Print Version
Email this story
Comment
At the tip of the spear
Published May 26, 2003
A letter home from a Klamath Falls soldier describes dash to Baghdad EDITOR'S NOTE - Sgt. Joe McFarlan, 28, of Klamath Falls, was one of the first Americans into the former Saddam Hussein International Airport. He was a gunner on a Bradley Fighting Vehicle. His family hopes he will return to the United States next month. Last month he sent a letter home, addressed to his father, Charlie. What follows is the bulk of the letter.
- - -
Hello Dad,
... The desert really sucks. I couldn't help but imagine what Moses went through in exile from the promised land. We've had days so severe that the sun was literally blocked out, and the air turned orange. The ground looked as how I've always imagined Mars to look.
Some nights are so black, we couldn't see three inches in front, even with night vision. Some were so bright with moonlight, it was as if the sun were still up.
Scorpions everywhere, but the snakes weren't out yet. We did capture some really large lizards. These lizards were very mean-looking. But they were insect eaters, so nobody got seriously injured or eaten by these rather nasty-looking lizards.
We had our first fight on invasion day, in which we encountered Iraqi government officials, yet no military. We pushed like lightning across southern Iraq to our first objective.
C Company, 2-7 Infantry, was the first U.S. force across the border and led the U.S. invasion to the southernmost Iraq airport, where we received no contact. We secured that airfield, then allowed our 2nd Brigade to push north. They secured our next push-off point, where our company was to initiate contact with Saddam Hussein's feared Medina Division of the Republican Guard.
With more than 50,000 men, T-72 tanks, BMP-2 infantry carriers and other such equipment, we entered the battle of the escarpment, a stretch of highway, one-lane wide, elevated over marsh, which would not allow our forces to maneuver. We attacked uphill, in single-file line, for 8 kilometers. We used A-10 Warthogs, 155 mm howitzers and TOW missiles at long range to subdue the possible enemy forces. I had an excellent view of this, as I was gunning in vehicle five in the order of march up the 1,000-foot-high escarpment.
We took the escarpment in 20 minutes, sustaining no casualties and no KIAs. The enemy that day suffered hundreds of casualties and thousands of POWs. God was with us.
C Co., 2-7, led the fight the whole way, and we took a 10-day break from the action. In this break, I had the opportunity to not only cleanse my body, but also ease the burden and cleanse my heart by praying for the soldiers I took. God took the burden off my shoulders.
The U.S. plan (as any plan in combat) altered while on our break (tactical pause). Our next objective was to be the Karbala Gap, a stretch of land between a huge lake to the west and the city of Karbala to the east, about 8 kilometers wide.
We were supposed to pause for refuel and resupply there. But the commanders decided that we would not be able to defend a pause, so we made our last of five objectives our next one.
In Karbala, we found many, many dead tanks and infantry carriers, signs that our Air Force had been really busy and our artillery and MLRS (multiple launch rocket system) very effective. As we pushed through yet another potentially deadly choke point, we again fought the Medina Republican Guard. We found that they fear our Bradley Fighting Vehicles much more than they do anything else the United States employs.
It's something about the expert gunners seeing and killing them 1-3 kilometers away with high rates of fire and insane accuracy - not to mention our immunity to their only anti-tank weapons, the RPG-7 shoulder-fired, rocket-propelled grenade (supposedly armor-piercing) (Yup, it is, if they can only remember how to arm them). One sergeant with our field trains told of how his convoy came under attack. After they pushed through the ambush, he pulled two RPG rounds out of the canvas covering of his 2 1/2-ton truck.
We took a six-hour pause just after Karbala in order to refuel and rearm, and then we were off to the crossing of the Euphrates River. Prior to the river, we encountered sparse fighting. At the river we again encountered the Medina.
