Without the armored vehicles, many of which have been refitted for more protection, the soldiers agree, casualties in Iraq would be far greater.
Horseplay, Then a Raid
On Wednesday morning, the third day of the mission, the soldiers were told to prepare for an operation that was likely to draw contact with the insurgents. A surge of adrenaline swept through the platoon. At 1:30 p.m., after a shower break, the Humvees traveled from Camp Cuervo to the staging base near the onion-shaped monument.
Salakchay Monivong, 21, a Laotian immigrant, was drawn into the service by the allure of money for college tuition.
(Steve Fainaru -- The Washington Post)
|
|
The wait began. The soldiers milled about in a courtyard, playing chess, smoking and heaping good-natured abuse on each other. Many wore brown T-shirts with their blood types stenciled on the front. Brown said people are always giving him grief because it is written so large. "They're like, "Hey, O-positive.' You know what? Everybody knows I'm O-positive.' "
Two soldiers began to wrestle and Graham, the platoon leader, said sternly: "After the mission!" When the horseplay continued, several voices rang out: "Knock it off!"
Nearby, an M1-A2 Abrams tank backed into a parking space. The exhaust from the massive vehicle lit a small tree on fire. The platoon erupted with laughter, then booed when a soldier doused the flames.
Varney took apart his assault rifle, cleaned it, then reassembled it on the hood of his Humvee.
Around 9 p.m., Graham announced that the platoon would have not one but two missions: the dangerous assault, followed a few hours later by a raid on suspected members of the Mahdi Army, Sadr's militia.
Groans followed. It was clear that no one would sleep.
"We're robots; put that down," a soldier said to a reporter. "We're frigging robots."
Two hours later, the dangerous mission was cancelled. There would be only the raid.
The next morning, the Humvees rumbled back into Sadr City. They blocked off a street and soldiers from several platoons, including the 2nd from Bravo Company, burst into the houses.
In one, soldiers found an AK-47 assault rifle, ammunition and a notebook containing documents that indicated an insurgent had trained in Jordan with the new U.S.-sponsored Iraqi police. They handcuffed, blindfolded and detained a man with a prosthetic left leg.
In another, soldiers detained a half-dozen men who they said appeared in photographs with Mahdi Army insurgents.
The men were brought back to Camp Cuervo and left bound and blindfolded at the entrance to the battalion command post.
The soldiers processed the prisoners, then went off for lunch.
