thedrifter
04-03-03, 02:06 PM
April 03, 2003
Marines dispense with Baghdad Division, advance toward capital
By C. Mark Brinkley
Times staff writer
NEAR KUT, Iraq — As the Baghdad division of Iraq’s Republican Guard was brought to its knees Thursday afternoon, elements of Regimental Combat Team 7 moved across the Tigris River and edged ever closer to the vanquished division’s namesake city.
Field intelligence reports indicated that Maj. Gen. James Mattis, commanding general of the 1st Marine Division, had moved forward to the fighting position of 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, preparing to accept the unconditional surrender of the Baghdad division’s commander.
The move came after a morning of intense pressure on the Iraqi unit’s position near Kut, where artillery units and bombers pounded the area as ground forces moved closer.
For 3rd Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, five days of limited firing ended in a volley of 155mm rounds just after daybreak. Almost four hundred rounds cleared the tubes in less than an hour.
For Battery M of the 3/11, the mission held even more significance.
“We fired our 1,000th round of the ground war today,” said 1st Lt. Ty Yount, 26, executive officer for Battery M, from Morganton, N.C. “We were shooting targets in support of RCT-7’s main-effort attack, crushing the Baghdad division.”
The morning firing raised the morale of the Marines, who have not had any hot food, showers or mail since days before the war kicked off. The past few days have been full of hurry-up-and-wait, but light on combat action.
“That last round that we shot was the 1,000th round,” said 1st Lt. Ryan McDonel, 25, the battery fire direction officer, from Milledgeville, Ga. “We got it on tape, too.”
Hours after the mission, the unit was across the Tigris, set up in a firing position on the east bank of the river about 15 miles from Kut. There the battery had the opportunity to fire more rounds, this time at Iraqi tanks near the town’s main square.
They also found the time to offer more than just fire support.
The battery’s position was in a small community of Iraqi citizens, about 40 men, women and children. The Marines distributed six cases of humanitarian rations to the village elder, to be distributed to the various families.
“That’s something we do as Americans, help other people,” said Pfc. Adam Towe, 20, a motor transport driver from Decatur, Ala., who helped distribute the rations. “That’s why we’re here.”
Sempers,
Roger
Marines dispense with Baghdad Division, advance toward capital
By C. Mark Brinkley
Times staff writer
NEAR KUT, Iraq — As the Baghdad division of Iraq’s Republican Guard was brought to its knees Thursday afternoon, elements of Regimental Combat Team 7 moved across the Tigris River and edged ever closer to the vanquished division’s namesake city.
Field intelligence reports indicated that Maj. Gen. James Mattis, commanding general of the 1st Marine Division, had moved forward to the fighting position of 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, preparing to accept the unconditional surrender of the Baghdad division’s commander.
The move came after a morning of intense pressure on the Iraqi unit’s position near Kut, where artillery units and bombers pounded the area as ground forces moved closer.
For 3rd Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, five days of limited firing ended in a volley of 155mm rounds just after daybreak. Almost four hundred rounds cleared the tubes in less than an hour.
For Battery M of the 3/11, the mission held even more significance.
“We fired our 1,000th round of the ground war today,” said 1st Lt. Ty Yount, 26, executive officer for Battery M, from Morganton, N.C. “We were shooting targets in support of RCT-7’s main-effort attack, crushing the Baghdad division.”
The morning firing raised the morale of the Marines, who have not had any hot food, showers or mail since days before the war kicked off. The past few days have been full of hurry-up-and-wait, but light on combat action.
“That last round that we shot was the 1,000th round,” said 1st Lt. Ryan McDonel, 25, the battery fire direction officer, from Milledgeville, Ga. “We got it on tape, too.”
Hours after the mission, the unit was across the Tigris, set up in a firing position on the east bank of the river about 15 miles from Kut. There the battery had the opportunity to fire more rounds, this time at Iraqi tanks near the town’s main square.
They also found the time to offer more than just fire support.
The battery’s position was in a small community of Iraqi citizens, about 40 men, women and children. The Marines distributed six cases of humanitarian rations to the village elder, to be distributed to the various families.
“That’s something we do as Americans, help other people,” said Pfc. Adam Towe, 20, a motor transport driver from Decatur, Ala., who helped distribute the rations. “That’s why we’re here.”
Sempers,
Roger