The Battle of Fallujah, Iraq is destined to go down in Marine Corps history. Marine Recruits will soon be learning about this battle along with the other historic battles of the Corps. The battle began with an aerial bombardment on November 8, 2004. A Force Recon team was inside the city limits calling targets and providing R&S for the assault force.

I remember reading an LA Times article about this Force team back in ’04 and to my surprise, one of my good buddies and former team mates was mentioned and quoted. Even though all of the Marines quoted asked to be identified by first name and last initial only, the reporter published their full names. So, I’ll honor their request in the excerpts from the article shown here, though I can’t do anything about the LA Times Archive.

Out of the 24 man platoon, 13 of the operators received Purple Hearts, and the Assistant Team Leader of one of the Teams gave the ultimate sacrifice. This battle was hard fought by all involved, and I think the article is a good look back.

My buddy wanted to me to clarify one thing in the article. The paragraph below states that “its muzzle protruding through a punched-out hole in the wall,” and Mark told me “I assure you, my muzzle was not sticking out of the wall. My hide site was a good 10 feet back in the room.”

“In one of the rooms, Staff Sgt. Mark D. lay on his stomach in classic sniper position, his rifle balanced on a tripod, its muzzle protruding through a punched-out hole in the wall. “They don’t have a clue what’s coming,” D. said, scanning the ruins of the city to the south, where unseen combatants were still dug into the rubble and moving about. ”

Here’s an excerpt from the original article published December 6, 2004 in the LA Times by Patrick J. McDonnell.

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FALLOUJA, Iraq — Soon, the Marines would be marching forward in Great War-style formations on a chilly, rainy evening imbued with a sense of the apocalyptic. But for now, the troops crouched in foxholes gouged from the desert north of Fallouja, scanning the fireworks.