This fight lasted much longer than our last, killing some 30 enemy and taking only three POWs. Again, not one soldier assigned to C Co., 2-7, was touched. The bridge was rigged for demolition, yet for some reason was not detonated thoroughly. They left one side completely untouched. Upon checking the bridge with our demolition team, C Co., 2-7, 1st Platoon with two tanks and my Bradley crossed the Euphrates River, once again making history by crossing another major enemy stronghold virtually unobstructed.
On the opposite side, I found out first-hand what a 25 mm armor-piercing round does to a soldier. I had been having problems with my small-arms machine gun, and it jammed. The enemy soldier was crossing the road, my 7.62 coax machine gun jammed, and I was out of anti-personnel 25 mm rounds. At that point it was let him go, shoot the TOW anti-tank round or 25 mm anti-tank round. The soldier had an RPG, an AK-74 and a helmet. So I did what my instincts told me. They never found him. He ceased to be.
Prior to leaving our 10-day tactical pause location deep in the Iraqi desert, we encountered suicide bombers. These wackos killed four B Co., 2-7, soldiers and injured five more in separate attacks. After that, no vehicle was allowed to approach 3rd Infantry Division soldiers. Just before crossing the bridge, I was guarding the near side by scanning the bridge for anything to cross.
I received a report of a white truck advancing on the bridge. I then turned to thermal imagery in order to see through the smoke from one previously destroyed vehicle in the middle of the road and through the cover smoke screen the artillery had shot for us.
This little pickup did not stop. We are trained to shoot once, no warning shot, but something told me to warn the little truck.
I fired eight high-explosive rounds about 50 feet in front of that truck, through the smoke so the little truck could see the rounds land. It didn't stop. In order to project our forces on the near side of the river, I then placed five well-aimed shots into the engine compartment of the truck.
I don't believe the older couple who were in the truck were seriously wounded by my rounds. After examining the situation, I feel that they were wounded earlier in the day, based off the man's blood loss and the minimal amount of injury the woman had. The girl in the back was definitely not wounded by my bullets.
I later learned that the girl and the man died, but the old lady was OK. He had died from massive torso trauma, and she from terminal cranial trauma. They both had been hurt for a while. I don't feel good about what happened, but what else was I to do? Some say war is hell, which it is, but these people - all they had to do is stop! I already broke standard operating procedure by giving a warning shot. Why didn't they stop?
We finished this day in control of the Iraq's major chemical base, which was surrounded by mortars, infantry and other defensive positions. We destroyed all of it, effectively defended the counterattacks and secured a foothold to Baghdad.
The 2nd Brigade again passed through us, recognizing that we fought hard to take this crossing (all the burning vehicles, and enemy stockpiles lying where we put it).
Twelve hours later, we again continued our attack. Final destination? Saddam Hussein International Airport.
Once passing through a small town just before the airport, we saw children and men encouraging our progress. It was like they didn't know we were coming. For some, they couldn't believe their eyes, and for others joy. Their days of watching their backs were over. This was plain on their faces as they watched our huge vehicles rumble past. That must have been impressive - four brigades worth of fighting machines, support vehicles, helicopters both attack and utility, men, women - all wearing the red, white and blue on our shoulders, a flag that has not been seen in those parts for more than 10 years.
We began our attack on the airport at about 0100 hours local time. No moon, and the stars were obscured by smoke and rain. Bradley Fighting Vehicle C-66 (the commander's vehicle - my vehicle) was the first American vehicle on the airport grounds. C-13 was the first vehicle to roll onto the tarmac.
C Co., 2-7 Infantry, took the airport by 0430 hours. Destroyed three T-72 tanks, 17 military-type trucks, two passenger planes, four buses packed with explosive material, two enemy soldiers.
By 1000, Saddam Hussein International Airport became Baghdad International. By 1600, all bunkers were destroyed or cleared, all holes filled in from the little ones to the immense runway-buster bomb holes.
The Republican Guard tried many time through the course of 24 hours to re-take the airport, but could not. Tried many times to mount artillery attacks, but we destroyed them with counterbattery 3-69 armor. Led by C Co., 2-7, we secured the first Army foothold in Baghdad. Praise God. Not one casualty from C Co. Not one death. God is with us.
