Recording History Part XI – A Picture is worth a Thousand Words

As part of my research, I have been collecting photographs, many taken by the participants. I have picked a few of my favorites to share with everyone. This is a small sampling of nearly five-hundred photographs that I have already collected.

If you have any photographs of Fallujah, please contact me. I am interested in seeing them.

This is where it all started. In late March of 2004, a small convoy was attacked in the city and four Blackwater security contractors were killed. Their bodies were burned, beaten and hung from the foot bridge that crossed the Euphrates River, west of the city. The Marines dubbed it the “Brooklyn Bridge.”

Richard S. Lowry is the author of The Gulf War Chronicles and Marines in the Garden of Eden.

Select Read More to view the other photographs

This is the best photograph I have of the Brooklyn Bridge. In the background, you can see the green-topped minaret of one of the larger mosques in the city.

Looking into Fallujah from west of the Euphrates River.

Photo by Major Ken Kassner, USMC

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Rob Bodisch’s tanks led the Marines of Regimental Combat Team – 1 into the city.

Captain Rob Bodisch USMC, Comanche 6, Company C Commander, 2d Tank Battalion.

Photo by Sgt William H. Hayes III, USMC

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This was Captain Bodisch and Sgt Hayes’ view as they led the advance into Fallujah.

Point of the Spear – tanks led the way down Fallujah’s deserted streets

Photo by Sgt William H. Hayes III, USMC

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Marines advanced with Bodisch’s tanks in the lead. The infantry was able to protect the tank while the tanks provided overwhelming firepower to support the Marines on the ground.

Marines moving building-to-building.

Photo by Sgt William H. Hayes III, USMC

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M1 tanks fired point-blank on targets along the narrow streets.

Holy Crap!

US Army Photograph

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The city was divided into north-south and east-west Phase Lines. Henry ran the complete length of the city, from the “Queens” stronghold in the south to the train station in the north. Henry had been designated as the Regimental boundary between RCT-1 and RCT-7. Here, tanks and Bradleys from the Army’s 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment are standing overwatch along Henry, in the southern part of the city.

Phase Line Henry

Photo by Sgt William H. Hayes III, USMC

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As the Marines methodically swept through Fallujah from north to south, the Army’s 2-2 Mechanized Infantry Battalion rolled south on the eastern edge of the city in their M1s and Bradley Fighting Vehicles.

Soldiers of 2-2 Infantry

US Army Combat Photograph

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While the Army and Marines cleared the city, the Marine Small Craft Company patrolled the Euphrates River to deny the enemy one of their prime escape routes.

Small Craft Company at the “Brooklyn Bridge”

Photo by HM2 Juan Rubio, USN

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After the fight, Major General Richard Natonski (left), 1st Marine Division Commanding General, visited the commanding officer of the 1st Cavalry’s Black Jack Brigade, Colonel Mike Formica (right). The Marine Corps had petitioned the Army to allow all the soldiers who participated in the fight to wear the 1st Marine Division patch as an official combat patch.

So, as a show of solidarity, General Natonski wore a 1st Cav patch when visiting Formica and his troopers. The Marine Corps does not wear unit patches on their uniforms, so they have no Velcro on their shoulders. Notice that Natonski had to staple the patch in place.

A Joint Success

Official USMC Photograph

This is a continuing series, Catch up on previous posts here.

Richard S. Lowry is the author of The Gulf War Chronicles and Marines in the Garden of Eden.