Below are links to news articles that may be of interest to followers of the progress of Kythe Robert and Matthew L. Scroll to the bottom for the most recent news.

Suggested news sources include: Gasing, CNN, MSNBC, AAP, Guardian, Google,

Voice of America is a good source for live audio feeds

Also for a different viewpoint (see my disclaimer under April 5): Al Jazeera

Embedded reporters are now listed on a separate page.

Previous Months Blogs: Jan/Feb March THEY WILL INCLUDE ADDITIONAL STORIES AS MORE REPORTERS ARE DETERMINED

Ron Explains It All!

For CNN's Description click Here

Posted Sunday April 13

THE 1ST. MEF IS MADE UP OF THE FOLLOWING UNITS:

THE 5TH MARINE REGIMENT 1/5 2/5 3/5

2ND TANK BATTALION This is Matt L's Group

3RD Amphibious Assault Battalion

KYS UNIT is an LAR UNIT [LIGHT ARMOURED RECONNSISSANCE] MAYBE THE 2/4 MARINES. THEY ARE ATTACHED TO THE 5TH MARINE REGIMENT ALSO CALLED THE 5TH REGIMEMTAL COMBAT TEAM THERE AT LEAST 3 LAR UNITS THERE, ONE WITH EACH OF THE REGIMENTAL COMBAT TEAMS [RCTs]

THE RCTs are the 1st 5th.and 7th. marines grunt units

I have seen are 1/7, 3/5, 3/4, 2/24, 2/23, 1/5. HAVEN'T SEEN 2/5 , THEY CAN'T BE FAR AWAY FROM THIER SISTER BATTALIONS

THE 5TH RCT MOVED UP TO TIKRIT LAST NIGHT THEY HAVE SURROUNDED THAT CITY NOT MUCH FIGHTING THERE. THE 3RD LAR IS OUT IN FRONT OF 5TH MARINES THE 3rd LAR IS THE UNIT THAT FOUND THE POWs. Other units in the 5th- transport, supply, med, artillery etc.

April 2003 Notes and News

April 1 - Happy Birthday Uncle Timmy!

Nerd news: How Jim Landers uses technology to file his reports from the 2nd tank battalion (this article was filed 3/18/2003 but makes a nifty birthday gift for a great guy)

http://216.239.39.100/search?q=cache:d6DlwTHv3EkJ:www.kmsb.com/special2/031803cciraqwartech.716ecd1c.html+jim+landers&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

Marines rested, ready to move on

Submitted by: I Marine Expeditionary Force

Story Identification Number: 200341111910

Story by Sgt. Joseph R. Chenelly

FIRST MARINE DIVISON HEADQUARTERS, Central Iraq(April 1, 2003) -- The warriors of 1st Marine Division slowed their advance toward Baghdad to reenergize and take care of personal needs during the last few days of March.

The break gave the Marines time to catch up on sleep largely deprived of them over the past 10 fighting-filled days.

The leathernecks had fought northward from the Kuwait-Iraq border, through countless ambushes. They successfully secured bridges over the Euphrates River and moved within a hundred miles from the Iraqi capital.

"I'm glad we got this rest," said Gunnery Sgt. Michael Cheranie, who is assigned to Headquarters Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, and runs the security for the commander of Regimental Combat Team 5. "Now we're fresh again. The vehicles are fixed. We're ready to push on."

Weary, sweaty Marines yearned for sleep when the slowdown began, but first they spent time on personal hygiene.

In makeshift tubs, constructed with field ration boxes and trash bags, the combat-tested leathernecks mixed their drinking water with hand soap. Scrubbing away crusted muck, they lightened their skin tone a few shades.

Next, they swished their uniforms in the soapy water. Hanging the well-worn garb everywhere imaginable, they guarded their positions in skivvies.

Lance Cpl. Daniel del Rio, an assault crewman with 3rd Amphibious Assault Battalion, strung parachute cord between poles on his Amtrac at the forward 1stMarDiv command post.

"Today is laundry day," the 20-year-old Paramus, N.J., native said with a slight grin. "I'm clean and I've got clean clothes now. Who can ask for more than that?"

Gunnery Sgt. Roberto Torres, 38, of Tampa, Fla., bathed for the first time in two weeks.

"It actually hurts a little to wash, but I'll feel a lot better when I'm done," the security force chief for 3rd Amphibious Assault Bn. said. "I've been using baby wipes to clean up on the move. They kept my skin from falling off."

The filth so easily rinsed away had been hard earned. The Marines worked around the clock most of the war's first days.

The sleep schedule for 3rd Amtracs had been a continuous cycle of four hours on duty, four hours off, according to Torres. "Now we have enough men to work three hours on, nine off."

Every unit has its own plan. "Fighting Fifth" Marines have a slightly more simplistic sleep system.

"You can sleep whenever your buddy's not, unless the colonel calls 100 percent, which has happened several times," said Cheranie, a native of Slidull, La. "Everyone is good about it."

The break also gave the Marines an opportunity to consume a meal ready-to-eat just a little slower than they had in the recent past. Eating wasn't much of a priority during movements.

"You don't worry so much about food when you're busy or tired. We were both," said Gunnery Sgt. James Ross Jr., 42, who is in charge of maintaining the vehicles for 3rd Amtracs. "Once you've caught-up on sleep, you start looking for your favorite MRE."

During the downtime of sorts, the Marines reflected on what they'd faced since crossing into Iraq.

"The trip was just one ambush after another," Cheranie said. "They'd start firing. Marines would secure the area and push forward. It was the same thing over and over again.

"The Marines were aggressive. They got the job done under fire. Being an old timer, you see these same young kids, who can't tie their own boots or iron their uniforms back in the rear, getting some out here. They're doing what they're supposed to. I'm damn proud of them."

The resting Marines stressed that they are grateful for the break and content in the way they've been employed, but they still expressed a few wishes.

"Mail is like a unicorn, you hear about it but no one has ever seen it," Cheranie joked. "Really, mail just takes up room in your pack."

Many Marines on the front lines claim mail is taking about 40 days to reach them from the United States.

Some other requests didn't have to do with precious space on the convoys that also have fended off numerous attacks while carrying supplies including food, water and ammunition.

"We'd like to have more news," Ross said. "We're not looking for a daily brief, but we want to know what is going on in other parts of the war."

If the gunnery sergeant's request is met, he may be hearing about more combat for the Marines as they once again drive north.

"We're ready to keep going," Cheranie said. "I hear it is a lot greener near Baghdad. I'm looking forward to seeing that."

KMG: there are excellent pics related to this article which may be found at:

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/ad983156332a819185256cb600677af3/bf66d64fb68db59c85256cfb0059a558?OpenDocument

April 2

April 3

Mike Cerre with the First Marine Division just south of Baghdad 9 a.m. ET, 6 p.m. Iraq What is stopping us now is the flood of deserters and civilians on buses, taxi-cabs, and whatever they can catch a ride on.They are trying to make their way south to their families or American forces to surrender. There are so many people on the road now, it's impossible to further conduct military operations. Our unit has stopped and set up a hasty prisoner or war command to try to corral these prisoners who are coming in. Our air support has reported just up ahead over 60 buses, filled with civilians, deserters, or whomever, coming down the road out of Baghdad, south towards our position in central Iraq, south of Baghdad.

April 4

Some things are universal. The title of this article about Matt L. made me laugh, because i found a pic of Kythe in Kuwait and knew it was him because of his hands. Moms Know.

Valley mom watches news, hoping to see son

Fresnan scrutinizes news photos for snippets of Marine's face, hands.

By Doug Hoagland The Fresno Bee (Published Friday, April 4, 2003, 5:23 AM)

As the battle for Baghdad thunders toward a bloody climax, Edie Lorscheider of Fresno takes comfort in knowing her Marine son, 21-year-old Matt, went to war with a fresh reminder of her love.

Matt Lorscheider is a machine gunner with a forward Marine Corps division that crossed the Tigris River on Wednesday, putting the young Fresnan in position to advance on the Iraqi capital in a decisive battle.

His mother worries the Iraqis will unleash chemical weapons on American troops after luring them into vulnerable positions. She has told her husband that if a knock at the door comes in the middle of the night, he must answer it. She does not want to see the Marines' casualty notification team.

Honest and candid, Edie also speaks positively of her son's coming home to study math and history. He will be the same fun-loving Matt, but he will be different, too, his mother said. She can tell from his letters.

Edie wrote many letters to her son in the days before the fighting started, but they were slow in reaching him. He wrote home asking for her correspondence. She grew frantic with worry.

Edie could not bear her son facing warfare and thinking his mother did not take time to write.

"That was my last chance in letters to say what I need to say," she said.

