At sunset on Sunday, November 7, 2004, the soldiers, sailors and Marines of Task Force Wolfpack raced north in their Light Armored Vehicles, tanks and trucks to secure the “Shark’s Fin,” a large peninsula west of the insurgent stronghold in the ancient Iraqi blue-collar city of Fallujah. As the Wolfpack was moving to secure the Fallujah Hospital and the western approach to the Euphrates River bridges, a massive military force was assembling, north of the city. The Wolfpack’s attack was a battalion-sized diversion.
Two Army mechanized task forces and four reinforced Marine infantry battalions were preparing to inundate the enemy, all along the northern edge of the city. The real attack came at sunset on 8 November, 2004, when Regimental Combat Team 1 and 7 swept into the city. Lieutenant Colonel Jim Rainey’s 2-7 Cavalry led Colonel Mike Shupp’s RCT-1 into the northwestern neighborhoods while Lieutenant Colonel Peter Newell’s 2-2 Infantry attacked south along the eastern edge of the city alongside Colonel Craig Tucker’s RCT-7 Marines.
The enemy had been preparing for the inevitable assault for months. They had built barricades, set IEDs and dug in deep, but the American 70-ton tanks were unstoppable. They mowed down fanatic fighters in the streets and blew through barricades as enemy RPGs bounced off their thick skins, leaving little more than black scorch marks. Four battalions of Marine infantry swarmed into the city behind the armored juggernaut. Some insurgents tried to stand and fight. It ended badly for those that thought they could defeat the tanks and Bradleys.
If the enemy waited for the Marines to approach, or if they fired on the Marines when they came into view, artillery and mortars would be quick to respond – usually bringing the building crashing down around them. Then, there were the American snipers. They silently brought instant death. If the enemy remained inside and waited for the Marines and soldiers to get closer, they learned quickly what it was like in Hell. Sixty millimeter mortar shells would rain down. M1 tanks would fire at point blank range. Fifty caliber and 7.62mm machine guns would spray their position. They would be pounded with 40mm grenades, AT4 rockets and Javelin missiles. If they waited until the Marines were on their doorstep, the Marines would swarm their position and not back off until everyone in the house was dead. Their only chance was to surrender or hunker down, hoping the Marines would pass them by.
It took the soldiers and Marines nearly a week to reach the southern edge of the city. The 1st Cavalry Division’s Blackjack Brigade, along with the Marines’ 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion had cordoned the city in the south. RCT-1 and -7 hammered the enemy in the north onto Colonel Mike Formica’s Blackjack Brigade anvil in the south. The enemy was hit hard in that first week, but they were not defeated. Many had gone to ground. The most fanatic fighters barricaded themselves in fortified houses throughout the city.
The Marines needed seven weeks to completely clear Fallujah, fighting several deadly battles in late December. In all, there were seven Navy Crosses awarded, twenty-two Silver Stars and dozens of Bronze Stars with Vs for valor. Eighty-five soldiers, sailors and Marines were killed in the fight and hundreds were wounded.
Operation Phantom Fury, the second battle for Fallujah, was the largest fight of the war and the heaviest American urban combat since Hue City. There was never any doubt as to the outcome. Our forces cleared every room of every building, completely eliminating the insurgent threat inside Fallujah. It was the beginning of the end for al Qaeda in Iraq. There would be many years of hard work to come, but freeing the people of Fallujah was the first real success in Anbar Province. The Iraqis named the Operation al-Fajr, after a passage in the Qur’an. The loose, English translation is “The Dawn” or “Daybreak.” The religious passage talks about wrongdoers returning to the grace of Allah. It speaks of an approaching New Dawn.
Watch for New Dawn: the Battles for Fallujah by Richard S. Lowry (author of Marines in the Garden of Eden and The Gulf War Chronicles). It tells the entire story of Operation Phantom Fury and will be in bookstores in May of 2010. Visit www.RichardSLowry.com to learn more about Richard and his work.
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