Free Republic

It's just a few days past the fifth anniversary of one of the most magnificent accomplishments of combat arms ever in the history of the US military. Yet I could not find one mention of it anywheres in the media, focused as they were on the antics of Hillary, Obama, and the rest of the Dems failing in their attempts to pose one semi-intelligent question to Gen. Petreus, or shedding crocodile tears over the 4000+ American heroes who have made the supremee sacrifice in Iraq. I have excerpted for you below a few paragraphs from the great book by David...

Lord, Keep our Troops forever in Your care Give them victory over the enemy... Grant them a safe and swift return... Bless those who mourn the lost. . FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time. .................................................................. .................... ........................................... U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues Where Duty, Honor and Countryare acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated. Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should...

THUNDER RUN, The Armored Strike to Capture Baghdad By David Zucchino Atlantic Montly Press (Link goes to Amazon) ISBN 0-87112-911-1 From the Mark Bowden (Blackhawk Down author) forward to the book just published: By far the most important and decisive part of the stunning American sweep of Iraq in 2003 was the suprise armored thrust into the heart of Baghdad. While pundits at home and around the world (myself included) were predicting a potentially bloody, protracted siege of Saddam Husein's capital, and while the notorious "Baghdad Bob" was before microphones in the Al Rashid Hotel denying that American forces were...

WASHINGTON, March 18, 2004 – The "Thunder Runs" of the war in Iraq seemed to come from nowhere. One day the fighting was far to the south, and seemingly the next, soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Division were liberating Baghdad. The Thunder Runs were the audacious answer to charges that American forces were stuck in a quagmire in Iraq. Army Col. David Perkins commanded the 2nd Brigade of the "Rock of the Marne" Division. There were two armor battalions – the 1st Battalion, 64th Armor and 4th Battalion, 64th Armor – and an infantry battalion – the 3rd Battalion, 15th...

Baghdad Battles Two email vignettes written by an insider interviewing troops from the 3rd ID. First Email I spent all day yesterday interviewing the members of the 3-15 Infantry. They fought a two-day battle to hold objectives CURLEY, LARRY and MOE. These were each main east-west road intersections along the north-south MSR into the center of Baghdad. The two tank-heavy TFs of the 2nd BCT had attacked north along the main road to seize the heart of Baghdad. It was TF 3-15's mission to seize the intersections (large cloverleaf complexes) and retain them in order to allow movement of the...

The Thunder Run'Are you kidding, sir?': Fewer than 1,000 soldiers were ordered to capture a city of 5 million Iraqis. Theirs is a story that may become military legend.By David ZucchinoNine hundred and seventy-five men invading a city of 5 million sounded audacious, or worse, to the U.S. troops assigned the mission outside Baghdad last April 6. Ten years earlier, in Mogadishu, outnumbered American soldiers had been trapped and killed by Somali street fighters. Now some U.S. commanders, convinced the odds were far better in Iraq, scrapped the original plan for taking Baghdad with a steady siege and instead ordered...

On the afternoon of April 4, Army Lt. Col. Eric Schwartz was summoned to a command tent pitched in a dusty field 11 miles south of Baghdad. His brigade commander, Col. David Perkins, looked up from a map and told Schwartz he had a mission for him. "At first light tomorrow," Perkins said, "I want you to attack into Baghdad." Schwartz felt disoriented. He had just spent several hours in a tank, leading his armored battalion on an operation that had destroyed dozens of Iraqi tanks and armored vehicles 20 miles south. A hot shard of exploding tank had burned...

Pfc. Chris Shipley, who lost his right eye in the battle for Baghdad, sorts mail in his new desk job at Fort Stewart. He and other wounded soldiers will march in Atlanta today. FORT STEWART, Ga. -- They wear their wounds with the casual irreverence of young soldiers still trying to grow into their scars.They joke with one another about their patches, casts and splints, but feel uncomfortable when strangers stare and ask what happened.For three soldiers from Charlie Company of the 3rd Infantry Division's Task Force 1-64, the war in Iraq ended three months ago when they were...

Tanks for the Memory By Ralph Kinney Bennett TCS One of the enduring images of the recent war in Iraq is a column of M-1A1 Abrams tanks barreling down the streets of Baghdad on a "thunder run," deep into the city. This spring, American tanks in Iraq gave a small reprise of their astounding successes in the 1991 Gulf War. The superiority of both American and British tanks (and their superbly trained crews) was beyond question. When they engaged Iraqi armor directly, their ability to get off the vital first shot and make it count was decisive. Iraq is littered...

Shocked Iraqi spokesmen refused to believe the Third Division could be where coalition reports said it was, while Pentagon officials hailed it as the longest and fastest armour attack in military history Even his own officers thought Major-General Buford Blount III's plan for the battle of Baghdad was overly optimistic -- many in fact could not believe it. "We thought they were kidding when the battalion commander said we're going to drive tanks into the middle of Baghdad," marvelled Captain Jason Conroy, one of the members of Maj.-Gen. Blount's Third Infantry Division. When Saddam Hussein's capital fell to coalition forces...

GOTTA SEE THIS - War for Enduring Freedom 4/8/03 - Presidential Thunder Run, Baghdad BREAKING: Presidential palace - Thunder Run BREAKING: Baghdad - Sahaf press conference interrupted BREAKING: South Baghdad - Behind Enemy Lines ========= Baghdad ========= At the presidential palace. Incoming. =========== Behind Enemy Lines =========== At the presidential palace, as US troops advance, Iraqi soldiers run. Those black figures in the foreground running.along the Tigris River under supressive fire from coalition tanks are not ants, but terrorists. Local shock and awe. Terrorist controlled Baghdad.. =========== Presidential Thunder Run =========== Entering the presidential palace, US forces take a prize...