I actually have used Opera for a while and really enjoy it. Its built off of Chrome so its pretty similar. Built in adblock and built in VPN is why I got it originally.
So what happened to the commander of the 507th that drove his lightly armed and armored support unit into an enemy controlled city out of what seemed to be sheer incompetence that lead to the death and capture of a dozen of his soldiers and compromised the entire invasion because of his mistake???🤔
@@antonseoane9092video audio was mostly good but the visuals were way off. Charlie CO was only at the north side of Sadam Canal and not at the top of the T intersection
@@antonseoane9092 they are as accurate as they are going to get, I think. The problem is that so much is lost to history. There's alot of little things that don't get reported and people on the ground only see their small little section of the War. Fog of War exists , for instance I remember little birds from military Intel flying over us blaring Queen and heavy metal music. Apparently it was meant to motivate us we just thought it was ridiculous. To this day no one can confirm to me that that happened. I've never seen an official report of any kind yet I saw it. So much is lost and so much is changed for the narrative of history. Every Iraqi I talked to treated me like a liberator yet when I rotated home all the news said was how hated we were and how dangerous it was for us there, honestly the Iraqis hated each other more than us but if you listen to the news we were Stormtroopers. History really is just a lie we all agree to believe however I think we're getting alot of truth in these videos and I can't wait for more.👍
I try not to judge situations where the people involve don't have all context, but seeing the convoy safely pass through Nasiriyah and then decided to pass through the city again despite knowing there was armed resistance inside was painful to watch
Great as always. One bit of advice though, you might want to put an - *_in operation 'time stamp'_* - in the lower left corner of the screen as I constantly lost track of the hours during the battle. Keep up the great work.
Not a terrible idea but for certain events it's going to be very hard for that to be in any way accurate unless he gets access to the actual after-action reports, and even then you're contending with potentially intentional and unintentionally unreliable narrators.
Newer generation marine here 2018-current, and they showed us this in our fratricide class at TACP. So many things that the FAC and aircrew did improperly and it’s just beyond tragic what happened. Since then a lot of changes/ rules/ templates have been made to reduce fratricide incidents like this. Our instructors taught us these rules are written in blood for a reason
Best of luck to you as a disabled EOD tech. You guys don't have to deal with that nightmare of concrete IEDs and shit hopefully. Every war is different and Ukraine is fighting a war totally different from mine but also the same. Fear and anxiety are strong but you can overcome it. Advice from a vet here too, if you have an injury go to the doctor every time it bothers you even if you expect to just get motrin or something. The VA will not fight you if you went in for your knee 5x in active duty but if you only go once they justifiably won't see it as a disability if it only bothered you once. Get your shit documented.
Somewhat of a scholar on this battle here. Yes the FAC fucked up but most of the blame needs to be put on the shitty command. They had all Mar forces on channel 1. Even LCpls were on the comms. The battalion was so strict and didn’t let anyone innovate. Eventually the C7 command vic got stuck in a shit bog under a power line and lost all comms so they somewhat lossened up. What they didn’t show in this video is how south Charlie Co was. They were on the northern bank of Saddam canal and not at the T intersection. When they showed the 2 abrams go north they forgot to mention both of the loaders on either tank were a Arty FO nicknamed “sprout” and a FAC named Hawk
It's normal to get the shakes when you actually deploy for the first time into combat. Just breathe. Also if a vehicle is disabled, take everything out especially radio. We made that mistake once but we were able to watch over our disabled truck from a nearby house waiting for recovery. And learn verbal commands in the local language, it helps a ton!!! OIF 06-07
Hello, I was a part of this battle. I was a crewman manning a 240G on an AAV with 1/2 C Co, we were the first ones that pushed through Ambush Alley. This video leaves out a lot of what happened and has several discrepancies. I'm happy to talk about the events of that day if you'd like. Thank you for drawing attention to this battle.
Breakdowns in communication, especially in combat, are to be expected. Thorough training *should* diminish that kind of problem. Using thermal markers for friendly vehicles, not having your air support equipped with them, and rolling without a FAC? Inexcusable.
@@abdiganiaden "You go to war with the army you have, not the army you want." They only had a couple years and unlimited funding to get ready for this invasion.
One of my DI's was in Nasiriyah as a squad leader. It was the only thing he wouldnt talk about. All he would say is that it was his daily mission to make sure we were better equipped than he was to be successful should we find ourselves in a similar situation.
I'm getting real Black Hawk Down vibes from the video. A convoy continuously running through enemy fire due to not knowing where they were going. Man. I can only imagine how absolutely terrifying that must have been.