Shortly after the war started, however, another letter from Matt arrived in Fresno. He wrote that he had heard from his mother, one of the two most important women in his life, he said.

The other is his girlfriend.

Suddenly, Edie said, "I was much calmer."

Calm, though, seems a relative term for a mother who cannot tear herself from the television, where she is taping war coverage. Wednesday morning, she stuffed tape No. 38 into her VCR.

"When he comes home, I thought he would be curious to see how we saw it go down," Edie said. "I will be curious to have him say, 'This is what I was doing when you were frantic over this image.' "

Every television report about a Marine casualty shakes Edie; her husband, Horst; and their younger son, Lincoln, 19. Authorities never make public the name of the dead immediately, leaving Edie to search for clues in what details seep out.

The dead Marine was driving a Humvee. "OK, that's not Matt," Edie tells herself. Matt isn't a driver; he rides in an armored vehicle. The dead Marine was an officer. "OK, that's not Matt." He is a lance corporal. Marines are missing in Nasiriyah. "OK, that's not Matt." His unit already passed through the southern Iraqi city.

The Lorscheiders know something of their son's location because Mike Cerre, a reporter with ABC's "Nightline," is traveling with the First Marine Division, of which Matt is a member. Cerre has filed reports on television and the Internet.

Edie also learned that a Dallas newspaper put a photographer with the First Marines. One photo showed a group of guys playing the card game spades. Matt likes to play spades. In the photo, some Marines' faces weren't shown, only their hands.

"I was trying to convince myself that this hand that was playing spades was my son's hand," Edie said. "I'm looking for anything that might be a piece of my son. I'd like to see the whole face, but I'll take an ear or a hand."

In the first days of the war, Edie said her family thought she was crazy. "Lincoln said, 'You've got to pull yourself together.' " She couldn't pay attention to what other people were saying. She didn't sleep much -- and still doesn't. Work didn't divert her thoughts.

Comfort has come from other military families, even as Edie has given comfort to them. Matt has eight friends in the military: Anthony Elm, Kyle Hinton, Ed Law IV, Nick Martinez, Charles Perdue and James Williams, all of Fresno; Fatima Hidalgo of Visalia; and Kythe Stillwell of North Fork.

They have landed in several places: Iraq, elsewhere in the Persian Gulf and in the United States. Edie has tried to reassure the mothers of children in the Gulf, though not Iraq, that their loved ones are relatively safe. She speaks with pride about these young people and worries about them, too.

Edie was touched when Hidalgo's parents drove from Visalia with two boxes of lip balm to send to Matt. He keeps requesting the balm, plus bug spray.

"Matt's entire outfit can have Chap Stick until the end of time," Edie said with a chuckle.

Turning serious, she said of the other parents: "They're all praying and praying seriously for my son and asking regularly how he's doing."

Matt's father and brother went to San Diego last weekend to see one of Matt's friends, leaving Edie home alone. She did not look out the window or answer the knocks at the door. "If there were three uniformed Marines coming up the steps, I didn't want to see that," Edie said. They would be bringing bad news.

She envisions a different future, one she can see emerging from her son's letters. When he first arrived in the Middle East, he spoke of women and food and beer. Now he speaks of going to college when he comes home. "He is much more somber and grown up," Edie said.

Matt has written of studying the Bible with other Marines. His mother wrote him: "That's great. You stay close to God but don't go visiting."

The reporter can be reached at dhoagland@fresnobee.com or 441-6354

http://www.fresnobee.com/local/story/6489991p-7434088c.html

Mike Cerre reports that the troops are in battle as they travel north on highway 7 from Al Kut towards the eastern side of baghdad, several casualities in a 5 hour pitched battle, an ammo dump exploded next to the troops. (KMG: Mike's voice is strained. I later learn when giving this report he had just witnessed the deaths of several civilians whose vehicle did not stop at a checkpoint. Mike Cerre was helping with other injured civilians when the tragedy occured)

From CNN:

A military spokesman said troops from the Republican Guard's Baghdad Division surrendered en masse, somewhere between Baghdad and Kut , about 100 miles southeast of the Iraqi capital. The Baghdad Division in Al Kut is no longer an effective fighting force, according to U.S. Central Command spokesman Capt. Frank Thorp.

From South Africa Press:

US marines encounter heavy resistance

10/04/2003 10:25 - (SA)

Baghdad - US marines came under heavy fire on Thursday from Saddam Hussein's loyalists along the northern banks of the Tigris river, with one marine reported killed and 13 wounded, a US officer said.

"There were at least 13 casualties and one soldier killed in action," said First Sergeant Jeff Treiber.

The marines 1st Division, 5th Regiment have captured one of Saddam's main palace complexes on the northern side of the Tigris, said Treiber, of the regiment's 1st battalion.

The marines were under fire since 02:00 (00:00 SA time) from fighters hiding in buildings, in cars, on rooftops and beneath bridges, an AFP correspondent on the ground saw.

Heavy fighting was still raging with Iraqi fighters using AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades, the correspondent said.

"It's a show of force, we can go where we want," said Treiber, adding that artillery fire could be heard outside the walls of Saddam Hussein's Azmiyah palace. Major Pete Farnum also said a nearby mosque had been secured.

"There were intelligence reports the mosque was a Saddam stronghold," Farnum said, describing the mosque as being close to the northern banks of the Tigris.

"We displayed our ability to impose our will," he said, in reference to the marines capturing the mosque and palace.

A BBC correspondent said US troops had searched the mosque, where Saddam Hussein was rumoured to be hiding.

http://www.news24.com/News24/World/Iraq/0,,2-10-1460_1345759,00.html

April 5

The following article, even though written by a reporter of 'The Guardian' was the first instance since the start of the war where I have been able to enter the Al Jazeera web site. There have been many cases of hackers taking down the site. The attached link goes to the Al Jazeera article. While I don't agree with everything Al Jazeera has to say, I believe it is important to balance the media input here. Following this article is the original article as printed in The Guardian. The primary difference in the two articles is in the last few paragraphs. I have not, however, done a precise word by word comparison....KMG

The Scars of War Are Left Behind

James Meek The Guardian

NORTH OF AZIZIYA, 5 April 2003 —

The whole land stinks of burning. Seen from several miles away on Thursday morning, Aziziya was marked by columns of thick gray smoke, like still tornadoes on the horizon.

Seen just after sunset, rushing through in a US Marine convoy that would not stop, it was pocked by unnatural fires, flickering in the heart of scorched trucks and tanks. In the near-darkness it was just possible to make out the ugliness of the quick, nasty battle waged in this small town in order to push the Marine Corps through it, to the threshold of Baghdad.

A scorched row of shops. A truck, still burning in front of a restaurant. Figures silhouetted against the leaping flames on the roof of a building as they jumped hither and thither to try to put the fire out.

The town was unlit, but civilian traffic with headlights on moved through the streets. A civilian ambulance, red lights flashing, was trying to negotiate its way through a US Marine checkpoint on the main road which skirts Aziziya.

Beyond the town, on a hot, still night loud with frog song, more fires could be seen reflected in pools in the date groves. An Iraqi tank transporter, complete with tank, was on fire where it had slewed into a ditch after being hit.

The resumption of the blitzkrieg which has now taken these Marines to within 40 miles of the Iraqi capital shows the ruthless logic of the tactics on both sides.

US forces wanted to get past Aziziya safely, without actually taking it. That meant hostile forces in the town had to be neutralized. Iraqi forces mingled their troops and equipment with the civilian population. Inevitably, civilians got caught in the crossfire; and the US is not yet helping them with drugs or hospital treatment or repairs or law and order, because the US is not entering the city, leaving whatever dubious conjunction of desperate Baath Party hacks, looters and elders remains to organize relief.

From the conflicting information given by local people in interviews with the Guardian, it seems that the town was subject to preliminary attack by planes, helicopters and artillery. The Marines sent tanks through Thursday morning, followed by battalions of infantry whose aim was simply to get past the town and head on toward Baghdad without getting hurt. If they were fired on, they fired back, even if it meant firing into nominally civilian areas.

One local man, who seemed to speak with genuine anger, said 50 civilians had been killed in the fighting, including women and children, and 50 wounded. He said all the dead had been buried but could not say exactly where.

“They sent bombs like silver rain,” said the man, Abdel Karim. In the background, a huge oil storage tank gushed flames and black smoke. “These are innocent people. They are not fighting.”

Another resident, who would not give his name, said — once the mob of dozens had drifted away — that Karim was speaking to curry favor with the Iraqi authorities, and most of the dead and wounded were members of the Republican Guard or local Baath Party fighters.

Asked why he would not give his name, he said: “I am afraid nothing will happen to my friend, and we will be slaughtered.” By “my friend” he meant Saddam Hussein. “We are not angry with the Americans. For 35 years the Baathists have been killing us, suffocating us. Even if the Americans killed me the sacrifice would be worth it.

