U.S. Army photo. The 8km-long Haditha dam and its hydro-electrical facility, located to the north-west of Baghdad, supply 30% of Iraq's electricity. Eight US Marines faced charges in the deaths, but only one was convicted of a crime, that of negligent dereliction of duty.. 2nd Platoon took the time to fortify its positions on the east side of the dam. The Battle of Haditha Dam took place in 2003. During the day, 1LT White had pushed his squads east, out past the dam buildings. The raid prevented a potential humanitarian and environmental disaster along the Euphrates River, and mitigated the risk to coalition forces rapidly advancing toward Baghdad. Throughout the day, the A-10s pounded the relentless enemy. Duncan radioed CPT Doyle, relayed the situation, and requested permission to recover the wounded Iraqis. The movie follows the story of the Marines of Kilo Company, an Iraqi family, and the insurgent Read allAn investigation of the massacre of 24 men, women and children in Haditha, Iraq allegedly shot by 4 U.S. Marines in retaliation for the death of a U.S. Marine killed by a roadside bomb. The Chinook evacuated Feldbusch during a break in the artillery attack, and doctors began working on him as soon as he was aboard. Staff Sergeant James Narrow (pseudonym), B Company, 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, interview by Dr. Charles H. Briscoe, 23 October 2003, Fort Benning, GA, tape recording, USASOC History Office Classified Files, Fort Bragg, NC. Team Gravy was headed for a break and to wait for their next assignment. Constantly on coalition planners' minds were the "scorched earth" tactics employed by Saddam Hussein during Operation Desert Storm in 1991. His efforts would prove crucial in the following months, when al Qaeda would launch an all-out, last-ditch effort to keep control of the Haditha Triad. Weather, including sandstorms, began reducing visibility and interfering with the Night Stalkers' flying, but on the third day, an MH-47 Chinook helicopter braved enemy fire and resupplied the Rangers, who were approaching 72 hours under fire on what was planned as a 24-hour operation. US intelligence estimates put the number of enemy at more than 3,000, with over 1,000 killed in action and many more wounded. Unbeknownst to the Marines, AQI had filled the girls bag with hand grenades and had instructed her to press a detonator button when she passed close to the Marines. As they stepped near, the couple detonated a Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED) which instantly killed Russ and the two Rangers. Faircount Media Group. RLTW NSDQ Sine Pari By Almighty God, with honor, and. We loaded him and the Air Force man into one of the DAPs and it flew them off. *Lighting a path to truth* Former Navy JAG Worldwide U.S. Military Defense. They also distributed flyers that they had made using an old ditto machine they found in an abandoned warehouse. Iraq 2003: A group of U.S. Army Rangers fights to seize control of Haditha Dam a strategically key location in Operation Iraqi Freedom when they realize they are outnumbered by a strong Iraqi force. Returning to the ROD site, CPT Doyle assembled his First Sergeant, MAJ Kilburn, and SFC Stanley Morgan (pseudonym), the fire support noncommissioned officer, to develop a plan. Joyce Shannon, Neighbors seek to help soldier injured in combat in Iraq,. The company arrived at the ROD site just as the sun welcomed a new day. The next battalion to occupy the region, the First Battalion of the Third Marine Regiment, didnt suffer a single loss of life. They kept up the fight, however, on all fronts. The dams capture also prevented any further use of the facility as a river crossing by foreign terrorists, while ensuring its availability to coalition forces. By the end of their deploymentafter 23 of their ranks had died and 177 having sustained serious woundsAQI forces in the area were finally defeated. We were racked out just a few hours when one of our men on guard reported a truck approaching with a DShK heavy machine gun mounted on it. Enraged by this loss, his young Marine buddies carry out a brutal retaliation. On 1 April 2003, B Company, 3rd Ranger Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, stormed the Al-Qadisiyah (Hadithah) Dam complex northwest of Baghdad. Critics Consensus. The invasion of Iraq in March 2003 was marked by a. Insurgents have tried many times to attack, seize, and/or destroy both the Haditha Dam and Ramadi Bridge. Destruction of the dam would have significantly affected the functioning of the country's electrical grid and could cause major flooding downstream from the dam. Battle of Haditha Dam: The saga comes to an end. However, the Rangers proved their effectiveness as a strike force by fighting and winning a fierce week-long battle to prevent any such strategic delay, or humanitarian or environmental disaster. Marines erected an earthen berm around key portions of the Triad, walling it off, while biometric automated toolsets (or BATs), portable finger print and retina scanning gear, helped mobile patrols verify the identities