Orenthal wrote:Peeker643 wrote:House to House, by David Bellavia
Marines & infantry going door to door and hand-to-hand in Fallujah.
First book on the Kindle2 that arrived yesterday. Break that thing in bloody before the wife and kids foul it all up with Nora Roberts and Hannah Montana crap.
Just about to finish Tell Me How This Ends...
http://www.amazon.com/Tell-Me-How-This- ... 307&sr=8-1Very good book gives a detailed overview of the failed policy leading up to the surge and counter insurgency. Couple chapters of bio on Patreaus is a nice bonus. Report back Peek, as I have the macro to yer micro.
A.Lincoln bio written by Ronald C. White, Jr. is next. Colony to Superpower, a huge Oxford Libraray History of US foreign relations, after that...
Intense would be the word.
Basically a minute-by-minute account of an infantry squad and the first 3 days of the Fallujah battle. I can't do it justice with a post. There's a three chapter stretch that deals with the clearing of just one house and includes a vividly descriptive narrative on the author's hand to hand fight (to the very violent death) in a dark, booby-trapped insurgent filled house that is simply hair raising.
These guys didn't face down old men and babies either. This was a fucking muslim all star team of Iraqis, Iranians, Syrians and radicals from all over the place. Very organized, well equipped, well trained and very committed. Complete buildings wired as IEDs along with cars and the typical devices. They used car batteries to detonate propane tank/gasoline explosives that killed numerous soldiers. Knowing the fear the soldiers had of the batteries they would recon by fire by having an insurgent walk the edges of the streets with what looked like a car battery. A squad would open up on the guy who was carrying nothing but a painted box and seconds later would be rpg'd and mortared now that the squad's position was given up.
Interesting too that the insurgents almost all were fucking ripped on straight epinephrine injected directly into their hearts. Dudes getting limbs and parts of their shot off and still shooting, breathing and fighting. Like PCP.
Without the armor hundreds and hundreds of US soldiers would have died that week. I know it's a combo and that's the point but equipment and firepower were clearly the difference as opposed to tenacity and organization. Because each side had that.
3 straight days and nights of hell and a full week in their boots, sick as shit from infections and disease.
I like these reads. I just always have. Where people get the resolve and balls is interesting to me. And the recurring theme is that its typically brought about by how much they love and give a shit about the guy next to them. They'd rather die than see their buddies die. And most of them have wives and kids who become secondary in that situation to dudes they've known for a year.
And what stands out is I don't see how they ever get closure on that shit.
Definitely worth the read O.