The last thing we had to do is take our new home. We couldn't very well live at the airport. So our higher-ups chose their location: The oldest palace Saddam had, right by the airport. We have now lived in Saddam's presidential palace, and on his grounds, for a week. ...
Of course, it hasn't been used in a good long while, because even though this place is as big as, if not bigger than, Disneyland, it was too small for that man's taste.
Right now, I sleep an a cot, outside under the stars, beside my vehicle. I read my Bible outside. I meditate and pray outside, or on the roof of the country club my company set up in. ... We used a portable tape player-radio so I can listen to the BBC, the only station I can pick up out here. And the only time I go inside is to shave or get rid of some foodstuffs.
I am amazed by the quality of what this man surrounded himself with, but I do not want any part of enjoying "the spoils," other than basic needs, while his own people still live in poverty.
I am proud to have been here, to be part of history (yet again) to have truly liberated this country of sheep. I'm even more proud to have served with these fine young professionals of my unit, this division and our armed forces. But I'm even more humbled and overjoyed to be able to sit back and realize and count the ways in which I have seen the hand of God in action. Any other explanation is unreal. To have bullets bounce not even inches away from my head, hit my Bradley and land harmlessly a few feet away can be explained by nothing else. To have an enemy mortar round land within feet of my vehicle and not even my armored vehicle has a scratch ... no other explanation. God loves us.
Our relief is hopefully en route. I expect that by the end of next week I shall be heading back to Kuwait to drop off vehicles and get onto a plane. By May we should be home. And by June, I plan to bring my new bride home to meet Mom and Dad.
God is with us, Dad. He gave me a dream I will share when the time is right. We have all the weapons we need in order to fight Satan. We are all warriors in one way or another. Keep the faith. I'll call soon.
Joe
A letter home from a Klamath Falls soldier describes dash to Baghdad EDITOR'S NOTE - Sgt. Joe McFarlan, 28, of Klamath Falls, was one of the first Americans into the former Saddam Hussein International Airport. He was a gunner on a Bradley Fighting Vehicle. His family hopes he will return to the United States next month. Last month he sent a letter home, addressed to his father, Charlie. What follows is the bulk of the letter.
- - -
Hello Dad,
... The desert really sucks. I couldn't help but imagine what Moses went through in exile from the promised land. We've had days so severe that the sun was literally blocked out, and the air turned orange. The ground looked as how I've always imagined Mars to look.
Some nights are so black, we couldn't see three inches in front, even with night vision. Some were so bright with moonlight, it was as if the sun were still up.
Scorpions everywhere, but the snakes weren't out yet. We did capture some really large lizards. These lizards were very mean-looking. But they were insect eaters, so nobody got seriously injured or eaten by these rather nasty-looking lizards.
We had our first fight on invasion day, in which we encountered Iraqi government officials, yet no military. We pushed like lightning across southern Iraq to our first objective.
C Company, 2-7 Infantry, was the first U.S. force across the border and led the U.S. invasion to the southernmost Iraq airport, where we received no contact. We secured that airfield, then allowed our 2nd Brigade to push north. They secured our next push-off point, where our company was to initiate contact with Saddam Hussein's feared Medina Division of the Republican Guard.
With more than 50,000 men, T-72 tanks, BMP-2 infantry carriers and other such equipment, we entered the battle of the escarpment, a stretch of highway, one-lane wide, elevated over marsh, which would not allow our forces to maneuver. We attacked uphill, in single-file line, for 8 kilometers. We used A-10 Warthogs, 155 mm howitzers and TOW missiles at long range to subdue the possible enemy forces. I had an excellent view of this, as I was gunning in vehicle five in the order of march up the 1,000-foot-high escarpment.
We took the escarpment in 20 minutes, sustaining no casualties and no KIAs. The enemy that day suffered hundreds of casualties and thousands of POWs. God was with us.