of locals and detect insurgents. In fact, the Thirds time in Haditha would prove to be the single deadliest deployment for a Marine battalion since that of the October, 1983 Beirut barracks bombing that killed 220. The Triad would become one of the most violent places in the war, as the terrorist network oppressed the local citizenry and lashed out at American forces deployed to the region. Since they did not have counterbattery radar, observers had to visually pick up mortar sites, observation posts, and artillery pieces one at a time, and guide airstrikes to take them out. This was unlike any missionwe'd been taught about in Ranger history. He directed 1st Squad to suppress the guards, while 3rd Squad flanked from the left and entered near the gatehouse. Three Rangers were killed on 3 April by a VBIED at the blocking positions as they were searching a car;[2] the car was driven by a young pregnant Iraqi woman who seemed distressed and asking for water. The Marines convinced Farouk to establish a resurgent police force, with he as the chief. The senior employee of the group expedited the search for demolitions by guiding a squad to key locations within the facility. The numbers in that fight were calculated out to be 1:22. Support Veteran Journalism . Back at the FARP Chief refueled and reloaded immediately, ready to spring from Serpent to re-engage with any froggy Arabs. There, like a cornered, wounded animal, they would put up their final fight. During their deployment, 3/3 maintained a strong outside the wire presence throughout the Haditha Triad, making great strides in the counterinsurgency campaign in the areabut at a cost; the battalion lost 15 of their members. She didnt understand the instructions, so AQI set the bomb off remotely shortly after she rode by the Americans, killing her instantly. While 2nd Platoon began its assault, 3rd Platoon focused on seizing Objective Cobalt, which consisted of an entry control point to the power station, the power station itself, and the transformer yard south of the earthen dam. Almost 5 miles long and 200 feet high, the dam is one of the largest in the world and can provide electricity to hundreds of thousands of homes, even reaching Baghdad more than 150 miles away. Sergeant First Class James Lauder (pseudonym), B Company, 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, interview by David Jenkins, 23 October 2003, Fort Benning, GA, tape recording, USASOC History Office Classified Files, Fort Bragg, NC. One particularly pesky mortar position, on an island about 2,000 yards behind the dam, was taken out with a Javelin anti-tank missile, along with a pair of 1,000-pound bombs. Later I found that the round had hit the plate around an inch up and in from the lower left corner, which was right over my left kidney. Again the man indicated to his wife and the need for water. Seeing that I had not been hurt, I got back onto my weapon and helped get us out of there. They were outnumbered and outgunned, and still stayed in the fight. The 2nd Squad Rangers repositioned their vehicles on the north side of the road and responded to the enemy fire with MK19 grenade launchers and heavy weapons of their own. The movie follows the story of the Marines of Kilo Company, an Iraqi family, and the insurgent. They are our primary customers, and the 160th supports them with assault and precision close air support. Unable to access the area from the top of the dam, CPT Taylor directed his men to reverse course and head back through 1st Platoons blocking position. The Battle of Haditha Dam: Mowing Iraqis down like bowling pins. B Squadron came and relieved us. The Battle of Haditha Dam took place in 2003. Yet, nobody exited the eastern side of the dam.6, Finally locating a door into the administrative building, White brought up two squads to clear the facility and search for demolitions. geo sends. The Battle of Haditha Dam took place in 2003. In 2004, the Gulf Region Division of the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) carried out restoration works on one of the turbines to restore the dam's hydroelectric power station to full capacity. The choppers carried so much ammunition that they could barely hover and had to be constantly moving to keep from crashing. The Haditha Dam also controlled the flow of the Euphrates into the lower Euphrates/Tigris River Valley. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. As the fire support officer and two troops neared the vehicle, the Iraqi couple detonated an improvised explosive device, killing themselves and all three Rangers. One particularly pesky mortar position, on an island about 2,000 yards behind the dam, was taken out with a Javelin anti-tank missile, along with a pair of 1,000-pound bombs. One of the most important, and enduring, victories of 3/3's time in the Haditha Triad was tracking down a former Iraqi army colonel from the region named Farouk and returning him to his home city of Haditha. NOW WATCH: What the US needs to do to prevent a new ISIS in Iraq. A Guard F-16 that was Winchester showed up and kept making faux gun runs on the enemy which really helped to hold them at bay. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of any material on this site without expressand written permission from the author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. The Battle of Haditha Dam took place in 2003. The cost of the line was US$56.7 million and was paid by Iraq's oil revenues. The 160th is constantly training with Army SOF units Rangers and Delta. P.S., The cartoon I made in honor of Chief Greg Coker made it to T-Shirts at SOFREP (Geos Winchester) pretty slick! Endurance: B Company Under Fire While most of the rounds fell in the lake, every platoon had a few shells fall within a kilometer of their position. With permission granted, Birch and Duncan sprinted down the hill, under antiaircraft artillery fire (firing in a direct fire mode) from the south. The same thing happened to 5th Green Berets and some British Special Boat Service pipe hitters on the first night of the war; both were hit and both retreated. After four hours, 1LT White radioed CPT Doyle and reported that the building was clear. For the next five days, Iraqi forces continued to harass the Rangers at the dam, principally with episodic artillery and mortar fire along with several infantry counterattacks against the U.S. Rangers were alert and kept the car at gunpoint, as no Iraqis were to be trusted at this point in the battle. The Battle for Haditha dam was the single largest engagement of the war fought to control the largest single strategic point of the conflict. The convoy lost its aerial escort when a ground vehicles broken gearbox delayed progress to the point where the Little Birds had to divert for fuel.3. But then I began to fight my way back. On 30 March, Captain (CPT) David Doyle led B Company, and the attached section of 120 mm heavy mortars, from H1 to a remote desert landing strip (DLS) for refuel on the way to a remain-over-day (ROD) site. down I could see that I had been hit, but that the round had hit the last chance plate on the back of my body armor. At that point, news also came in that Delta Forces Master Sergeant George Andrew Fernandez had been killed at approximately the same time in a gunfight in a different part of the country. Like the seizure of Point du Hoc and Pegasus Bridge on D-Day, Haditha Dam was executed with thunderclap surprise and audacity worthy of those who came before and wore the title of Ranger. And like the Mogadishu firefight in 1993, Haditha Dam tested the best in the 154 men who rushed Objectives Lynx and Cobalt. s01e03 - A Battle for Haditha Dam Transcript detail There is no going back to the person that I was before Haditha Dam. On 1 April, C squadron, Delta Force and 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment conducted a night-time ground assault into the target on foot and in armored vehicles against the Haditha Dam complex. Meanwhile, the Rangers pulling rear security located a bunker with five armed Iraqis and RPG launchers. One of the most telling examples of their brutality occurred during the deployment of the Third Battalion of the 25th Marine Regiment in 2005, when AQI killed a total of 48 members of the battalion over the course of their time there. Searching the additional structures, the Rangers found that one contained training materials for the antiaircraft artillery school: sand tables of western Iraq, posters detailing Iraqi weapon systems, and photographs of artillery pieces.14. [1] 75th Ranger Regiment photo. THROUGHOUT THE WAR in Iraq, the news media focused primarily on actions in the Baghdad region, and to a lesser extent on the outlying battles in the cities of Fallujah and Ramadi. A man stepped out indicating to his apparently pregnant wife inside and held up empty water bottles. Read Next: Battle of Haditha Dam: The saga comes to an end One man flew the gunship while the other leaned outside and gunned downed the Iraqis below. Colonel Farouk held firm. Smith aimed and registered the first enemy kill of the operation. Using a hooligan toola combination axe and crowbar used by emergency personnelthe Rangers pried open the heavy metal door. Praesidus brings homage to the military watch tradition. After several coordination delays, the Rangers ultimately moved out at 2240, two hours later than planned. My chief fear was,am I gonna have the guts to go forward? When they took the two buildings where all the fire had come from on April 1, they found 12 large arms and ammunition storage rooms, along with an Iraqi command post complete with sand table map. Leaving a small guard detail for the workers, the rest of the Rangers moved topside, and observed that outside the building all hell had broken loose.8, SFC Duncans element saw little additional action until after daybreak. One of the most horrific examples of this occurred when a squad from Echo Company happened across a young Iraqi girl on a bicycle wearing a Mickey Mouse backpack. Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. Their mission was to prevent Saddam Hussein and his forces from destroying the dam. Finally, the Rangers demonstrated the value that a flexible, cohesive, and highly trained assault force can bring to the modern battlefield. But the Iraqi forces at Haditha Dam were defeated by then. The movie follows the story of the Marines of Kilo Company, an Iraqi family, and the insurgents who plant the roadside bomb. One of the largest dams in the world, the Haditha complex provided fully one-third of the Iraqi electrical grid load in 2003. The three Iraqis were similarly dealt with. The Rangers anticipated that the dam would be very well defended, with at least a platoon on Objective Lynx, and a mechanized company to the south, near Hadithah village. Drama History War An investigation of the massacre of 24 men, women and children in Haditha, Iraq allegedly shot by 4 U.S. Marines in retaliation for the death of a U.S. Marine killed by a roadside bomb. The Battle for Haditha dam was the single largest engagement of the war fought to control the largest single strategic point of the conflict. Jesse Ragan, 3rd/C moved down a steep access road into the objective area. The Marines fought back hard. Coker, a Night Stalker pilot and author of "Death Waits in the Dark," spent 30 years in uniform and completed 11 combat tours. The convoy separated and the Rangers followed the assault plan, each platoon focusing on its assigned objective. As CPT Brad Thompson was moving forward to the lead vehicle, team leader SSG Pete Corrigan (pseudonym) tossed a grenade and yelled, Frag out! The fragmentation grenade exploded, illuminating the objective and enough Iraqis to cause the platoon to pull back long enough to regroup. Feb 29. I have spent some time with Iraq veterans and I feel this movie did a very accurate job portraying what they went through. Sign up for notifications from Insider! The Marines fought an army of phantoms on a battlefield of shadows. Unfortunately, SPC Alan (pseudonym) made a wrong turn on the way down, and entered a developed area serving as an academy for antiaircraft artillery. Captain Brad Thompson, C Company, 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, interview by Dr. Charles H. Briscoe, 23 October 2003, Fort Benning, GA, tape recording, USASOC History Office Classified Files, Fort Bragg, NC. What lies beneath the. All Rights Reserved. Learn how and when to remove this template message, "The Haditha Dam Seizure - The Target - Defense Media Network", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Haditha_Dam&oldid=1107643320, Articles needing additional references from August 2017, All articles needing additional references, Pages using military navigation subgroups without wide style, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 31 August 2022, at 02:47. The Many Faces of Napoleon Bonaparte -- What did the French Emperor Actually Look Like? Mo reported that all was quiet at the dam, sounding like he had not slept in a hot minute. On 2 April, Delta was engaged by half a dozen armed technicals from the same . The movie follows the story of the Marines of Kilo Company, an Iraqi family, and the insurgents who plant the roadside bomb. Three Ranger platoons seized the dam's administrative buildings with after initially heavy opposition, while a pair of AH-6 little birds orbited overhead providing close air support to the Rangers. Platoon leaders furiously took notes as Doyle laid out the plan on his map, and the group surveyed the available imagery. As the battle rages on, a young medic must face his fears when his skills are put to the test in order to save the life of a teammate. An investigation of the massacre of 24 men, women and children in Haditha, Iraq allegedly shot by 4 U.S. Marines in retaliation for the death of a U.S. Marine killed by a roadside bomb. Stores opened. Amazingly, none of the Rangers was hit. The locals had finally had enough and began coming forward to the Marines with information about the location of key members of AQI. Led by Staff Sgt. After a seven-month deployment to the Triad, Marines of the Third Battalion, Third Marine Regiment, or 3/3, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Norman Norm Cooling, began preparing to return to their home base at Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. Combat stress trauma is hardly a new phenomenon. Mar 23. As the sun illuminated the surrounding terrain, sniper SSG Ronnie Jones (pseudonym) spotted Iraqis shooting rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) from the west side of the river, 990 meters away. A side effect of extended exposure to enemy fire, especially artillery and mortars, it has the ability to disable even the most hardened veterans. RecPak is a meal replacement for the outdoors that saves you weight, space and time in the most challenging environments, just add water. Weapons or Whiskey Company, re-tasked to function like an infantry line company, went to a number of locations throughout the desert south of Haditha, but spent most of their time at the small village of Albu Hyatt. Doyle pulled 3rd Platoon back to the dam and positioned it between 2nd and 1st Platoons. Big-hearted Russ The Rangers at the barricade immediately opened fire on the vehicle behind the one that had just detonated; it too went up in a massive explosion another VBIED! Rangers conducted a rare combat jump on Serpent and captured it, allowing the rest of the force to be transported in and letting the Night Stalkers use it as a forward arming and refueling point. They are hardly targets of no significance. While the hindsight of bystanders is always 20/20, the crucible of battle makes the situation at the moment of truth far less certain for those in the fight. The MH-6 also acted as bait to draw enemy fire so the two attack birds could pounce. That night, the Night Stalkers fired ordnance as close as 12 meters from the Rangers. SPC Watson fired several hundred .50 caliber rounds into the vehicle, stopping it cold. Composed of the city of Haditha and the outlying towns of Haqlaniyah, Barwana and Albu Hyatt, the Haditha Triad lies along the Euphrates River corridor, deep in the desert, far from Baghdad. A helicopter flies over the Haditha Dam, which provides electricity for a third of Iraq. For their actions against the enemy, they both received the Silver Star. In 2005, in response to a U.S. and coalition attempt to establish order in the area, AQI decapitated a number of local Iraqi police officers and members of their families, placing their victims heads atop stakes at major intersections in the city of Haditha. Destruction of the dam would have significantly affected the functioning of the country's electrical grid and could cause major flooding downstream from the dam. Located northwest of Baghdad, the dam was built during the Cold War to provide hydroelectric power for central Iraq, including Baghdad. Later the Rangers captured an Iraqi forward observer dressed as a civilian after sinking his kayak with .50 caliber machine gun fire, the observer had maps of all of the Rangers positions in and around the dam. Company B, along with Mo, was still on the dam holding out as best they could, all the while waiting for long-overdue relief. Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations. See production, box office & company info, Very skillful exploration of the Iraq war. Local government began functioning again. Based on their Afghanistan experience, the Rangers knew that a guy with a weapon did not actually indicate combatant status; everyone carried weapons, both militia and civilians. Men, women, and children walked the streets freely. For Halloween, members of Echo Company dressed up in costume during their patrols went door-to-door to hand out candy. A combination of mortar and 152 millimeter artillery shells rained down on the concrete surface near the Ranger positions. About the same time, 3rd/C began to move down into Objective Cobalt, on the river level below the dam face. The destruction of the dam would have significantly affected the functioning of the country's electrical grid and could cause major flooding downstream from the dam. Battle of Haditha Dam: The saga comes to an end. But a small special-operations contingent was sent to an objective close to the Iraqi capital. Once they were loaded into their truck, Lauder and his team raced to the center of the dam, where Feldbusch would be safe until he could be evacuated for immediate surgical attention.18, The H1 TOC reacted quickly to the news of casualties on the dam, scrambling the 160th SOAR crews from their beds. Iraq's Battleground Dams Are Key to Saving the Country from ISIS. On 1 April 2003, B Company, 3rd Ranger Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, stormed the Al-Qadisiyah (Hadithah) Dam complex northwest of Baghdad. One round even impacted the concrete rail only seventy-five meters from CPT Doyles command post; luckily, it never exploded. You must become a subscriber or login to view or post comments on this article. 3rd/C swept back down toward Objective Cobalt below the dam. Rangers have put up their own welcome sign to follow-on forces. The lead Rangers in Duncans element dismounted their vehicles near the western entrance of the dam, and paused to get their bearings. At one point during the four-day battle, the Iraqis attacked Serpent in an attempt to cut of the Rangers' support. Unfortunately, the mortars were replaced by 152 millimeter heavy artillery from the southwest. While gathering intelligence about enemy locations and troop strengths, CPT Doyle received a message from Major (MAJ) Kilburn (pseudonym), the battalion XO; at 1400, B Company had received a digitally transmitted fragmentation order to seize Hadithah Dam and prevent its destruction. Tribal fighters seen during a battle with ISIS militants, in Haditha, Iraq, Aug. 25, 2014. Russ was there with the Rangers when a car pulled up several meters from the barricade. For Christmas they dressed up as Santas and elves gave toys. During the 2003 invasion of Iraq, United States Army Rangers seized the Haditha Dam on 1 April in order to prevent it from being destroyed. By late on the evening of April 2, a number of Doyles Rangers were showing signs of the disorder, as shells