“The army and Baath people go into hospitals and schools and put themselves in the middle of the civilians. Over 100 of the Republican Guard and Baath were killed last night. The ones they buried are military but they wear the dishdash (civilian tunic).”

Another man spoke of the agony of being between two opposing forces. “Don’t bomb us any more, we have children,” he said. “We are afraid he will use chemical weapons, and we don’t have masks.” “He” was another euphemism for the president.

A woman dressed in the traditional abayah, with Bedouin tattoos on her face, was driving with her sons out of Aziziya. She clutched a pair of her husband’s white boxer shorts as a white flag.

She said she had seen the bodies of dead civilians, including women and children, who had been killed as they fled the city. The Americans had used cluster bombs, she said. Two of her sheep had been wounded. “They also have souls,” she said.

The Marines crossed their pontoon bridge over the Tigris overnight and in the course of the day raced past Aziziya and toward Baghdad along Highway 7. It was like some insane race: a column of Humvees charging down the wrong side of the dual carriage way, half on, half off, overtaking and being overtaken by tracked amphibious vehicles going in the same direction.

On the far side of the road, tanks, also heading north at 40 mph. In a tracked vehicle, that is fast. Brick-sized chunks of rubber from the vehicles’ tracks flew into the air and bounced off the tarmac, and the noise of diesels and gas turbines going at full power was deafening. The US Marines had Baghdad fever. In a single day, the Marines of the 5th Regiment advanced some 30 miles closer to the capital. By day’s end the regiment’s furthest forward unit was only 30 miles from the city.

No one was saying openly that they were competing with their service rivals, the US Army, to be first to reach Baghdad. But one senior officer said of the commander of the 1st Marine Division, Gen. John Mattis: “The general said the leash is off.”

Thousands of civilian Iraqis, in cars, pick-up trucks, coaches and trucks, were mixed up in the Marines’ drive forward. They were heading in both directions along Highway 7 between Kut and Baghdad. They waved, smiled, and shouted fragments of English like: “Thank you!” and “Good, good!” It was hard to tell whether their apparent happiness was genuine or expedient or a mixture of both.

People who have lived under a totalitarian regime for decades learn how to tell those in power what they think they want to hear, and if Marines like smiles and waves, it costs nothing to give them.

Yet many of the greetings, particularly from the young and the old, seemed genuinely warm, tinged with the excitement of novelty. For some of the young men, the well-fed ones with short haircuts, it may have been partly relief that they were still alive. Near where an Iraqi T-55 was burning on the approach to Aziziya, the road was littered with discarded Iraqi uniforms.

From fragments of conversation with a crowd all speaking at once, it seemed many of the Iraqis had homes in Baghdad, had set out early to reconnoiter in preparation to evacuate their families southward, and then run into the Marines on the way back. Now they were cut off.

Asked about the fighting, one man, Abbas Hussein, said: “They all ran away. It is finished.”

It was not clear on Thursday night the extent to which the Marines had bloodied their main conventional opponent on the way to Baghdad, the Nida division of the Republican Guard.

At around noon yesterday, Lt. Col. Sam Strotman, a senior Marine officer, stood on a rise overlooking the smoke from Aziziya. “You can see what happened to the lead trace of the Nida division when they met 2nd Tank (Battalion of the Marines),” he said.

“There are two groups of people: the people being forced to fight and the people who really wanted to fight, and I think the second number is extremely small.

“I think there’s also a cultural issue of time and space. They can’t believe we got here this fast and in such numbers. None of our systems are designed to do anything like this and when I think of what these young Marines have done it’s amazing.”

He said the Republican Guards were caught in a dilemma; they could stay in place and be attacked by Marine ground forces, or they could move and be destroyed by Marine air forces.

Could unconventional weapons still save President Saddam? Twice on Thursday, with temperatures rising to 35C (95F) in the shade, the Marines heard the call of “Gas! Gas! Gas!”

Both times it was a false alarm but for half an hour the troops sweltered in their tight-fitting rubber masks and thick NBC suits.

http://www.aljazeerah.info/Opinion%20editorials/2003%20Opinion%20Editorials/April%202003%20op%20eds/5%20op%20eds/The%20Scars%20of%20War%20Are%20Left%20Behind%20James%20Meek%20%20aljazeerah.info.htm

As the marines race past, the scars of war are left behind in one small town

As thousands of Iraqis in cars, coaches and trucks take the road out, troops speed past in a race for the capital

James Meek,

north of Aziziya

Friday April 4, 2003

The Guardian

The whole land stinks of burning. Seen from several miles away yesterday morning, Aziziya was marked by columns of thick grey smoke, like still tornadoes on the horizon.

Seen just after sunset, rushing through in a US marine convoy that would not stop, it was pocked by unnatural fires, flickering in the heart of scorched trucks and tanks. In the near-darkness it was just possible to make out the ugliness of the quick, nasty battle waged in this small town in order to push the Marine Corps through it, to the threshold of Baghdad.

A scorched row of shops. A truck, still burning in front of a restaurant. Figures silhouetted against the leaping flames on the roof of a building as they jumped hither and thither to try to put the fire out.

The town was unlit, but civilian traffic with headlights on moved through the streets. A civilian ambulance, red lights flashing, was trying to negotiate its way through a US marine checkpoint on the main road which skirts Aziziya.

Beyond the town, on a hot, still night loud with frog song, more fires could be seen reflected in pools in the date groves. An Iraqi tank transporter, complete with tank, was on fire where it had slewed into a ditch after being hit.

The resumption of the blitzkrieg which has now taken these marines to within 40 miles of the Iraqi capital shows the ruthless logic of the tactics on both sides.

US forces wanted to get past Aziziya safely, without actually taking it. That meant hostile forces in the town had to be neutralised. Iraqi forces mingled their troops and equipment with the civilian population. Inevitably, civilians got caught in the crossfire; and the US is not yet helping them with drugs or hospital treatment or repairs or law and order, because the US is not entering the city, leaving whatever dubious conjunction of desperate Ba'ath party hacks, looters and elders remains to organise relief.

From the conflicting information given by local people in interviews with the Guardian, it seems that the town was subject to preliminary attack by planes, helicopters and artillery. The marines sent tanks through yesterday morning, followed by battalions of infantry whose aim was simply to get past the town and head on towards Baghdad without getting hurt. If they were fired on, they fired back, even if it meant firing into nominally civilian areas.

One local man, who seemed to speak with genuine anger, said 50 civilians had been killed in the fighting, including women and children, and 50 wounded. He said all the dead had been buried but could not say exactly where.

"They sent bombs like silver rain," said the man, Abdel Karim. In the background, a huge oil storage tank gushed flames and black smoke. "These are innocent people. They are not fighting."

Another resident, who would not give his name, said - once the mob of dozens had drifted away - that Karim was speaking to curry favour with the Iraqi authorities, and most of the dead and wounded were members of the Republican Guard or local Ba'ath party fighters.

Asked why he would not give his name, he said: "I am afraid nothing will happen to my friend, and we will be slaughtered." By "my friend" he meant Saddam Hussein. "We are not angry with the Americans. For 35 years the Ba'athists have been killing us, suffocating us. Even if the Americans killed me the sacrifice would be worth it.

"The army and Ba'ath people go into hospitals and schools and put themselves in the middle of the civilians. Over 100 of the Republican Guard and Ba'ath were killed last night. The ones they buried are military but they wear the dishdash [civilian tunic]."

Another man spoke of the agony of being between two opposing forces. "Don't bomb us any more, we have children," he said. "We are afraid he will use chemical weapons, and we don't have masks." "He" was another euphemism for the president.

A woman dressed in the traditional Shia black, with Bedouin tattoos on her face, was driving with her sons out of Aziziya. She clutched a pair of her husband's white boxer shorts as a white flag.

She said she had seen the bodies of dead civilians, including women and children, who had been killed as they fled the city. The Americans had used cluster bombs, she said. Two of her sheep had been wounded. "They also have souls," she said.

Insane race

The marines crossed their pontoon bridge over the Tigris overnight and in the course of the day raced past Aziziya and towards Baghdad along Highway 7. It was like some insane race: a column of Humvees charging down the wrong side of the dual carriageway, half on, half off, overtaking and being overtaken by tracked amphibious vehicles going in the same direction.

On the far side of the road, tanks, also heading north at 40mph. In a tracked vehicle, that is fast. Brick-sized chunks of rubber from the vehicles' tracks flew into the air and bounced off the tarmac, and the noise of diesels and gas turbines going at full power was deafening. The US marines had Baghdad fever. In a single day, the marines of the 5th Regiment advanced some 30 miles closer to the capital. By day's end the regiment's furthest forward unit was only 30 miles from the city.

No one was saying openly that they were competing with their service rivals, the US army, to be first to reach Baghdad. But one senior officer said of the commander of the 1st Marine Division, General John Mattis: "The general said the leash is off."

Thousands of civilian Iraqis, in cars, pick-up trucks, coaches and trucks, were mixed up in the marines' drive forward. They were heading in both directions along Highway 7 between Kut and Baghdad. They waved, smiled, and shouted fragments of English like: "Thank you!" and "Good, good!" It was hard to tell whether their apparent happiness was genuine or expedient or a mixture of both.

People who have lived under a totalitarian regime for decades learn how to tell those in power what they think they want to hear, and if marines like smiles and waves, it costs nothing to give them.

Yet many of the greetings, particularly from the young and the old, seemed genuinely warm, tinged with the excitement of novelty. For some of the young men, the well-fed ones with short haircuts, it may have been partly relief that they were still alive. Near where an Iraqi T-55 was burning on the approach to Aziziya, the road was littered with discarded Iraqi uniforms.

From fragments of conversation with a crowd all speaking at once, it seemed many of the Iraqis had homes in Baghdad, had set out early to reconnoitre in preparation to evacuate their families southwards, and then run into the marines on the way back. Now they were cut off.

Asked about the fighting, one man, Abbas Hussein, said: "They all ran away. It is finished."

It was not clear last night the extent to which the marines had bloodied their main conventional opponent on the way to Baghdad, the Nida division of the Republican Guard.

At around noon yesterday, Lieutenant-Colonel Sam Strotman, a senior marine officer, stood on a rise overlooking the smoke from Aziziya. "You can see what happened to the lead trace of the Nida division when they met 2nd Tank [Battalion of the Marines]," he said.

"There are two groups of people: the people being forced to fight and the people who really wanted to fight, and I think the second number is extremely small.

"I think there's also a cultural issue of time and space. They can't believe we got here this fast and in such numbers. None of our systems are designed to do anything like this and when I think of what these young marines have done it's amazing."

He said the Republican Guards were caught in a dilemma; they could stay in place and be attacked by marine ground forces, or they could move and be destroyed by marine air forces.

Could unconventional weapons still save President Saddam? Twice yesterday, with temperatures rising to 35C (95F) in the shade, the marines heard the call of "Gas! Gas! Gas!" Both times it was a false alarm but for half an hour the troops sweltered in their tight-fitting rubber masks and thick NBC suits.

The other unconventional weapon would be to hold the population of Baghdad hostage and move the remaining core of loyal troops into the city. If the marines do so much damage to towns like Aziziya which they are not even trying to take, it is terrible to think of what would happen if they had to storm Baghdad.

Asked whether he was worried that the Republican Guards would melt into the capital, Lt-Col Strotman paused for a while and said: "You're not going to get me to say what I don't want him to do."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,929443,00.html

April 6

KMG: folks, sometimes the news gets too much for me and I have to shut it off and get away. I thank God that I have the remodel to keep me occupied right now. If I leave out a days news and any of you find articles that specifically relate to the 2nd Tank Battalion, 5th regiment, please forward them to me and I will attempt to fill in empty days. Also, you may have noticed more of my comments this month than in the past two months. I realized that the selection of news is a comment in itself and hope that everyone realizes that I am biased. I am biased towards my son, I am also biased towards the ultimate goal of world peace, but realize that when oppression exists, it is often a very painful road to obtain freedom. With that said, the next article has left me with a heavy heart and you may find it hard to read.

A horrible night at a roadblock

Trying to flee Baghdad, they met disaster

04/06/2003 By JIM LANDERS / The Dallas Morning News

NEAR HATIF HAIYAWI, Iraq – They carried the bodies of the children out first. There was a girl of about 12, whom the Marines wrapped in her black abaya cloak. Next off the shattered minibus was her brother, a boy of about 4, whom the Marines covered in a sports jacket. A sister, about 6 years old, had fallen between the seats. They placed her beside her siblings on a blanket.

The children's mother and grandfather also died on the bus late Friday night when they failed to stop at a Marine roadblock while fleeing Baghdad. Four other Iraqis also died trying to speed past in other vehicles.

It was a horrible night for Iraqi and American alike.

The Marines manning the roadblocks near Baghdad were exhausted after a harrowing day of combat. In recent days, U.S. soldiers manning other checkpoints had been killed in suicide bombings. Even as the vehicles were trying to rush through this roadblock, three 122 mm rockets landed around the Marines' command post.

The Iraqis trying to flee Baghdad in the night left behind a city quaking with bomb blasts. They ran straight into the tremendous firepower of three Marine tank companies and one infantry company.

The Marines fired warning shots, but six of the cars, trucks and a minibus kept coming.

Nearly 200 people survived their attempts to get past the intersection. Uncertain what to do with them, the Marines kept them prisoner overnight in a row of storefronts.

The Iraqis were wild with fear.

"Are they going to shoot us now?" one man in a brown robe asked the Kuwaiti translator traveling with the 2nd Tank Battalion.

After it was all over, no one doubted that the minibus had carried anything other than a frightened family. There were nine bullet holes in the windshield in front of the driver's seat; many of the other windows were blown out by weapons fire.

"A lot of this was uncalled for," said a Navy hospital corpsman helping to remove the bodies, who refused to identify himself. "They weren't stopping, true. But they should have figured out another method. I understand why they needed to do it, but I don't think this much firepower was needed to resolve the issue."

In the heat Saturday morning, grief-stricken relatives, their clothes stained with blood, begged the Marines to let them pray over their dead.

"Please, please," sobbed an Iraqi man who had been riding in the minivan. "My sister. Her babies. My father."

Another older man begged to see the body of his son, who had kept on driving as the Marines fired at the road in front of his car.

After recovering the bodies from the minibus, the Marines allowed the relatives to see them. Then the Marines buried them in a common grave on the side of the road.

Lt. Col. Mike Oehl, commander of the 2nd Tank Battalion, warned his officers Saturday that the Iraqi regime might try to gain propaganda victories by compelling civilians to run roadblocks. He ordered Marine engineers to build earthen obstacles across the highways to stop any speeding vehicles.

The minibus was traveling in a three-vehicle convoy with a dump truck in the lead and a big tractor-trailer bringing up the rear. It was about 10 p.m. Friday – early afternoon Dallas time.

The Marines with Fox Infantry Company were still trying to pull people from a Toyota sedan that had challenged their roadblock.

"The lead vehicle looked like a military truck, and it wouldn't stop," said Capt. Terry Johnson, the company's commanding officer. "We fired seven tracer rounds in front of it, but it accelerated."

A Marine sniper took out the truck driver with a single shot. The truck swerved, flipped on its side, and slid over an earthen mound.

"Right on the heels of it, that bus was going full speed," Capt. Johnson said. "So we engaged. It's just a shame. I don't know why they didn't stop."

The Iraqi man whose relatives died on the minibus said they couldn't see the roadblock because of the dump truck. When the truck swerved, the Marines opened fire, he said through a translator.

Asked why a sniper did not dispatch the minibus driver, Capt. Johnson said the bus challenged the Marines while all of them were at full alert.

"The first vehicle almost immediately flipped," Capt. Johnson said. "The second vehicle arrived when the maximum number of people were on alert, so it took the brunt of the firing."

A Marine sniper also killed the driver of the following tractor-trailer, again with a single shot.

Inside the cab of the dump truck, the Marines found a black beret, a soldier's blouse and a web belt. Inside the tractor-trailer was an automatic rifle.

ABC News correspondent Mike Cerre, who has traveled with Fox Company since Jan. 8, was helping a lance corporal pull three children from the Toyota sedan when the incident began.

"Even after the warning shots, I heard the truck accelerate," he said. "We grabbed the kids and dove into that berm. The truck accelerated. I heard the engine roaring. It hit the berm and careened off on two wheels."

Mr. Cerre concluded, "I would definitely side with the idea that there was hostile intent on the part of the truck."

Maj. Jim Gruny, operations officer for the 2nd Tank Battalion, discussed the incident with the Marines involved.

"I'm sure they exercised all possible restraint," he said. "It's a terrible thing. When kids are involved, that just kills me. I've got kids, too, and I can't imagine anything worse."

http://www.kmsb.com/special2/040603cciraqlanders.d20736e0.html

April 7

5th Marines near circle of Baghdad

By Richard Tomkins From the International Desk

Published 4/7/2003 2:30 AM

WITH THE 5TH MARINES OUTSIDE BAGHDAD, Iraq, April 6 (UPI) --

U.S. Marine artillery pounded the defenders of Baghdad early Monday as U.S. forces neared completion of their encirclement of the Iraqi capital.