C Co., 2-7, led the fight the whole way, and we took a 10-day break from the action. In this break, I had the opportunity to not only cleanse my body, but also ease the burden and cleanse my heart by praying for the soldiers I took. God took the burden off my shoulders.
The U.S. plan (as any plan in combat) altered while on our break (tactical pause). Our next objective was to be the Karbala Gap, a stretch of land between a huge lake to the west and the city of Karbala to the east, about 8 kilometers wide.
We were supposed to pause for refuel and resupply there. But the commanders decided that we would not be able to defend a pause, so we made our last of five objectives our next one.
In Karbala, we found many, many dead tanks and infantry carriers, signs that our Air Force had been really busy and our artillery and MLRS (multiple launch rocket system) very effective. As we pushed through yet another potentially deadly choke point, we again fought the Medina Republican Guard. We found that they fear our Bradley Fighting Vehicles much more than they do anything else the United States employs.
It's something about the expert gunners seeing and killing them 1-3 kilometers away with high rates of fire and insane accuracy - not to mention our immunity to their only anti-tank weapons, the RPG-7 shoulder-fired, rocket-propelled grenade (supposedly armor-piercing) (Yup, it is, if they can only remember how to arm them). One sergeant with our field trains told of how his convoy came under attack. After they pushed through the ambush, he pulled two RPG rounds out of the canvas covering of his 2 1/2-ton truck.
We took a six-hour pause just after Karbala in order to refuel and rearm, and then we were off to the crossing of the Euphrates River. Prior to the river, we encountered sparse fighting. At the river we again encountered the Medina.
This fight lasted much longer than our last, killing some 30 enemy and taking only three POWs. Again, not one soldier assigned to C Co., 2-7, was touched. The bridge was rigged for demolition, yet for some reason was not detonated thoroughly. They left one side completely untouched. Upon checking the bridge with our demolition team, C Co., 2-7, 1st Platoon with two tanks and my Bradley crossed the Euphrates River, once again making history by crossing another major enemy stronghold virtually unobstructed.
On the opposite side, I found out first-hand what a 25 mm armor-piercing round does to a soldier. I had been having problems with my small-arms machine gun, and it jammed. The enemy soldier was crossing the road, my 7.62 coax machine gun jammed, and I was out of anti-personnel 25 mm rounds. At that point it was let him go, shoot the TOW anti-tank round or 25 mm anti-tank round. The soldier had an RPG, an AK-74 and a helmet. So I did what my instincts told me. They never found him. He ceased to be.
Prior to leaving our 10-day tactical pause location deep in the Iraqi desert, we encountered suicide bombers. These wackos killed four B Co., 2-7, soldiers and injured five more in separate attacks. After that, no vehicle was allowed to approach 3rd Infantry Division soldiers. Just before crossing the bridge, I was guarding the near side by scanning the bridge for anything to cross.
I received a report of a white truck advancing on the bridge. I then turned to thermal imagery in order to see through the smoke from one previously destroyed vehicle in the middle of the road and through the cover smoke screen the artillery had shot for us.
This little pickup did not stop. We are trained to shoot once, no warning shot, but something told me to warn the little truck.
I fired eight high-explosive rounds about 50 feet in front of that truck, through the smoke so the little truck could see the rounds land. It didn't stop. In order to project our forces on the near side of the river, I then placed five well-aimed shots into the engine compartment of the truck.
I don't believe the older couple who were in the truck were seriously wounded by my rounds. After examining the situation, I feel that they were wounded earlier in the day, based off the man's blood loss and the minimal amount of injury the woman had. The girl in the back was definitely not wounded by my bullets.
I later learned that the girl and the man died, but the old lady was OK. He had died from massive torso trauma, and she from terminal cranial trauma. They both had been hurt for a while. I don't feel good about what happened, but what else was I to do? Some say war is hell, which it is, but these people - all they had to do is stop! I already broke standard operating procedure by giving a warning shot. Why didn't they stop?