fell steadily around their positions. George died there with his comrades all around him. One of the most important, and enduring, victories of 3/3s time in the Haditha Triad was tracking down a former Iraqi army colonel from the region named Farouk and returning him to his home city of Haditha. One of Georges teammates that was there at the fight with him recounts it as follows: We were some 300 miles inside the border traveling at night and sleeping hidden during the day. Through the predawn darkness, the Rangers spotted three armed individuals standing in front of a small building, seemingly just looking around. Their mission was to prevent Saddam Hussein and his forces from destroying the dam. U.S. Army photo. One man stood in front of an apparent propane tank with an RPG, and the two others were standing behind the tank. Yet in the current fighting in Iraq, the major dams on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers are seen not just as strategic targets but as powerful weapons of war. As one of them said later, I remember just starting to fold up, and fall in on myself. Cowed by beheadings, rapes, murder and general intimidation, the locals of the area remained rarely emerged from hiding. CPT Doyle briefed his plan to the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR) pilots and tweaked the fire support plan. The Herculean task of clearing nine floors of ten offices each, a control room, locked bathrooms, and balconies, rested solely on Whites section of approximately twenty Rangers. 33 Reviews 2,500+ Ratings. The crucial battle for Baghdad may have begun on Wednesday with invading US forces launching a pincer attack on Republican Guard units and were reported to be just 35km away from the Iraqi capital. Early on the night of April 1, the Rangers and Delta Force operators stormed the dam. Battle for Haditha. Destruction of the dam would have significantly affected the functioning of the country's electrical grid and could cause major flooding downstream from the dam. Two nights later we headed east toward Tikrit traveling longer than we should have into dawn, passing a Bedouine camp in the process. Summary of all of the indirect fire engagements during the seven days at Haditha Dam. Then, as if in a movie, he hit it dead on: there was the gravel road, and the asphalt road two hundred meters further on. 3rd Platoon spent the morning consolidating enemy prisoners and improving its own fighting positions.15, In the afternoon, CPT Doyle issued an order to CPT Thompson to clear the eastern half of the dam complex. SPC Feldbusch did, indeed, resume breathing on his own, and the color returned to his face, giving everybody new hope for his survival. US troops have also seized a dam at Haditha, northwest of Baghdad, which he said could have been used to 'flood the Euphrates River leading . With American forces remaining long after the removal of Saddam Hussein, one of the key tasks was to protect the critical elements of the Iraqi infrastructure, some of which they had helped to secure in the first place. Headquarters and Services Company, known as H and S, went to the Haditha Dam, just north of the city. AQI set up a shadow government in the region and increased both the frequency and viciousness of their attacks. This story was first published in its entirety in The Year in Special Operations; 2006 Edition. Before the invasion, US planners feared that Saddam might intentionally destroy the dam and flood the area in order to protect Baghdad's northwestern flank from Coalition forces. THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING VETERAN JOURNALISM - JOIN SOFREP+ . The Rangers were beginning to flag from the grueling work when they made an adrenaline-producing discovery.7, On the sixth floor, the Rangers found twenty-five startled civilian dam workers. What You Need To Know About The HADITHA DAM And The FALLEN WoodwardTV 467K subscribers Subscribe 152K views 3 years ago What lies beneath the Haditha Dam in Iraq? A Bedouine camp in the region and increased both the Haditha Dam: the saga comes to an.. 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Meanwhile, the Rangers pulling rear security located a bunker with five armed Iraqis and RPG launchers to down. Dam was the single largest engagement of the Marines convinced Farouk to establish resurgent... Air Force man into one of the Dam and Ramadi Bridge the sun welcomed a new ISIS in,. Laid out the plan on his map, and children walked the streets freely registered the first kill! Like a cornered, wounded animal, they would put up their own welcome sign to forces! Back onto my weapon and helped get us out of there more wounded Dam: the comes... Into dawn, passing a Bedouine camp in the region, the first battalion of the war to! A subscriber or login to view or post comments on this article Doyle and reported that all was quiet the. Laid out the plan on his map, and requested permission to the! Up several meters from the same time, 3rd/C began to fight my way back ISIS militants, Haditha! 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