![]() airstrikes, the interim Iraqi government pressured the American forces to withdraw from the city on May 1, 2004. Within a week, a third of the city had been retaken, but due to the considerable destruction of the city and heavy civilian deaths by U.S. In response to the gruesome slaughter of the private security guards, a U.S.-led operation to retake Fallujah began on Ap– only four days after the macabre incident. The public display of the beaten and burned bodies of the four security contractors triggered worldwide outrage. U.S.- Led Operation to Retake Fallujah Begin ![]() Their charred bodies were dragged from the burning wreckage of their vehicles by a mob, mutilated, dragged through the streets, and two were hung on display from a bridge over the Euphrates river as the crowd celebrated below. The four were killed by machine gunfire and a grenade thrown through a window of their SUVs. Safeguarding the convoy were four Blackwater USA employees – Scott Helvenston, Jerry Zovko, Wesley Batalona, and Michael Teague. My men are why I love my job.On March 31, 2004, a private contractor’s convoy was traveling through Fallujah when it was ambushed by heavily armed insurgents. Whatever mission I give them, they will do it to their best. They are the craziest guys in the battalion, but also the hardest working. "We have nothing fancy here," Gratkowski said. "We were next to an station, and we could go inside and relax, here we are just in the middle of a desert."Įven with their current conditions, the platoon leader says his men get the job done without argument. "At Najaf we had an actual place to fire from which was pretty secure" Ethridge said. Even compared to their time in Najaf, their setup outside of Fallujah is the grittiest, they said. There they have pretty nice living conditions. The mortar team has spent the majority of their deployment at Taji, Iraq, north of Baghdad. As for food, mornings and lunch we eat, but at nights they bring in hot chow and that really helps. Out here that's what baby wipes and bottled water are for. "We've been sitting and sleeping out here on our M113 track vehicles for seven days straight and it gets pretty dull," Spc. base, Alpha Otter, are no cup of tea either, the mortarman said. While sleep remains limited, the living conditions at the 2-7 Cav. After seven days of doing these shifts, we are starting to get real tired." "At night we take turns listening to the radio and just sleep real light. "We stand by all day listening to the radio for fire missions," Ethridge said. Receiving so many fire missions, and firing so many rounds places a significant workload on these troops, especially when missions come during the dead of night. The most rounds we will fire back at Fort Hood is about 250 in one year, so we have shot off a couple of years worth here." Nick Gratkowski, the mortar platoon leader. ![]() "We are pushing over 600 rounds in this week," said Capt. The platoon broke a personal record in one week of missions by firing an enormous number of 120 mm high-explosive rounds. "It's not too much effort on our part, and we can take out 40 guys with one round." Daniel Ethridge, a mortarman in Headquarters Company said. "Being a mortar man, it's good knowing that we fire these rounds and take out a lot of the ," Spc. ![]() Even from six kilometers away the mortarmen played a vital role in the operation and helped pacify the hostile city. Headquarters Company mortarmen received dozens of missions daily. Standing by 24 hours a day during seven days of battle, the 2-7 Cav. Part of 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment's victory came with the help of a ready and reliable mortar platoon. Forces took control of the former insurgent stronghold of Fallujah after less than a week of fighting during Operation Phantom Fury. ![]()
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