@@waltdyer0302I’m guessing they are referring to the captain how got them into the situation in the first place… Which is so hard to talk about. This is so recent. I mean, there are actually people from this battle IN THE COMMENT SECTION.
Except Black Hawk Down was competent commanders purposely fighting through the enemy to find stranded allies and having to navigate a maze of road blocks and strongpoints. This was a guy deciding a bunch of his subordinates needed to die because he failed to turn at an intersection and refusing to do anything close to making an intelligent decision.
This engagement is a textbook example of why attention to detail and good communication is key in combat situations. We all saw how literally one wrong turn can get so many people killed and miscommunication can result in friendly fire or your units security being exposed. But also the fog of war isn’t kind and Murphy’s law is what runs wars so given the fact they were still able to complete their objectives in the end is the only silver lining.
21 years and not a single day has passed that I haven't thought of this day. Not only was 507th my Battalions maintenance company 5/52 ADA Ft. Bliss, we also shared barracks with them. Jessica Lynch and Lori Piestewa shared a room about 5 doors down on the same floor and Stg Riley's (captured by Iraqis that day) room was 1 door down across the tiny hallway from mine just to name a few. We passed that intersection a few hours earlier and skirted the city the night before. So sleep deprived, hallucinating, almost fired on an Iraqi truck with a gun mount until I closer and it turned out to be a donkey. Nobody in the invasion force had slept for 3 to 4 days straight and were encountering heavy resistance form an enemy we were told had no will to fight. That day changed the the mentality of everyone in country. Anything that moved is now a target. \
I was working with an ex-Army Capt when this happened. When we saw the news report on TV, he said something like, "I'm not surprised, I used to work with the 507th, and they were always getting lost." I was blown away with his nonchalance and with the knowledge that there were trained US troops with GPS units in hand who were able to get lost on a paved road system.
Its not like they had google maps back then and idk if you ever had to deal with the older tomtom or other GPS navigation systems at the time but a wrong turn wasnt something that was particularly uncommon. Yes i know they had military GPS and its different I'm sure but people are people and make mistakes, but yea it was a particularly bad one to make.
@@connorjohnson4402 I don't know how old you are but my mom drove me around when i was going to primary around 2005 and she had a perfectly fine, talking and working GPS system in her tiny budget shopping car, attached to the window. In a time where Garmin wasn't known for watches. There's no way US soldiers in 2003 should be able to get lost when their employer owns GPS
@@jesperomsf816A support unit like this at that time likely had only one GPS-enabled vehicle in the convoy. Maybe 2. I got down range three years after this and we had two GPS's per convoy (then called Blue Force Tracker). It wasn't until half way through the tour that all vehicles got it. The force that went into Iraq in 2003 was really the Desert Storm force. Literally, all their equipment was Desert Storm era. It took a few years to get everything updated to what we see soldiers with today
@@2x2is22 Gps terminals have been standard equipment in all overseas US military vehicles since the early 90s. Trying to save 1000$ with risk of getting lost in a warzone, was something the US didn't want to happen again like in the first gulf war. And they would also cary detailed paper maps the of area they're in. This whole part of the operation was atragic showing of poor leadership, poor training, poor backup plans and in general a unit not fit for active duty.
The logistics of war are truly mind boggling. Its a miracle any progress is made at all. The defensive force has such a massive advantage, especially in urban areas.
I was thinking that it's interesting how the standards of conducting warfare have changed over the last century. A bunch of times in this video I was sitting here kind of facepalming: - "we don't expect a lot of resistance at this river crossing intersection" You mean a crossing over the euphrates at a relatively large city with thousands of combatants? A vitally important strategic location? - We'll split our convoy and send some of our force over this open field so they can flank" Oh, just call an audible to divert some of your forces through a mostly-unscouted area you have no intelligence for? - Multiple occasions of forces running off in directions and the rest of their fellow units don't know where they are in the city - Multiple engagements taken in knowingly-unfavorable circumstances Just so many things where you watch the decisions being made and you go "what on earth were you guys thinking???", but that's because we're so used to people planning so thoroughly and having excellent communication and excellent strategy, and concentrating their forces in the best circumstances and most favorable engagements. It gets easy to take all of that for granted.
You said what I was trying to say much more eloquently. :D That is a historical fact of warfare though, being surprised, constantly learning things. Like the Americans learning how effective paratroopers were. @@DustinHorvath1987
I always imagined what it must have been like to be in one of the landing crafts on dday, and see the one right next to you get deleted by a mortar. @@eduardobreda1279
@@DustinHorvath1987 "No plan of operations extends with any certainty beyond the first encounter with the main enemy forces. Only the layman believes that in the course of a campaign he sees the consistent implementation of an original thought that has been considered in advance in every detail and retained to the end." - Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke, 1871 A meticulosly planned advance behind an artillery barrage was a great idea, until my grandfather's regiment advanced faster than expected into the very same artillery barrage in the desert in WW2 killing a large number of his friends. Great idea on paper though.
