GI night patrol escapes trap -- 2 bombers die

SFGate ^ | 18 January 2004 | Matthew B. Stannard

[csvset]

Tikrit, Iraq -- Editor's note: Chronicle staff writer Matthew B. Stannard was riding along with a U.S. Army convoy in Iraq that came under attack Saturday..

It ended with fire and blood and death, but Lt. Col. Steve Russell's Saturday night patrol began quietly, his convoy of three humvees cruising calmly out of the north gate of Saddam Hussein's presidential compound in Tikrit under a sky filled with glittering stars.

[XHogPilot]

crosslink to earlier report

[csvset]

Saddam family bomber story from a reporter who was on patrol with our troops.

[highlander_UW]

Brilliant piece. God bless him, and the soldiers he leads.

[TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig]

I'm sure glad my relative has gotten rotated out.

[11B3]

Sounds like one hell of a fine LTC. I'd have been proud to serve in his unit, he's a credit to the Infantry.

[dighton]

The dark humvees roared down RPG Alley, the name the soldiers gave to one major road after a fierce series of gunbattles last year. Fillmore pointed out Arabic graffiti on the wall as they passed: “Revenge, revenge, martyrs of Samarra.” Russell called a halt.

“Got any spray paint?”

Using black paint from the humvee, he scribbled over the Arabic on the wall, replacing it with a doodle of Kilroy, the peeking face that has been Army graffiti for 50 years. A block away, Russell saw graffiti that read, “Long live Saddam,” and had Fillmore add in Arabic the words “. . . in jail.”

“We don’t let them win on anything,” he said, climbing back into the humvee. “Not in street battles, not in regimes, not in graffiti. Nothing. They get nothing.”

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Awesome article! Thank you for the post and ping,  csvset. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tikrit, Iraq -- It ended with fire and blood and death, but Lt. Col. Steve Russell's Saturday night patrol began quietly, his convoy of three humvees cruising calmly out of the north gate of Saddam Hussein's presidential compound in Tikrit under a sky filled with glittering stars.....

Using black paint from the humvee, he scribbled over the Arabic on the wall, replacing it with a doodle of Kilroy, the peeking face that has been Army graffiti for 50 years. A block away, Russell saw graffiti that read, "Long live Saddam," and had Fillmore add in Arabic the words ". . . in jail."

"We don't let them win on anything," he said, climbing back into the humvee. "Not in street battles, not in regimes, not in graffiti. Nothing. They get nothing...."

Russell shrugged at the possibility that he narrowly escaped another attack. He lives his life by Psalm 91, he said: "You have made the Lord your defender, the most high your protector, and so no disaster will strike you."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Matthew B. Stannard, San Francisco Chronicle, riding with the 4th Infantry Division when Saddam's nephew suffered a timely death due to the pre-mature detonation of his own car bomb, reports!

Fourth Infantry Division, ping!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

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[fso301]

Two of three bad guys dead, the third bad guy in the custody of interrogators and no casualties to friendlies. That's a story with a happy ending.

[68skylark]

This type of patrol seems like a leadership job for an E-5 or E-6 (or maybe an O-1 if the NCO's aren't available!). I'm surprised an LTC would lead this type of patrol -- doing it once in awhile (but not making a habit of it) is probably a great way for this commander to stay in touch with what his men are going through. Sounds like a great leader.

[hattend]

BTTT, great article

[RightWingMama]

The bravery of these soldiers just takes my breath away.

[xzins]

Great News from Iraq:

Russell shrugged at the possibility that he narrowly escaped another attack. He lives his life by Psalm 91, he said: "You have made the Lord your defender, the most high your protector, and so no disaster will strike you."

But on Saturday, he told his soldiers to consider reading Psalm 64:

"They encourage each other in their evil plots; they talk about where they will place their traps. ... But God shoots his arrows at them, and suddenly they are wounded. He will destroy them because of those words."

Thomas Stonewall Jackson rides again in Iraq.

God Bless our Soldiers; especially Gideon's Army within our Army.

[blackie]

Fourth Infantry Division ~ Bump!

[maica]

Maybe Eric would like to read about this officer's use of the Bible -
I am surprised the the SFChronicle would print these last few paragraphs.


****


Russell shrugged at the possibility that he narrowly escaped another attack. He lives his life by Psalm 91, he said: "You have made the Lord your defender, the most high your protector, and so no disaster will strike you."

But on Saturday, he told his soldiers to consider reading Psalm 64:

"They encourage each other in their evil plots; they talk about where they will place their traps. ... But God shoots his arrows at them, and suddenly they are wounded. He will destroy them because of those words."

On Saturday night, after the lone survivor of the explosion was taken to the hospital under guard, Russell loaded his team back into their humvees to head back out into Tikrit.

"All right, let's go," he told them. "Everybody get your heads back in the game. The night's not over yet."


E-mail Matthew B. Stannard at mstannard@sfchronicle.com

[blackie]

Two more guys bite the dust ~ Bump!

Be Well ~ Be Armed ~ Be Safe ~ Molon Labe!

[Bringbackthedraft]

"This type of patrol seems like a leadership job for an E-5 or E-6 (or maybe an O-1 if the NCO's aren't available!). I'm surprised an LTC would lead this type of patrol -- doing it once in awhile (but not making a habit of it) is probably a great way for this commander to stay in touch with what his men are going through. Sounds like a great leader."

Its definately a BIG moral booster for the troops when you find a Bn. Commander out there. However I don't think the Div. Commander is overly happy with his actions.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Great story.

Glad this had a happy ending!

Mafia families, middle east style for sure!

[livius]

Excellent, vivid reporting. And from the Chronicle, no less!

[King Prout]

solid.