The bombardment by 155mm artillery shells began Sunday evening. The explosions of shells could be heard by troops of the 5th Marine regiment and bright flashes lit up the sky from secondary explosions.

While the artillery hammered away at Iraqi positions, U.S. warplanes joined in the operation by dropping laser guided munitions. At least three B-52 strikes could be heard in the distance -- ominous multiple explosions indicating carpet-bombing.

Earlier on Sunday, Marines searched a large field, once used by Iraq's Republican Guard, that contained armored vehicles, supply trucks and artillery pieces.

In one abandoned armored vehicle, Marines found the remains of an MRE pack -- the food rations known as Meals Ready to Eat that are given to U.S. troops.

"This is a crazy war," Capt. Shawn Basco said. "They come to us in civilian clothes, see what we've got, get some food, go back to their own vehicles and then decide not to fight."

Basco, from Cleveland, Ohio, is an F-18 pilot acting as the forward air controller for Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines.

Iraqis in civilian clothing often walk by U.S. positions, but are not challenged unless they appear to show hostile intent. Apparently some are Iraqi troops, who check out things out and decide whether or not to return to their units.

On a road to Baghdad, dead men tell no tales

April 7 2003

The Iraqi officer was shot between the eyes, indicating execution rather than battle. US marines found him beside the road to Baghdad, now used only by the massive American convoys heading for the capital.

Did his own troops kill him because he refused to give up? Or did he want to surrender, but his men thought him a traitor who knew too much? Puzzled marines could find no witnesses - almost all of the soldiers of the Republican Guard in this built-up area near the town of Sirhan Mizban, on Baghdad's outskirts, have gone.

As marines interrogate prisoners, it has become apparent that most of the Iraqi soldiers changed into civilian clothes and went home ahead of the US forces. US commanders fear they still could regroup to fight elsewhere, perhaps in Baghdad's built-up areas.

But if that is the Iraqi plan, why did they leave behind large caches of weapons and ammunition for the Americans to find? Marines found tonnes of abandoned Iraqi weapons and munitions, including anti-aircraft missiles, mortars and AK-47 rifles.

Yesterday they destroyed a large cache found stashed in a school. Across the road, another big haul was found in a police station.

That large numbers of Iraqi troops appear to have given up does not necessarily mean an easy ride into Baghdad. A kilometres-long convoy of the Marine 1st Division, with which The Age is travelling, was blocked for 24 hours on Friday and early Saturday by hundreds of black-clad "Islamic fighters" willing to die "for Allah".

The fighters, many said to be foreigners, used hit-and-run guerilla tactics, including sniping from city buildings, to ambush troops as they entered the town of Salman al-Juburi, 25 kilometres south-west of Baghdad.

After 24 hours of intensive fighting, in which a marine was killed and nine wounded, Lieutenant-Colonel Gerry Smith, commander of the Marine's 5th Battalion, said: "We've pretty much wiped them out."

The number of so-called Islamic fighters killed or wounded is not known. During the fight, a marine officer radioed: "They all want to die for Allah . . . as ones at the front die, they just keep coming."

Yesterday marines in this area were strengthening their positions and patrolling outer-urban areas of Baghdad, encountering little opposition.

On Saturday, marines walked into an abandoned Republican Guard headquarters. Only two civilians, a man and a woman, were there. One of Saddam Hussein's palaces was found to be empty.

The marines have been ordered not to destroy posters and statues of the Iraqi leader, of which there are many along the roads leading to the capital.

"That's not for us to do," a US officer said. "If the Iraqis want to, it's up to them."

The marines were trying to calm and help civilians whose main complaint was that water supplies had been cut for days.

The civilians generally have been welcoming the US forces as they approach Baghdad.

At the same time, the marines have been ordered to treat as hostile any young men who appear to be soldiers in civilian clothes.

This story was found at: http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/04/06/1049567565805.html

Jim Landers:

Words they live by, for —

letters from home

After 3 weeks, Marines receive precious mail from families

04/07/2003 By Jim Landers / The Dallas Morning News

Dispatches are exclusive reports from Belo Interactive field correspondents covering the war with Iraq. Jim Landers is a reporter for the Belo Washington Bureau and photographer Cheryl Diaz Meyer works for The Dallas Morning News. They are embedded in Iraq with the Marine Corps' 2nd Tank Battalion of the 1st Marine Division. E-mail them at correspondents@belointeractive.com.

NEAR HATIF HAIYAWI, Iraq – After 300-plus miles of speed-and-maneuver warfare, the 1st Marine Division, 2nd Tank Battalion Marines were ready for news from home.

Jim Gruny of Louisville, Ky., got letters from his wife and children. "What anamals have you seen?" his 4-year-old son asked.

Cpl. Mitchell Hopkins, of Watkinsville, Ga., got six letters from his wife, Kristy. After hearing that a tank was hit during a battle, she wrote that she was sitting by the phone fearing he'd been hurt.

It was the first mail from home for these Marines since they left camp in Kuwait almost three weeks ago. The delay in delivering the mail meant some Marines got several letters Sunday while others were still waiting.

Capt. Kevin Carter of Aragon, Ga., got two letters from his father. One had wildflowers and pinch of dirt from home taped to the page. The second was written just before President Bush announced his ultimatum for Saddam Hussein to leave Iraq on March 17. "I figure he's going to say our country and a few others we can count on are going to kick them Iraqis' – ." Cpl. Carter laughed. "That's what my daddy wrote," he told his buddies.

Master Gunnery Sgt. Frank Cordero of Chapel Hill, N.C., got three letters from his wife. "I held that first one for about five minutes, just to smell it and hold it," he said. "Course, I had to open it."

Sgt. John Washington of the Bronx did not get any mail. "My wife and my mom have been sending big packages, and those aren't getting up here," he said.

Mail – the lack of it – has been a chronic complaint of the Marines. A Humvee and a convoy have a sign on the back that reads, "Where's my damn mail?" A tank towing an M88 tank recovery vehicle had a bit extra attached to its U.S. insignia. It asked, "Mail?"

All of the colonels of the 5th Marine Regiment listed mail as one of their top three priorities last week, said Lt. Col. Mike Oehl, commander of the 2nd Tank Battalion.

"They should get that stuff up here. We've got helicopters," Col. Oehl said.

The message apparently got through. And there were even some letters for Col. Oehl in Sunday's mail delivery. His son, Michael, who just finished an undefeated wrestling season, was able to report that his eighth-grade soccer team also went undefeated. "It's a real morale boost," Col. Oehl said.

E-mail jlanders@dallasnews.com

http://www.kmsb.com/special2/040703cciraqlanders.cc1fb.html

April 8

Slain Marine wanted to become an Anaheim police officer

LYNN ELBER Associated Press

ANAHEIM, Calif. -A Marine who also served as an Anaheim reserve police officer had told his friends he planned to ride into Baghdad wearing his black SWAT team cap stitched with a silver eagle.

1st Sgt. Edward C. Smith, 38, of Vista never made it. He died of wounds suffered during fighting in Iraq last week, his wife confirmed Tuesday.

Marine officials declined to provide details about the death pending official release of his name by the Department of Defense.

Smith's wife told The Orange County Register on Monday that her husband wanted to end his Marine career.

"He told me he didn't want to go, but that he thought he should," Sandy Smith said. "He told me he'd be back."

Smith left three children, Nathan, 12, Ryan, 9, and Shelby, 8.

In Anaheim, police officers wore black bands over their badges and flags flew at half-staff.

"He had the appearance of a Marine: All-American, clean-cut, neat," said Rick Martinez, a police spokesman.

He called Smith "a kind and gentle man, a professional."

"Very sincere and just one of those people that people automatically like," Martinez said. "You'd see him in the hallways and he had that twinkle in his eye and that nice smile that he gave everybody."

Smith was hired by Anaheim police as a part-time reservist in 1999 after graduating at the top of his class from Palomar Police Academy. He was recognized as the department's Reserve Rookie of the Year in 2000 and in 2001 was the Orange County Reserve Police Officer of the Year. He usually worked weekends and was part of the Special Tactics Detail that was on guard as the Anaheim Angels played in the World Series.

To friends, he was "Smitty" or "Gunny," for gunnery sergeant, even after he was promoted to 1st sergeant of the 2nd Tank Battalion, Fox Company, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force.

He had decided to retire in January but the military delayed all retirements for a year and he was shipped overseas. A Gulf War veteran, Smith had planned to join the police force full time after his return from Iraq, acquaintances said.

"I talked to Gunny just before he went in, the night before he deployed," Officer J.J. Imperial said. "He believed in his country and his men and he was going to do whatever it took to support his country and support his troops."

He sent e-mails and letters back to his police colleagues. They gave him a SWAT cap and pin before he left.

