On March 23, 2003, in the city of An Nasiriyah, Iraq, members of the 507th Maintenance Company came under attack from Iraqi forces who killed or wounded twenty-one soldiers and took six prisoners, including Private Jessica Lynch. For the next week, An Nasiriyah rocked with battle as the marines of Task Force Tarawa fought Saddam's fanatical followers, street by street and building to building, ultimately rescuing Private Lynch.
On March 23, 2003, in the city of An Nasiriyah, Iraq, members of the 507th Maintenance Company came under attack from Iraqi forces who killed or wounded twenty-one soldiers and took six prisoners, including Private Jessica Lynch. For the next week, An Nasiriyah rocked with battle as the marines of Task Force Tarawa fought Saddam's fanatical followers, street by street and building to building, ultimately rescuing Private Lynch.
Operation Iraqi Freedom officially began on March 20, 2003 and has become one of the most controversial conflicts of modern warfare. Thousands of US Marines were deployed into Iraq in order to topple the dictatorship government and liberate the Iraqi people. This book examines the experience of those "ordinary" Marines who fought on the frontline of one of the major battles in the operation, the battle for An Nasiriyah. This title details the Marines' enlistment, levels of training and life in the Iraqi desert, as well as exploring their important role in the complex stabilization operations after their hard-won victories on the battlefield. US Marine in Iraq: Operation Iraqi Freedom, 2003 offers a fascinating insight into the modern Marine Corps.
A behind-the-scenes look at life in Baghdad, Iraq, during the months following the invasion in 2003. Wismer, a retired Army colonel and chaplain, has spent many years in the Middle East, beginning with Operation Desert Storm. His memoir not only reveals the daily drama of war, it also raises salient questions about U.S. strategy regarding the “war on terror.” This book also looks at the dynamic interaction of major faith groups within Iraq, and the religious heritage of the “cradle of civilization” as applied to the strategic implication of global terrorism. The author’s views are insightfully recorded and influenced by his many calls to duty, which have also taken him to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Haiti, Bosnia, and Kuwait. More than a first-hand account of military life during the turbulent period immediately after the assault by coalition forces, War in the Garden of Eden also explores the inner workings of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) from a soldier’s perspective, the daily life of personnel assigned to the CPA, and some of the many decisions made, under constant life-threatening situations, to establish peace and stability in the country during the ground war.
Anthony Swofford's Jarhead is the first Gulf War memoir by a frontline infantry marine, and it is a searing, unforgettable narrative. When the marines -- or "jarheads," as they call themselves -- were sent in 1990 to Saudi Arabia to fight the Iraqis, Swofford was there, with a hundred-pound pack on his shoulders and a sniper's rifle in his hands. It was one misery upon another. He lived in sand for six months, his girlfriend back home betrayed him for a scrawny hotel clerk, he was punished by boredom and fear, he considered suicide, he pulled a gun on one of his fellow marines, and he was shot at by both Iraqis and Americans. At the end of the war, Swofford hiked for miles through a landscape of incinerated Iraqi soldiers and later was nearly killed in a booby-trapped Iraqi bunker. Swofford weaves this experience of war with vivid accounts of boot camp (which included physical abuse by his drill instructor), reflections on the mythos of the marines, and remembrances of battles with lovers and family. As engagement with the Iraqis draws closer, he is forced to consider what it is to be an American, a soldier, a son of a soldier, and a man. Unlike the real-time print and television coverage of the Gulf War, which was highly scripted by the Pentagon, Swofford's account subverts the conventional wisdom that U.S. military interventions are now merely surgical insertions of superior forces that result in few American casualties. Jarhead insists we remember the Americans who are in fact wounded or killed, the fields of smoking enemy corpses left behind, and the continuing difficulty that American soldiers have reentering civilian life. A harrowing yet inspiring portrait of a tormented consciousness struggling for inner peace, Jarhead will elbow for room on that short shelf of American war classics that includes Philip Caputo's A Rumor of War and Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried, and be admired not only for the raw beauty of its prose but also for the depth of its pained heart.
This riveting memoir is the first book written by a female Marine about the war in Iraq and one of the only books written by a woman who has experienced combat firsthand. Deploying to Iraq in 2003, Jane Blair's aerial reconnaissance unit was assigned to travel ahead of and alongside combat units throughout the initial phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Throughout her deployment, Jane kept a journal of her and her fellow lieutenants' combat experiences, which she draws on to convey the immediacy of life in the military, not just for a woman but for all Marines. Jane's stories highlight the drama and chaos of wartime Iraq along with the day-to-day challenges every soldier faced: from spicing up a "pasta with alfredo sauce" MRE to keeping the insidious sand at bay. She also copes with a bullying superior officer while trying to connect with local civilians who have long been viewed as "the enemy." She recounts the struggles specific to women, including being respected as a Marine rather than dismissed as "the weaker sex" and battling the prejudices of male soldiers who don't believe women belong in uniform. And always, she fights the personal loneliness of being separated from her husband, balanced with the challenge and joy of stealing a private moment with him when his unit is close by. Jane describes not only her experiences as a young lieutenant and as a woman but also those of her fellow Marines, whom she lauds as the true heroes of her story. Ultimately, she learns from her commanding officer, and her fellows in arms, what it truly means to be a leader, both in the military and in life. Weaving her story together with the experiences of the ordinary people of Iraq, this book offers compelling insights into the profound impact of the war on the lives of soldiers and civilians alike. Her unforgettable narrative bridges the gap between those who have experienced the Iraq War firsthand and those in America who could only follow its life-altering events from a distance.
Extensively researched, painstakingly documented, and dedicated to the courageous men and women who fought and served in the First War with Iraq, this is a factual military history of Operation Desert Storm-and the only readable and thorough chronicle of the entire war. From the first night of battle to Day Two, when Saddam struck back, to G Day and the eventual cease-fire, accomplished military historian Richard S. Lowry delivers a detailed, day-by-day account of each battle and every military encounter leading up to the liberation of Kuwait. Desert Storm was a war of many firsts: America's first four-dimensional war; the first time in military history that a submerged submarine attacked a land target; the Marine Corps' first combat air strikes from an amphibious assault ship; the first time in the history of warfare that a soldier surrendered to a robot; and more. And it was an overwhelming victory for the United States and its allies. Intentionally presented without political commentary and ending with a complete listing of the heroic Americans killed in Desert Storm as well as a battle timeline, glossary, bibliography, and resources, The Gulf War Chronicles provides a much-needed understanding of the nature of modern-day, high-tech warfare and honors America's collective resolve and commitment to freedom.
