Taking Babylon There I Was, Mindin' My Own Business... Next Thing I Know, I'm In Iraq... Sgt Eric R Poole As Edited By Fredd Bergman - EDCC EXCLUSIVE Photo Anthology by GySgt Mark R Salmons & Sgt Eric R Poole
EDITORS NOTE: Marine Sergeant Eric Poole was on the ground in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Poole serves as Competitive Shooting Division Program Coordinator at National Rifle Association. Here, Poole recounts his experiences in and the aftertaste of all that sand. EDCC is grateful for Sgt. Poole's service and this contribution for our readers.
The day prior to invasion was the day I most feared for my life.
My name is Eric Poole. I was a reservist in a Marine Light Armor Reconnaissance (LAR) Company out of Ft. Detrick, Maryland. Late in January 2003, my unit was activated to participate in Operation Enduring Freedom and sent to LSA-7, Kuwait in preparation for war with Iraq. After nearly a month of training in Kuwait with 3rd LAR Battalion, we were ready for the invasion March 17th–20th.
Saddam Hussein’s military launched missiles at us into Kuwait. Some of the missiles survived the allied Patriot missile defense system impacts, their warheads landing near US camps. We feared the warheads on these missiles could contain some form of chemical or biological agents and, as a result, spent most of the day sweltering completely outfitted in our chemical suits and gas masks.
As President Bush announced that time had run out for the Iraqi leader, Engineers were furiously working to create a means to invade Iraq. Many Americans are unaware of the 10-15 foot ditch Saddam had dug along the border after the first Persian Gulf War.
No vehicle could cross in until sand bridges were constructed. Once that barrier was overcome, engineers went to work on the electric fence Saddam had erected along the entire Kuwaiti border. Orange traffic cones and stakes with orange tape were placed to direct different avenues of the invasion. I couldn’t truly appreciate the spectacle until we received our marching orders early the next morning. That night, cannons shelled the highest point in southern Iraq, Safwán Hill.
Safwán Hill was a lookout point for the Iraqi military, an airfield and reported chemical weapons research facility. It was rumored that before the invasion, Major General James N. Mattis, commander of the 1st Marine Division, wanted two feet of earth removed from the hill by artillery bombardment. The night of March 19th was remarkable. Clear skies and a dark night gave way to a horizon bursting with colors as our artillery hit its mark. It was nerve-racking to think that in just a few short hours, we would be a part of that spectacle. Cramped in and around our vehicles, no one slept well. Early the next, morning we staged and prepared to cross the border. We could see what had been done to the hill. General Mattis' order was filled.
After securing Safwán Hill and many oil fields, we trekked north through miles of dust and billiard table terrain. It was weird to see camels and sheep, without their herders, abandoned in fields of nothingness. Adobe-like homes, malaria-infested water, dry wheat fields along the roads and puddles of oil meshed together in an image of the poverties of southern Iraq. Saddam offered no form of welfare to the people who were forced to live in the squalor. Such was the view for much of the war until we reached the fertile areas near the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
Our battalion, at the front of columns of vehicles, was susceptible to an ambush on either flank. Our mission was simply, “movement to contact.” There was little need during combat for a small arms repair technician like myself unless a gun went down, so my fellow armorers and I were trained for other duties. I was therefore assigned as a Designated Marksman/Scout for the Executive Officer. I was thankful to be on a vehicle with a 29- pound Barrett M82A3, .50 caliber sniper rifle. In that role, I was privileged to be involved in much of the company’s action.
It didn’t take long for the scouts in the LAR community to be tasked with clearing bunkers and buildings--a scary thing when you don’t know what’s in them. Our captured arsenal and prisoners increased quickly. I can still remember the names of our first prisoners: Sala and Ahmed. With the aid of an interpreter, I learned how they came to serve in the Iraqi military. They are known as conscripts. As leaders of the Iraqi army retreated towards Baghdad, they stopped along the highway conscripting any able male body in this manner. Their story is not an unusual one.
Sala and Ahmed were cousins. They were driving home the previous day when a military vehicle stopped them. Without warning, an Iraqi officer stepped out and shot the driver through the window of their ragged pickup. The driver was Sala’s brother. The men were then pulled from the vehicle and beaten at gunpoint. Sala informed me that they were given an RPG and an AKM. I discovered the action of the rifle was rusted shut. The men were told that if they didn’t fight, the Iraqi military would come back and kill their families.
Wearing nothing more than lightweight shirts and cloth robes, they were instructed to dig a trench and wait for us. Their gear and rations totaled a wool blanket and black tea in a tin teapot.
As we progressed, the liberated Iraqis ran out to greet us. Many Iraqis who were looked down upon by the Ba’ath Party were forced to move to the southern desert where survival is a struggle. We waved back to them and took pride in offering the civilians food and water. When out of extra rations, many of us gave the starving people our own food.
The war carried on, and days passed like years. Through many bitter sandstorms, ambushes and victories we secured the perimeter of Baghdad allowing convoys of vehicles to move in and secure the city itself. By April 3rd, LAR BN was involved in various security operations throughout the region.
After 32 days we were given our first opportunity to bathe. Though only a trickle of water from an overhead spout, that shower was the most rejuvenating feeling that I have ever experienced.
Eventually we were reassigned to perform security operations in southern Iraq extending from just northwest of Al Hillah (Babylon) to the Saudi Arabian border. Based out of Ad Diwaniya, we served in various capacities such as ground security for an airfield, providing a quick reaction force for attacks against allied forces and we actually assisted in paying the Iraqi soldiers for lost wages. In certain regions, typically those of a wealthier class, we did not feel like liberators. But through most of the countryside, the liberated perked up and extended greetings to our passing military vehicles. We were motivated by each arrival of “care packages.” They came stocked with candy that we would toss to smiling children as we rolled through their villages.
Most who I fought alongside are home, enduring a different kind of war. Many are waiting to return. Some will never see home again. Participating in the War was the most meaningful thing that I have ever done. I am proudest to have been a part of the Iraqi liberation.
I used to be frustrated by the pacifists who, nestled in the comfort of hometown American safety, condemn our nation’s policies. My eyes have been opened.
It’s easy for those who weren’t there to misunderstand what this thing is really about. Before I saw it with my own eyes, I couldn’t have imagined it. Clouded in stereotypes, their information filtered through bias--they can’t imagine what we have done. But if they could only see it through our eyes, certainly, even the most stubborn of them would have to understand why we did what we did.
At this moment Marines, Sailors, Soldiers, and Air Force personnel continue to fight terrorism there. They fight to win the people of Iraq a real future. Our people fight for their hope, for the opportunity for their children to become whatever they want to be and live free of true oppression and prejudice, as ours do. I hope that someday Iraq will prosper. I hope the winds of freedom will erode the wills of those who resist it.
It is important that Americans understand: when Iraq finally blossoms into a free and prosperous democracy, the children will remember us.
Effective Defense Consulting Company and EffectiveDefense.com Are Trademarks And Services Marks All Rights Reserved - Copyright 2000-2007 Write Fredd Bergman-Freedom Correspondent