In a postcard fashioned from a cardboard box, Smith told fellow officers that "his intention was to wear his SWAT cap all the way into Baghdad," Martinez said.

A memorial of condolence cards and children's drawings were left Tuesday at the Police Department, which created a fund for Smith's wife and children.

One was a crayon drawing of a man in a camouflage uniform.

"Edward, you're our hero. We love you," the message said. "Thanks for fighting for us. God Bless you, we all miss you."

--- Associated Press Writers Chelsea J. Carter and Robert Jablon contributed to this report

http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/special_packages/iraq/5588428.htm

April 9

11 PM news: Mike Cerre reported that the 2nd tank was moving into northern Baghdad, the scenery was pretty bleak behind him. From ABC:

In the Shiite-dominated northeastern Baghdad neighborhood of Saddam City, ABCNEWS' Mike Cerre, embedded with a Marines unit, said residents of the impoverished neighborhood came up to the U.S. tanks as they rumbled through the marketplace at midday, local time, chanting, "Bush, Bush, Bush."

But U.S. Marines were still cautious, he said, and were in protective positions. "For the Marines, it's still not over yet," said Cerre

KMG: from what I heard on NPR, Saddam City is an area of low cost housing. Blocks of multi storied apartments that house lots of people in crowded conditions. Many of the poor of Baghdad are Shia Muslims. And from later in the day here:

Mike Cerre with U.S. Marines in northeast Baghdad 1 p.m. ET, 9 p.m. Iraq We were greeted by smiling and waving civilians as we passed into the town near Saddam City. The Iraqis seemed as excited by the fact that the battle for Baghdad seemed to have passed them by as they were about seeing Americans for the first time. Some offered cigarettes, others were trying to sell cigarettes for dollars.

We have yet to achieve our original objective for the day, which was to block off a major north south freeway leading into the center of Baghdad. We were sidetracked during the course of the day by other events and sightings of enemy tanks that prevented us from going on to that objective; I'm not sure if we're going to continue on that tomorrow or if they have other objectives inside Baghdad proper.

And finally from an email contact:

Hi everyone! Sorry I haven't been in touch lately but we have been very busy around here. As most of you know, 1st Sgt. Smith was killed in action over the weekend. This has been a very difficult time but we are getting through it the best we know how.

Please contact your KV if you need ANYTHING!

On a lighter note, Mike Cerre called his wife yesterday and reported that they had just been resupplied. They are now getting 2 meals a day! They were able to take off their chemical suits and they even received mail! They are only receiving letters at this time so keep that in mind. If you are only sending packages then they won't receive any mail until they return to Kuwait. They are now on the move. Please let me or your KV know if you need anything. I hope all is well and have a great day!

Note: This material in this message pertains to Fox 2/5.

I am sorry to add the following information about a member of the 3rd AA Bn. I was flipping channels on the tv on April 10th and caught Senator Barbara Boxer reading short bios of some of the 34 Califonia Soldiers lost in the war so far. She stopped while reading Cpl. Medellin's information and had to catch her voice as it started to break when she read how he loved his grandmother's tortillas and liked to play with his younger brother Simon. ---KMG

Camp Pendleton Marines Killed By Enemy Fire

Medellin 21, Garza, 20

POSTED: 2:15 p.m. PDT April 9, 2003 UPDATED: 5:15 p.m. PDT April 9, 2003

SAN DIEGO -- Two more Camp Pendleton-based Marines have been killed by enemy fire, San Diego Area Soldiers Killed

The Pentagon said Cpl. Jesus Martin Antonio Medellin, (pictured, left), 21, was killed Monday when enemy fire struck the amphibious assault vehicle he was driving. He was a member of the 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion, 1st Marine Division.

The family's pastor said Medellin always wanted to be a Marine. "I quizzed him quite often about it because I wanted to know in my own heart this is what he wanted to do," said Pastor Paul Danielson, "and he was very confident he was doing the right thing."

His 11-year-old brother, Simon, told a Texas television station that he was proud of his older brother, and that he also wanted to be a Marine. Both an American flag and a Marine flag flew outside his family's home Wednesday, where an evening vigil was scheduled.

The second Marine killed was identified as 20-year-old Private 1st Class Juan Garza Jr., (pictured, left). Garza was killed Tuesday in an attack at the Baghdad Airport, according to 10News. His family said that he had recently gotten married and planned to make the military a career.

http://www.thesandiegochannel.com/news/2102077/detail.html

Army Cpl. Jesus Martin Antonio Medellin, 21, Fort Worth, Texas

Cpl. Jesus Martin ``Marty'' Antonio Medellin was a gentle, quiet man who was active in church, loved his grandmother's tortillas and spent time with his 11-year-old brother, Simon, his family said Tuesday. ``He would always play games with me, chess, and we would play on the computer,'' Simon said. ``He would take me to movies and to the store a lot.''

Medellin, of Fort Worth, Texas, was killed when an enemy artillery round struck his Amphibious Assault Vehicle in central Iraq on Monday, the Department of Defense said. His family was told of his death that night.

His aunt, Simona Sifuentes, said she and Simon had been going to church to pray for the Marine's safety. ``I was very nervous the past few weeks when my brother (Marty's father) would call me,'' she said. ``I would panic and think they were calling me to tell me Marty was killed.''

Medellin had been assigned to the 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion, 1st Marine Division at Camp Pendleton, Calif. ___

Young husband is called to war

By J.B. Shelleby / JSHELLEB@CNC.COM Wednesday, April 9, 2003

Warren Street resident Dorah Daniels has an unconventional way of getting news about her husband, a Marine who is fighting in Iraq. Her friends, Alycia and Tarik Amcharat, get Al-Jazeera television through their satellite. Alycia is an Ipswich native, but Tarik is from Morrocco, and both speak Arabic.

While they might have very different views on the war, the young couple provides Dorah with both friendship and information, since they can translate the Arabic news channel and its Web site.

They even helped Dorah put together a basic list of words and phrases in Arabic (spelled out phonetically) that her husband, Marine Lance Cpl. John Stephen Daniels Jr., might need, such as "donkey," "I need medicine," and, "Surrender."

The Amcharats are an important part of Dorah's support system here in Ipswich. Another important part is her mother and stepfather, whom she has been living with since January.

When her mother, Trina Regan, read last week's story on Marine Lance Cpl. Matt Merry, the details all felt very familiar. Like Merry, Steve was stationed at Camp Pendelton, Calif., and like Merry, Steve is on the front lines of Iraq, with a new wife waiting for him here.

Trina wonders if Merry and Steve have met, but doesn't know yet.

Steve, 22, is in the Marine 1st division, 5th Regiment, 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion.

Attack amphibian groups use amtracks, which are like tanks but are amphibious. One of Steve's best friends in his battalion is from Medford, and he describes the vehicle to his Boston family as "a duck boat with a gun on it," referring to the famous Boston duck tours.

Oliver North has been reporting on the Fox News Channel from the 1st Marines and Steve's parents swear they once saw Steve standing behind North.

Dorah doesn't watch much television, but checks the Internet every day, doing searches for the 5th Regiment, and Trina scours the Web and lets Dorah know if she finds anything important.

Dorah also says the battalion's Web site has been comforting, because it includes a weekly update letter.

On March 18, just hours before coalition forces launched their attack on Iraq, the battalion commander, Lt. Col. Rob Abbott, wrote that the Marines and sailors were ready for the fighting to begin and that the battalion had been joined by other units, including British troops.

"As much as we hated to leave our families behind, we have another family here in the desert," he wrote.

The Web site suggests that spouses of those in combat don't watch the news. The latest update, dated March 28, reads: "From our view, you can probably believe about half of what the media is saying. Try not to get too worked up over media reports, since often they get some of the details wrong. The embedded media are pretty reliable, because they understand what is going on. We are having some challenges with freelance, unescorted media that get in the way, go wherever they want, and release classified or sensitive information."

The site also includes a list of items the troops would like, such as baby wipes, eye drops, hand sanitizer and Ziploc bags of various sizes.

They also request family photos.

Making contact

Dorah has had one phone conversation with Steve, for five minutes, two weeks ago. She says the connection was surprisingly good.

Steve wrote a letter the same day, and told Dorah he had been afraid he was not going to get to call her - he was next in line when the group was called for a gas-mask drill; he was lucky enough to get back his place in line when he returned.

Dorah says letters and packages seem to take about two weeks to get back and forth, and, naturally, "I write him more than anybody."

Dorah recently sent him a package of items that he had requested: shoe insoles, floss, deodorant, and instant drink mix that could be added to water, like Gatorade or Kool-Aid.

He had also requested another book, as Dorah had sent him off with John Irving's "The World According to Garp," but now, she says, he probably doesn't need reading material.

