I'm starting to think that they all attended the Imperial Stormtrooper School of Marksmanship.
Posted on 04/02/2003 5:30:53 PM PST by JohnHuang2
AP Reporter Witnesses Fierce Firefight
By ROSS SIMPSON .c The Associated Press
AT THE SADDAM CANAL, Iraq (AP) - The fighting started at a bridge over the Saddam Canal in the late afternoon. By the time the sun went down, about 100 Iraqis had been killed, 50 had been captured and some had escaped.
At first, it looked like the bridge would be uncontested - that the Iraqis would let us cross. But once we got close to the bank of the canal, they opened up with everything they had.
Artillery shells landed near us, and mortars burst about 10 feet from our vehicles.
I sat in a Humvee and watched a building being chopped up by an anti-artillery gun from across the bridge. I watched four 23mm gun barrels spit fire at us. Beside me was Lance Cpl. Dominique Chevalier, from Pittsburg, Calif., a few days shy of his 20th birthday.
He fired his machine gun, smothering the Iraqi gunsite, killing some of the Iraqis and wiping out some of their ammo cache.
The battle Tuesday in southern Iraq was fast, hard and vicious - one of the fiercest since the war started two weeks ago.
One Iraqi battalion commander was killed trying to escape with his aide. Another Iraqi, on a motorcycle, was cut to ribbons by gunfire. Another was shot in the head, shoulder and chest. He lay on the ground, pointing at himself and then at the sky, as if to say, ``That's where I'm going.''
When it was over, we all pinched ourselves. The Iraqis had opened fire on us at point-blank range. This was a place where people could have lost friends and colleagues.
But no one in the 1st Battalion, 5th Regiment, 1st Marine Division was hit.
Editor's Note: Ross Simpson, a reporter with Associated Press Broadcast News, was embedded with the 1st Battalion, 5th Regiment, 1st Marine Division. This is his account of a firefight between U.S. troops and Iraqi soldiers in southern Iraq
With a name like that, he has to be a warrior! Sorta like a boy named Sue. ;)
Thank you Lord, and may every battle have the same outcome. Unbelievable.
Yes, I think you may be right. AND the Iraqis are the most horrendous shots in the world also.
I'm starting to think that they all attended the Imperial Stormtrooper School of Marksmanship.
Those guys all went to the movie-Nazi school first. Couldn't hit an elephant in a telephone booth.
Yes. We should give praise but some people rationalize. I would almost put money on a very high correlation with the anti-war movement.
Who is doing God's work?
The people who want to lay down their lives to protect lives and provide an open environment.
OR
The people who die to kill more and support opression.
But, as we talk, 7 people die in a Black Hawk.
We must take care not to be self-righteous.
Well, the 'Chevalier' part is somewhat warlike; it means 'knight' in French. Back in the days of Roland and Charles Martel and the Knights Templar, that actually meant something.
-ccm
There's a very good reason why Marines' stress markmanship, it wins battles.
But no one in the 1st Battalion, 5th Regiment, 1st Marine Division was hit.
Hmmm...wonder who's side God is on???
You'll enjoy this:
We all pinched ourselves . Cut the crap Ross .
Is he a hero? No, just a fine soldier doing the job he was trained to do.
But if he were a she, some emotion-driven FReepers would be demanding she receive the Silver Star.
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