W hen militants in Iraq made their . Battle For Haditha - November 19th 2005, Haditha, Iraq Iraqi insurgents bomb a convoy of US Marines, resulting in the death of their most popular officer. An investigation of the massacre of 24 men, women and children in Haditha, Iraq allegedly shot by 4 U.S. Marines in retaliation for the death of a U.S. Marine killed by a roadside bomb. It would begin on Sept. 24, 2006the day that 3/3 officially handed control of the area of operation over to its sister battalion, the Second Battalion of the Third Marine Regiment (2/3, pronounced two-three). In fact, the Thirds time in Haditha would prove to be the single deadliest deployment for a Marine battalion since that of the October, 1983 Beirut barracks bombing that killed 220. With permission granted, Birch and Duncan sprinted down the hill, under antiaircraft artillery fire (firing in a direct fire mode) from the south. However, it took the Rangers many hours to clear the dam complex due to its huge size and the hundreds of rooms it contained. As they stepped near, the couple detonated a Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED) which instantly killed Russ and the two Rangers. The 8km-long Haditha dam and its hydro-electrical facility, located to the north-west of Baghdad, supply 30% of Iraq's electricity. The area exploded in violence as members of each respective company moved into their home forward operating bases throughout the Triad: Echo Company went to the city of Haditha; Fox Company went to Barwana. George was hit in the side where he had no plate, and an Air Force CCT man was hit in the jaw. John D. Gresham One of Georges teammates that was there at the fight with him recounts it as follows: We were some 300 miles inside the border traveling at night and sleeping hidden during the day. The message was unmistakable: Work with American forces to re-establish order, and this will be your fate. Faircount Media Group. The bomb obliterated the attackers, and shattered every window in the dam complex. By what name was Battle for Haditha (2007) officially released in Canada in English? Despite grave threats to him, his family, and those serving under him, Farouk agreed. As CPT Brad Thompson was moving forward to the lead vehicle, team leader SSG Pete Corrigan (pseudonym) tossed a grenade and yelled, Frag out! The fragmentation grenade exploded, illuminating the objective and enough Iraqis to cause the platoon to pull back long enough to regroup. The Battle of Haditha Dam took place in 2003. SPC Watson fired several hundred .50 caliber rounds into the vehicle, stopping it cold. In true Ranger fashion, the section methodically cleared the building by kicking down doors, blowing off locks, and placing items with potential intelligence value into the hallways. US commanders chose the Rangers of B Company, 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment to take the dam. U.S. Army photo. With American forces remaining long after the removal of Saddam Hussein, one of the key tasks was to protect the critical elements of the Iraqi infrastructure, some of which they had helped to secure in the first place. The ensuing four-day battle at Haditha Dam was the single largest engagement of the entire war. The Battle of Haditha Dam took place in 2003. The Rangers accepted the Iraqis surrender, but left them in the bunker, unarmed and flex-cuffed; the platoon did not have the manpower or time to guard them.12, Having penetrated the objective, CPT Thompson called forward the vehicle that he had left on top of the dam with the TOC II element. For the next five days, Iraqi forces continued to harass the Rangers at the dam, principally with episodic artillery and mortar fire along with several infantry counterattacks against the U.S. Stavros Atlamazoglou is a defense journalist specializing in special operations, a Hellenic Army veteran (national service with the 575th Marine Battalion and Army HQ), and a Johns Hopkins University graduate. Battle for Haditha. There were no more than 150 American commandos on the dam during the battle, with a few dozen more at the nearby airfield. As they approached the six-mile-long dam, the Rangers recognized the spillway, the dam crane, and the tall entrance towers on either side of the spillway.4 The dam itself was an enormous concrete structure rising more than fifteen stories above ground, and boasting six major spillways. Sergeant First Class James Lauder (pseudonym), B Company, 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, interview by David Jenkins, 23 October 2003, Fort Benning, GA, tape recording, USASOC History Office Classified Files, Fort Bragg, NC. But there was a major Iraqi base, a division-size force, in the town of Haditha that was home to Fedayeen, Republican Guards and Iraq regular army," Coker said. Platoon leaders furiously took notes as Doyle laid out the plan on his map, and the group surveyed the available imagery. On 1 April, C squadron, Delta Force and 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment conducted a night-time ground assault into the target on foot and in armored vehicles against the Haditha Dam complex. 3rd Platoon spent the morning consolidating enemy prisoners and improving its own fighting positions.15, In the afternoon, CPT Doyle issued an order to CPT Thompson to clear the eastern half of the dam complex. The raid prevented a potential humanitarian and environmental disaster along the Euphrates River, and mitigated the risk to coalition forces rapidly advancing toward Baghdad. According to the Coalition Provisional Authority, the inauguration of this turbine on 3 June 2004 signified the first time since 1990 that the power station operated at full capacity. Iraq's Republican Guard was an elite force that reported directly to Saddam, while the Fedayeen was a paramilitary force outside the regular military. Spotting two armed Iraqi guards with his night vision devices (Nods), lead vehicle gunner Specialist (SPC) Watson aimed his M2 .50 caliber machine gun at them. Platoon sergeant SFC James Lauder (pseudonym) led a squad to the south side of the road to clear buildings. The rest of 3rd/C continued to take heavy Iraqi fire from a pair of buildings, which would continue to be a problem for the next three days. [1] Flying in broad daylight, the flight arrived at the dam less than an hour after Feldbusch went down. He was a good man, a damned-good man and well all miss him forever. Combined with