Free Republic

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (March 28, 2006) -- The planned, insurgent attack against a small police station in Saqlawiyah, Iraq, on the afternoon of Oct. 26, 2005, began with a barrage of machine gun fire followed by rocket propelled grenades slamming against the compound. By the time a Marine Quick Reaction Force from a nearby forward operating base arrived, an estimated 6 insurgents were dead and several more were wounded. Still standing, were a small band of Marines, Iraqi soldiers and an interpreter who succeeded in holding off the insurgent onslaught. It was a scene which could have...

SAQLAWIYAH, Iraq (August 17, 2005) -- Although hundreds of insurgents were killed during last year’s offensive in Fallujah, those who survived fled the ruined city to blend back into the Iraqi civilian populace living in the surrounding communities. Nine months later, the ongoing task of searching for these insurgents falls to young men like Marietta, Ga. native Clinton Fort. Currently a 20-year-old lance corporal, this infantryman assists 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment and Iraqi Security Forces in rebuilding the city’s infrastructure and keeping its streets safe. Since mid-April, Fort’s company and ISF personnel have operated from a makeshift base inside...