Steve was clear about one thing he did not want Dorah or his mother to send: peanuts or trail mix. He wrote it in capital letters with exclamation points following: WE GET THESE IN EVERY MRE!! (An MRE is a Meal, Ready to Eat, that troops subsist on when they are away.)

While other families have heard that they should no longer send packages to troops on the front lines, Dorah says the battalion Web site indicates their Marines can still take packages.

Dorah talks to Steve's family about twice a week and says she feels close to them. She had stayed at their house briefly before but chooses not to live with them - Steve's dad has characteristics that remind her so much of Steve.

"It's too hard," she says.

Trying to keep busy

Though she ultimately wants to be a nurse, Dorah currently is a veterinarian technician at New England Vet Clinic in Salem. She says that she's very busy at work, and keeping busy is the best thing to keep her mind off where Steve is. Her co-workers have also been really great, she says.

Dorah also really enjoys time she has with friends who are in the Navy, because they are away from their spouses and treat Dorah like it's just a fact of life.

"I don't want people to feel sorry for me," she says.

Steve, a native of Virginia Beach, met Dorah in 2000. He is trained as an EMT, but realized that he didn't want to pursue that further and enlisted in the Marines in November 2001, partially in response to the Sept. 11 attacks and partially to help him and Dorah get on their feet financially until he went to college.

Steve had also never left Virginia Beach, and knew he would get to see different places in the military. For Dorah, who had lived in Virginia, California and Massachusetts, moving around was just part of her life. "I'm a nomad already."

On July 6, 2002, the two were married on a California beach, since their first date had been on a beach, albeit the other coast. The military was already talking about the possibility of war at that time.

Dorah plans to meet Steve in California when he finally returns. She'll stay with him there until he gets shipped out again, to wherever that may be.

http://www.townonline.com/ipswich/news/local_regional/ips_newicdanielsje04092003.htm

April 10

Many people are rejoicing the fall of an oppressive government. When oppression ends, there is often a feeling of jubilation and a swing to behaviors that are not representative of the individuals normal behavior. Please do not judge the people of Iraq with the views of looters or even those of the destruction of the images of Saddam Hussein. You might liken the Iraqi's reactions to wearing a very heavy backpack and then the feeling of lightness when you lay down the pack.

I found this mention of the 5th in an excellent article from San Mateo ounty Times:

In another part of the city, U.S. troops freed children held captive in a Ba'ath Party prison. Their crime: not joining the party's youth branch. More than 100 children, dressed in rags and appearing undernourished, poured out of the prison, said Lieutenant Colonel Fred Padilla of the U.S. Marine's 5th Regiment.

"Hundreds of kids were swarming us and kissing us," he said. "There were parents running up so happy to have their kids back."

http://www.sanmateocountytimes.com/Stories/0,1413,87~11268~1315940,00.html

With all the Celebration that is occurring, it is wise to remember that the battles are continuing. From an article in the Internatinal Herald Tribune:

In Baghdad, the Marines 1st Division 5th Regiment faced Iraqi fighters armed with AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades shortly after midnight before securing the palace and a nearby mosque.

By the time the fighting ended, one Marine had been killed and 20 others wounded, said First Sergeant Jeff Treiber.

The mosque was believed to be a stronghold of government loyalists and Saddam Hussein had been rumored to be hiding there, according to the Marines. An estimated 20 Iraqi prisoners of war were captured in the area, they said.

http://www.iht.com/cgi-bin/generic.cgi?template=articleprint.tmplh&ArticleId=92819

April 11

I was curious about how many guys were actually in the war zones and heard on the news last night that there are 60-70 thousand troops in and around Baghdad. Of course i was obsessing last night and actually listened to reports until sometime after 4 a.m. while i worked on the computer. Gotta get more sleep, less time on the news!

Anyways there is news from Iraq, not from our boys but from the CO of 3rd AA Bn.:

April 11, 2003 Baghdad,Iraq

Family and friends,

Well it looks like the war is over, at least in a large part for us. My date in the pound cake (hot commodity for serious trading) pool was 10 April. That turned out to be the date that the last Iraqi official, the ambassador to the UN declared it was over and t hat's good enough for me. Now we enter stabilization operations and it's long list of challenges and work for the amtrac battalion.

The long hours of constant moving and combat operations are behind us. We have some time to mourn the loss of our three Marines. I can honestly say that their deaths were a great tragedy to us, for we loved each one of them as our own brothers. Our combat wounded are doing well. Some have returned to the States for treatment and others have returned to duty. As CWO Connors and the Key Volunteers have told you, if you haven't gotten a phone call or a formal visit already, then your Marine/Sailor or Soldier is OK.

We are currently located in the city of Baghdad. Although the weather is pleasant, the flies come out during the day and the mosquitoes at night. We have sufficient Malaria medication to keep everyone safe. The flies are a nuisance, as they are slow, but they have an attitude. We hope for a strong breeze or an opportunity to move around to outrun them.

There is still some shooting in the city, but in my opinion, it is mostly looters shooting other looters, Arabs celebrating, or some folks getting even after 35 years of oppression. This is still a dangerous place and we stay on the Marines to be vigilant, wear their gear and be careful. We'll stay on task and see if we can wrap this up so we can all come home safe.

Semper Fidelis,

Rob Abbott LtCol, Battalion Commander

http://www.3dasltphib.com/Welcome.htm

April 12

Lejeune Marine from Ohio shot in Baghdad

The Associated Press

A Marine who grew up in Ohio was shot in Iraq, his mother said on Saturday.

Bobbi Sparks said her son, John Keeney, was shot in the right elbow Thursday and had surgery Friday night. He was one of 13 members of the 2nd Battalion 5th Marine Amphibious Assault Unit injured in fighting in northern Baghdad. "He said he thought his arm was gone," Sparks said Saturday.

Keeney, 20, moved from this city near Columbus to Dawsonville, Ga., while in high school to live with his father. He joined the Marine Corps after graduation in 2001 and was deployed in February. Before deploying, he served at Camp Lejeune, N.C. Sparks said Keeney was scheduled to be moved to Germany on Saturday.

http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20030412&Category=APN&ArtNo=304120793&Ref=AR

April 13

BATTLE FOR TIKRIT The Marines attacked the northern city of Tikrit, destroying a column of Iraqi tanks, killing more than a score of Iraqi soldiers and gaining a foothold in Saddam Hussein's ancestral home. Marine officers said resistance there was significant in what some say could be the last major battle of the war. More than 300 light armored vehicles and several thousand marines are now massed around Tikrit, which has been bombed heavily for several days. Iraqi defenders are thought to number 2,500, but Marine officers said previous estimates of enemy troop strength have been inaccurate.

Because of its symbolic connection with Mr. Hussein, Tikrit the Marines expect a tough battle. But officers said they expect to break the defending force in two or three days.

7 P.O.W.'S FREED A dozen Marine light armored vehicles entered Samarra, a centuries-old religious center, and were approached by a group of Iraqi soldiers who had been left behind by their officers. They told the Marines where to find Americans being held prisoner in the town of Samarra, south of Tikrit. The Marines found all seven Americans alive, although two of them required treatment at the scene for wounds.

The prisoners included five members of the 507th Maintenance Company, missing since March 23 when their convoy was ambushed near Nasiriya. That same company included Pfc. Jessica Lynch, who was later rescued by American commandos in Nasiriya. The other two captives who were freed yesterday were pilots of an Apache attack helicopter shot down near Karbala on March 24.

The freed prisoners were taken to Kuwait for medical treatment. Six other American troops are still listed as missing in action.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/14/international/worldspecial/14OVER.html?ex=1050897600&en=a999668ea6f8d115&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE

April 14

the following article is really interesting and talks alot about the guys...

TIKRIT-SAMARRA-BAGHDAD, April 14 — The Marine captain unfolded his tactical map and pointed to a small gray square indicating a population center east of the Tigris River. For all the high-tech wizardry poured into the war in Iraq, he was missing something crucial — the name of the town to the north toward which the Marines’ 5th Brigade was advancing. By chance, I had just passed through the same area and could give him that information. With that, the captain ordered his handful of Bradley fighting vehicles and Humvees up the east side of the Tigris. actual article

http://msnbc.com/news/900208.asp

THE MARINES on Monday choked off Saddam Hussein’s heartland, a swathe of fertile land north of Baghdad stretching through Samarra, an ancient city on the Tigris River’s eastern shore, up to Tikrit, the Iraqi dictator’s birthplace and stronghold on the western side of the river. The U.S. grip on the north, however, was not yet firm. Battles — and chaos — could lie ahead.