Company As seizure of the Ramadi Highway Bridge to the south, the Rangers had taken control of all the Euphrates River crossings of importance in western Iraq. geo sends. Again the man indicated to his wife and the need for water. After four hours, 1LT White radioed CPT Doyle and reported that the building was clear. Captain Brad Thompson, C Company, 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, interview by Dr. Charles H. Briscoe, 23 October 2003, Fort Benning, GA, tape recording, USASOC History Office Classified Files, Fort Bragg, NC. The battalion, however, undertook a number of unorthodox measures to gain ground, in addition to their continuous outside-the-wire mindset. See more stories on Insider's business page. Returning to the ROD site, CPT Doyle assembled his First Sergeant, MAJ Kilburn, and SFC Stanley Morgan (pseudonym), the fire support noncommissioned officer, to develop a plan. The three Iraqis were similarly dealt with. Their violent house-searches lead to the massacre of 24 people, many of whom are women and children - tragic . A very close-knit team," Coker said. On that first day alone, the three Little Birds expended an astounding 231 rockets, 66,000 rounds of 7.62 mm mini-gun ammunition, and 8,000 rounds of .50-caliber ammunition. 3rd/C swept back down toward Objective Cobalt below the dam. While the vast majority of the roughly 230,000 Coalition troops came from the south, a small special-operations contingent was sent to take a key strategic objective close to the Iraqi capital. The senior employee of the group expedited the search for demolitions by guiding a squad to key locations within the facility. The Rangers seizure of Hadithah Dam was crucial in the early stages of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM. They secured the antiaircraft artillery academy to the south, and cleared out the cache of munitions. They kept up the fight, however, on all fronts. Endurance: B Company Under Fire Summary of all of the indirect fire engagements during the seven days at Haditha Dam. The ensuing four-day battle was the single largest engagement of the entire war, with 22 Iraqi troops engaged for each US commando present. The Rangers followed the same procedure as in the western building, breaking and blowing down doors, and collecting all items of potential intelligence value. NOW WATCH: What the US needs to do to prevent a new ISIS in Iraq. By clicking Sign up, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider Coker, a Night Stalker pilot and author of "Death Waits in the Dark," spent 30 years in uniform and completed 11 combat tours. Their actions earned CSM Birch and SFC Duncan Silver Star commendations.11. While most of the rounds fell in the lake, every platoon had a few shells fall within a kilometer of their position. Then, as if in a movie, he hit it dead on: there was the gravel road, and the asphalt road two hundred meters further on. On the fourth day of the battle, the Rangers suffered their first casualties in an attack that foreshadowed the coming insurgency. The days seemed to pass very quickly. A blitzkrieg push from the south defeated Saddam Hussein's army in just 26 days. Taking advantage of the bright daylight, he directed his platoons to concentrate on clearing areas skipped during the frenzy of the initial assault. As the force moved forward, one GMV took a wrong turn and wound up getting badly shot up, with the driver wounded but still in action. The Premier Online Military History Magazine. Looking. 2007, Drama/War, 1h 33m. Instead of sustained firefights, locals, including children, could walk the streets in brightly colored clothes. As the GMV reversed direction, the gunner manning the Mk 19 40 mm automatic grenade launcher took a point-blank hit from an AK-47 as the vehicle escaped. On April 5, no artillery was fired at the Rangers, and they began expand their perimeter from their original blocking positions. As the battle rages on, a young medic must face his fears when his skills are put to the test in order to save the life of a teammate. A writer and photojournalist who spent time in Iraq and Afghanistan. There was no enemy activity to be sensed, none in the slightest. A Battle For Haditha Dam Jan 24, 2016 | 42m 11s | tv-14 v,l | CC Iraq 2003: A group of U.S. Army Rangers fights to seize control of Haditha Dam - a strategically key location in Operation. SPC Alan floored the gas pedal and drove out of the kill zone on four flat tires. A Guard F-16 that was Winchester showed up and kept making faux gun runs on the enemy which really helped to hold them at bay. Later the Rangers captured an Iraqi forward observer dressed as a civilian after sinking his kayak with .50 caliber machine gun fire, the observer had maps of all of the Rangers positions in and around the dam. The turning point came after a series of atrocities committed by AQI insurgents fighters used local children as unwitting suicide bombers. But a small special-operations contingent was sent to an objective close to the Iraqi capital.. Doyle pulled 3rd Platoon back to the dam and positioned it between 2nd and 1st Platoons. On 30 March, Captain (CPT) David Doyle led B Company, and the attached section of 120 mm heavy mortars, from H1 to a remote desert landing strip (DLS) for refuel on the way to a remain-over-day (ROD) site. A man stepped out indicating to his apparently pregnant wife inside and held up empty water bottles. George jumped on a machine gun mounted on the back of one of the Gauers and traded automatic fire with the truck. Haditha Dam was designated "Objective Lynx." West of Lynx was Objective Serpent, an old airfield and pumping station. Once they were loaded into their truck, Lauder and his team raced to the center of the dam, where Feldbusch would be safe until he could be evacuated for immediate surgical attention.18, The H1 TOC reacted quickly to the news of casualties on the dam, scrambling the 160th SOAR crews from their beds. Before the invasion, US planners feared that Saddam might intentionally destroy the dam and flood the area in order to protect Baghdad's northwestern flank from Coalition forces. Fire with the truck, with 22 IRAQI troops engaged for each US commando.. The turning point came after a series of atrocities committed by AQI insurgents fighters used children! Just 26 days to concentrate on clearing areas skipped during the frenzy of the indirect fire during. 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