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| Iraq-Jordan |
| In Falluja, Young Marines Saw the Savagery of an Urban War |
| 2004-11-21 |
| NYT via Hugh Hewitt. FALLUJA, Iraq, Nov. 18 - Eight days after the Americans entered the city on foot, a pair of marines wound their way up the darkened innards of a minaret, shot through with holes by an American tank. As the marines inched upward, a burst of gunfire rang down, fired by an insurgent hiding in the top of the tower. The bullets hit the first marine in the face, his blood spattering the marine behind him. The marine in the rear tumbled backward down the stairwell, while Lance Cpl. William Miller, age 22, lay in silence halfway up, mortally wounded. "Miller!" the marines called from below. "Miller!" With that, the marines' near mystical commandment against leaving a comrade behind seized the group. One after another, the young marines dashed into the minaret, into darkness and into gunfire, and wound their way up the stairs. After four attempts, Corporal Miller's lifeless body emerged from the tower, his comrades choking and covered with dust. With more insurgents closing in, the marines ran through volleys of machine-gun fire back to their base. "I was trying to be careful, but I was trying to get him out, you know what I'm saying?" Lance Cpl. Michael Gogin, 19, said afterward. The rest at the link Like Hugh says, this ought to be required reading in High School |
| Posted by:JerseyMike |
| #4 Tide's already turned. Not religious here but I can only say, God bless those extraordinarily brave men and women. We are all in their debt, and even the NY Times editors recognize it. |
| Posted by: lex 2004-11-21 10:02:14 PM |
| #3 There is a kind of critical mass to public opinion, so that on one day, someone can wear a shirt like that out in public, and the next day they won't be able to walk down the street without someone getting angry in their face. The next stage is when someone just punches them in the face, without warning. All it takes is the willingness to do it, and the realization by the public that nobody will be convicted of a crime for doing it--like punching out flag-burners. And really soon, loudmouth lefties like this shut the hell up. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2004-11-21 7:36:16 PM |
| #2 Incredibly humbling. Makes me want to grab human feces like streisand and michael moore-on. and slap them into the next century. I was in Union Station in DC last weekend and saw a young female with a hand painted shirt that read: "I support the troops that shoot their officers." It pissed me off so badly that it made my wife mad at me becasue I fumed so long. I just wish I would have read this before I saw her. I am not sure I know what I would do...but I don't think it would be nothing. |
| Posted by: anymouse 2004-11-21 5:22:45 PM |
| #1 A heroic story in spite of NYT defeatism. |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2004-11-21 5:15:14 PM |