Outside Tikrit Monday morning, an Arab village leader told me how Kurdish pillagers — who have been disavowed by pro-American Kurdish commanders — arrived in Arab villages in pickup trucks. Carrying cellular phones, they threatened to call in U.S. airstrikes if valuables were not handed over. Fearful — and admittedly naïve — some Arabs gave in. Now the Arab men were armed and hiding along the roadside, ready to pick off approaching cars. This was the crossfire into which the Marines 5th Brigade was heading.

When I told the Marine captain about the irregular Kurdish military forces looting Arab villages just down the road, he rolled his eyes and sighed. “Just what we need.”

STARVED FOR NEWS

The Marines I came across on Monday had largely been abandoned by their media “embeds,” who found the scene in Baghdad too exciting to push north for more battles. In candid discussions, the Marines said they were worn down by a month on the move. A few hours of napping in the hot afternoon sun in Samarra on Monday was their first down time since entering Iraq from Kuwait

The sight of a reporter — and a satellite phone — roused a few from their slumber. They lined up for quick calls home. There was a lieutenant whose infant son was in the hospital, according to the last news he got weeks ago. The boy is now at home and doing well. There was sergeant major who wanted NCAA and NHL scores. And there was the captain, who gave up his turn to be split equally between three of his men. “They need this,” he said. “My call can wait.”

The Marines were starved for news. They wanted to know whether the world was seeing the “good side” of the story. “We have old ladies crying tears of joy and smothering us in kisses every day. Are people seeing that?” one lieutenant asked. Then, after an hour of chatter, they were gone, heading north to open the eastern side of the Tigris River — where all the villages I passed through on Monday still had prominent portraits of Saddam in the town squares and government buildings.

DILEMMA FOR ADVANCING FORCES

After crossing paths with the 5th Brigade, I stopped in Samarra, whose Great Mosque, once the largest in the Muslim world, remained partially standing

On Sunday, seven U.S. Army soldiers were rescued from the city, where they had been held as prisoners of war. Marines working ahead of the 5th Brigade were tipped off to their presence by local residents. I wanted to speak to the people who turned over the American POWs, so I paid a visit to Sheik Khatan Yehiah Salim, a tribal leader in Samarra and one of the city’s few remaining dignitaries. Officials closely associated with the Baghdad regime had fled days before.

The sheik said news of the POWs had come as a surprise to Samarra’s residents, a tightly knit group where few secrets are kept for long. Khatan, a direct descendant of Islam’s caliphs, who ruled after the death of the prophet Mohammed, said he couldn’t help me find those who had helped to rescue the American POWs. But I couldn’t resist a break in his large, cool reception room — an escape from the midday heat. Khatan apologized for the lack of electricity. “It’s been this way for 10 days,” he said.

The sheik, like the skirmishes between Kurdish looters and Arab villagers, presents another dilemma for the American troops moving north. Tribal chiefs like Khatan thrived under Saddam, and were handsomely rewarded for their loyalty. Today, however, the sheik proclaims himself firmly in the American camp, and says that he “negotiated” the peaceful entrance of the U.S. forces into Samarra on Sunday afternoon. Yet 5th Brigade commanders said they had received “no fewer than three” separate letters from tribal leaders in Samarra. All of them claimed to represent the city’s population of 200,000.

Khatan said he was on friendly terms with the Americans, although he ended our lunch by saying U.S. troops should leave “as soon as possible.”

‘THE HAIRIEST BATTLE’

Earlier, when I chatted with the 5th Brigade, one platoon commander told me of a particularly harrowing battle two days earlier at Baghdad’s northern edge. I was reminded of it as I drove through the combat wasteland near the Baghdad city limits.

A platoon of Marines had been sent as forward reconnaissance to a northern Baghdad neighborhood. The residents greeted them with flowers and cheers. But just as quickly as they appeared to welcome the U.S. troops, the well-wishers vanished.

The Marines were ambushed from all directions with machine-gun fire and rocked-propelled grenades. “It was the hairiest battle so far on this deployment,” said a lieutenant from Oregon. At least four Marines were injured in the four-hour engagement.

Only when backup arrived did a clearer picture emerge. Hundreds of Saddam’s fedayeen paramilitary fighters were based in the neighborhood. Some of their support was apparently drawn from anti-U.S. militants flooding into Iraq from other Arab countries. “We picked up several Syrian passports off the bodies,” said the lieutenant.

As I arrived in the Iraqi capital, one battlefield and neighborhood was indistinguishable from the rest. The roads were littered with the charred remains of military vehicles. A smoky haze hung over the Iraqi capital, obscuring what comes next.

MSNBC.com’s Preston Mendenhall is on assignment in Iraq.

AND NOW FOR A BATH...

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- At least for one group of Marines, Saddam Hussein turns out to have been good for something. Thanks to some ingenuity and the opulence of one of Saddam's palaces, members of the 1st Battalion, 5th Marines are getting an experience they haven't had during the war: a shower. Corporal Kevin Walter of Central Islip, N.Y., said it occurred to the unit that they had decontamination equipment they probably wouldn't need -- and about 1,000 filthy Marines. The icing on the cake came when they found a 6,000-gallon irrigation tank on palace grounds. After checking the water for safety, the Marines made makeshift showers out of the decontamination gear. Walter said the Iraqi leader used the water on his lawn and probably never figured he would wind up watering a bunch of Marines. http://www.theindychannel.com/news/2111682/detail.html

and finally, if you don't see any updates for a few days, don't worry, we have some committments for the rest of the week.

April 15

Okay, I'll admit, we are on vacation in Tahoe. I feel a little guilty for enjoying the beauty of the sierra nevada's with Kythe over there putting his life on the line.

I wrote him another birthday card today. that probably makes about the 4th one i've sent to him. I hope he gets some of the care packages that everyone has sent to him before his birthday. It is not critical but it would be nice for him to be able to share his birthday that way.

Here is an article I found about the 3rd AA Bn.:

A weekend in Baghdad

Submitted by: I Marine Expeditionary Force

Story Identification Number: 20034172340

Story by Sgt. L.A. Salinas

BAGHDAD, Iraq(April 14, 2003) -- As the Iraqi regime continues to crumble, citizens around the country are showering American forces with praises and some protest.

Along with the smiling faces welcoming American military forces there are also hostile activities going on throughout the city. Looting is still present in certain areas. Demonstrations and small arms firing are still going on daily.

The Marines from 3rd Civil Affairs Group make up the Civilian Military Operation Center based out of the Palestine Hotel located in the capital city. They have the mission of helping the people of Iraq take control of Baghdad after the fall of the previous regime.

Since April 11, Marines of the 3rd Assault Amphibious Battalion, traveling with 1st Regimental Combat Team out of Camp Pendleton, Calif., have been providing security for the members of the CMOC. Across the street from the center is the site of the former statue of Saddam that was toppled by Iraqis, April 9, with help from a U.S. Marine tank. The hotel has become the gathering place for Baghdad citizens offering their assistance, along with demonstrators and hundreds of journalists from around the world.

During the second weekend in April, 3rd AA Bn. Marines came under several attacks from paramilitary members. They repelled the enemy by fire. When a man was stabbed and beat by a mob while trying to stop some looting, a Navy corpsman tended his wounds while Marines protected him from any more harm.

After an Iraqi soldier approached the hotel wearing full uniform and waving a white flag the crowd tore part of his clothes off and beat him. Marines then pulled him to safety where he was placed under enemy prisoner of war status.

All the while Marines maintained crowd control.

Newly baptized in combat that took them from the borders of Kuwait to the heart of the Iraqi capital in about three weeks, manning this civil unrest is just one more log entry for this well traveled crew. This war, like all wars, has changed the men of 3rd AA Bn. and they're still digesting the experience.

"It makes me look at life a lot different," said Lance Cpl. Jacob M. Cleveland, assault amphibious crewman with 3rd AA Bn., 1st Regimental Combat Team. "I won't have to worry about getting shot when I go home."

"This is an experience I am never going to forget," said the 21-year old from Costa Mesa, Calif.

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/ad983156332a819185256cb600677af3/b037a5142b601fce85256d0b00241291?OpenDocument

April 16

Back to the news, even while on vacation. The big question has been, is he coming home soon and when will he be finished with the Marines? The email's have been flying between the family members who have been searching the news for any information. Here is the latest news I have found:

Officials say Iraq will be divided into three military zones. The U.S. Army will take responsibility for Baghdad and territory to the north. The Marines will redeploy in the south, where British forces control the country's second largest city, Basra.

http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=F4119A1B-773C-4DE3-9F0907A5AEE1F23C

The article from Voice of America corresponds with information I received from another Marine parent who received a phone call from his son (also from 3rd AA Bn.) this week. If you want the specific information I received, you need to contact me. (to protect privacy)

April 17

April 18

April 19

April 20

April 21

April 22

April 23

April 24

HAPPY 22ND BIRTHDAY TO KYTHE!