Shaffer
04-07-03, 07:27 AM
WITH THE MARINES IN CENTRAL IRAQ – War is a series of battles, and battles often are made of small skirmishes that determine who lives and who dies.
The face-off yesterday between Gunnery Sgt. Jose A. Rodriguez and an armed Iraqi disguised in civilian clothes was such a moment of decision.
The Camp Pendleton Marine fired first and survived. The approaching Iraqi fell in a field and died.
"I didn't want to kill anybody, but I had to," Rodriguez said a few hours after the confrontation, which took place a few miles southeast of the Tigris River near Numaniyah.
"I hate war, but it's the business I'm in," he said. "And business is good."
For the 18-year veteran and member of the 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, it wasn't the first time he'd faced an enemy or ended a life.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/uniontrib/thu/news/news_1n3encounter.html
The face-off yesterday between Gunnery Sgt. Jose A. Rodriguez and an armed Iraqi disguised in civilian clothes was such a moment of decision.
The Camp Pendleton Marine fired first and survived. The approaching Iraqi fell in a field and died.
"I didn't want to kill anybody, but I had to," Rodriguez said a few hours after the confrontation, which took place a few miles southeast of the Tigris River near Numaniyah.
"I hate war, but it's the business I'm in," he said. "And business is good."
For the 18-year veteran and member of the 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, it wasn't the first time he'd faced an enemy or ended a life.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/uniontrib/thu/news/news_1n3encounter.html