployment. Buttry estimated the number of wounded in action at more than 100 during both deployments. He said the Marines spend most of their time battling the 120-degree (and up) heat while being burdened with hot, heavy and cumbersome gear, and the mites. Buttry's lower legs are scarred from the tiny insects' bites, and he said his were less severe than many of the men he served with in Iraq.
Then there's the enemy, who Buttry said mostly prefer to fight during daylight hours and in sporadic, shorter than a minute bursts before they will break contact and run for cover. He said his unit was having an impact on the area and had befriended many of the locals who grew tired of Al-Qaida operatives in the area. Buttry said some locals don't like the Marines and didn't want them there, but they got tired of Al-Qaida, who Buttry said the locals wanted out even more than the Marines. At one time, he said, the locals would fight both the Marines and Al-Qaida, but once they grew to hate Al-Qaida more, they turned to the Marines for help in driving the foreign fighters from Iraq.
Buttry said Al-Qaida's tactics are brutal toward the locals and the locals came to realize the Marines were there to help them stabilize their country, not continue to destabilize it, and the Marines are helpful, not brutal, to the locals.
He said he doesn't watch the news because it does not show the good things the U.S. military is accomplishing in Iraq. "There's schools being built. We provide security and train their people how to provide it for themselves. The news doesn't show us doing this stuff," he said. "We trained more than 300 Iraqi Security Forces in our area." And his area of responsibility was rural.
Buttry's closest call with being wounded or worse came during the longest engagement with the enemy he personally experienced: A three-day firefight with Al-Qaida troops, with both sides firing at each other over that time from positions of cover, as one might envision a war based on their knowledge of movie warfare.
While the details of that engagement remain classified, the Marines killed a large number of Al-Qaida forces while suffering only one wounded during the engagement. Buttry was almost the second casualty. While directing fire from a bunker, a sniper zeroed in on Buttry and put a round into a wall just a few inches to the left of Buttry's ear. "It was close," he said, his scariest moment "by far."
"It's definitely worth the people's time they're spending over there," Buttry said. "Pulling out now is not going to get us anywhere and would make all the sacrifices we've made seem not worthwhile."
Buttry said he hears the dissent in his country against the war and admits some Marines may feel it in Iraq, but it isn't discussed. "We're too busy with the task at hand. Our job is just to follow the orders. It's not my job to question my orders. We're definitely making progress or the generals wouldn't be talking about troop down-sizing. We're making progress and we're winning the trust of the locals. That makes it worthwhile."
Buttry is looking forward to his next assignment and his next promotion. Currently a staff sergeant (E-6), he has been selected for promotion to gunnery sergeant (E-7) and expects to pin the rank on some time in the next few months.
He said he appreciates the support he gets from family and friends at home and really enjoyed the letters and the care packages he shared with his men in his command. (He deployed to Iraq as a platoon commander due to an injury his lieutenant suffered during pre-deployment training.) "That's what helps the Marines get through it," he said. "It's the little things. Just a letter from home can mean so much. Even a quick e-mail."
Ellie