We finished this day in control of the Iraq's major chemical base, which was surrounded by mortars, infantry and other defensive positions. We destroyed all of it, effectively defended the counterattacks and secured a foothold to Baghdad.
The 2nd Brigade again passed through us, recognizing that we fought hard to take this crossing (all the burning vehicles, and enemy stockpiles lying where we put it).
Twelve hours later, we again continued our attack. Final destination? Saddam Hussein International Airport.
Once passing through a small town just before the airport, we saw children and men encouraging our progress. It was like they didn't know we were coming. For some, they couldn't believe their eyes, and for others joy. Their days of watching their backs were over. This was plain on their faces as they watched our huge vehicles rumble past. That must have been impressive - four brigades worth of fighting machines, support vehicles, helicopters both attack and utility, men, women - all wearing the red, white and blue on our shoulders, a flag that has not been seen in those parts for more than 10 years.
We began our attack on the airport at about 0100 hours local time. No moon, and the stars were obscured by smoke and rain. Bradley Fighting Vehicle C-66 (the commander's vehicle - my vehicle) was the first American vehicle on the airport grounds. C-13 was the first vehicle to roll onto the tarmac.
C Co., 2-7 Infantry, took the airport by 0430 hours. Destroyed three T-72 tanks, 17 military-type trucks, two passenger planes, four buses packed with explosive material, two enemy soldiers.
By 1000, Saddam Hussein International Airport became Baghdad International. By 1600, all bunkers were destroyed or cleared, all holes filled in from the little ones to the immense runway-buster bomb holes.
The Republican Guard tried many time through the course of 24 hours to re-take the airport, but could not. Tried many times to mount artillery attacks, but we destroyed them with counterbattery 3-69 armor. Led by C Co., 2-7, we secured the first Army foothold in Baghdad. Praise God. Not one casualty from C Co. Not one death. God is with us.
The last thing we had to do is take our new home. We couldn't very well live at the airport. So our higher-ups chose their location: The oldest palace Saddam had, right by the airport. We have now lived in Saddam's presidential palace, and on his grounds, for a week. ...
Of course, it hasn't been used in a good long while, because even though this place is as big as, if not bigger than, Disneyland, it was too small for that man's taste.
Right now, I sleep an a cot, outside under the stars, beside my vehicle. I read my Bible outside. I meditate and pray outside, or on the roof of the country club my company set up in. ... We used a portable tape player-radio so I can listen to the BBC, the only station I can pick up out here. And the only time I go inside is to shave or get rid of some foodstuffs.
I am amazed by the quality of what this man surrounded himself with, but I do not want any part of enjoying "the spoils," other than basic needs, while his own people still live in poverty.
I am proud to have been here, to be part of history (yet again) to have truly liberated this country of sheep. I'm even more proud to have served with these fine young professionals of my unit, this division and our armed forces. But I'm even more humbled and overjoyed to be able to sit back and realize and count the ways in which I have seen the hand of God in action. Any other explanation is unreal. To have bullets bounce not even inches away from my head, hit my Bradley and land harmlessly a few feet away can be explained by nothing else. To have an enemy mortar round land within feet of my vehicle and not even my armored vehicle has a scratch ... no other explanation. God loves us.
Our relief is hopefully en route. I expect that by the end of next week I shall be heading back to Kuwait to drop off vehicles and get onto a plane. By May we should be home. And by June, I plan to bring my new bride home to meet Mom and Dad.
God is with us, Dad. He gave me a dream I will share when the time is right. We have all the weapons we need in order to fight Satan. We are all warriors in one way or another. Keep the faith. I'll call soon.
Joe
 |
||
| Edison Chiloquin given farewell |
Reader Comments
The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of HeraldAndNews.com. Comment Disclaimer: The editors of heraldandnews.com reserve the right to refuse publication of any comment posted for consideration. We may refuse for any reason, including use of profanity, disparaging comments, libelous comments, etc. Any reader who notices a comment they believe is particularly offensive, should notify us at webmaster@heraldandnews.com.
RSS