I was a REMF stationed in europe, and was in a waiting room in landstuhl hospital in Germany when the first casualties showed up there. Was seated next to a marine whose face was badly torn up and the whole left side of his body was bandaged or casted. He said he was the lone survivor of his AAV (or thought he was) in that battle.
Thanks for covering some of the lesser known engagements in history. I did a battlefield discussion with my Marines about Nasiriyah, stressing the importance of planning, coordination, sleep sustainment, and complacency while conducting convoy operations. To assist the discussion were several of our senior leadership who were there during this battle. Sometimes its hard to see these battles as little more than historical markers but then you talk with some of the guys who were there.
And intelligence. I was a part of this battle and our intelligence was shit. We were told the population was friendly and we wouldn’t face any resistance.
One of the best channels on RU-vid. Incredible videos with clearly countless hours of research going into each video and a respect for history. Brilliant.
I'm glad this story is getting told, but having lived through it - this one is hard to watch. This coverage doesn't really afford good context to the events and sequence that resulted in a lot of these human errors. The building pressure, the mounting sense of urgency, and at the time how easily the hostile forces were just rolling over. The stakes and expectations were rising, we knew it, and we knew at some point the haste would catch up. The stakes were rising day by day, hour by hour, down to a point where split second decisions (a missed turn, a garbled radio call), can and will result in life and death scenarios. Judging by the comment log, there are a lot of people out there that do understand what "shit hit the fan" means, but don't really "know" what it means and all the chaos that goes along with it. It's quicksand. The more you struggle, the more you sink. You know you have to do something, but everything you do next seems to turn out worse and worse. Their are no good options once the die is cast *and you know it the whole time sitting there living it, a slave to the scenario you've just found yourself in*. Judge the planning and preparation that left these combatants unprepared for the fight they were thrust into.. but spare the warfighters caught in the mix. If you weren't there, you don't know. Be glad you weren't there.
Amidst all these chaos, there was a convoy of 3 Land Rovers from the British Army Pathfinder Platoon slipping through Nasiriyah tasked with recceing an Iraqi airfield north of the city. After driving through not far from the city, they were ambushed along the way by Iraqi Army and Fedeyens militia. They made a U-turn back to the city and passed Marines lines but at the risk of blue on blue as the Marines were on high alert due to the losses suffered while driving through the city in the day.
The T55s were long obsolete by the time Iraq War happened. If the Iraqis had 1/5 the capability of US ... the war would have never happened. Look at Iran ... America or any western powers will never invade Iran because the losses will be unacceptable.
@@jacksmith-mu3ee oh he’s good to go. Came home married a beauty and they’ve three sons, life is good. Wasn’t asking nor in need of any sympathy. We’re a family of warriors who have stood in arms for America for 400 years. I’ve at least 23 ancestors who served in the Continental Army. We carry our duty and service with honor.
@markthervguy So happy for your son and his family. Was he part of the aav that was destroyed in ambush alley, where they had to dismount and seek shelter in a house?
I was part of RCT 1 and went through Nasiriyah a few hours after this part of the battle. The wrecked hmmwv hit the back of the other vehicle so hard the large pillar behind driver/passenger was bent backwards. The death and destruction I saw driving thought Nasiriyah was insane.
My brother in law was a mechanic in the army during this time. He saw so much horrible remains, bits and blood in vehicles from that time. He said without the monumental amounts of therapy he definitely wouldn't still be here. He is a fantastic father and person and I can't imagine my family without him.
The convoy lead sacrificing his convoy so he wouldn't get chewed out for going the wrong way is a textbook example of why I will never join the military. He KNEW the city was guarded, they all saw the Iraqi military there.
@@dcoing1907 Being impossible to truly understand where, precisely, the key mistake(s) were, the unit did, in fact, get lost; which lead to the entire debacle. Did they have inadequate maps? Did they have inadequate means to be able to evaluate their position? Was the Captain not paying attention to landmarks (river, large city)? Regardless: had they not gotten lost, the communications issue would not have mattered in this incident.
You’ve done another amazing job on this video series, bravo sir. That being said, I have a very very hard time watching/reliving these events having lived through this time and knowing 3 people very close to me were killed during the Iraq 🇮🇶 invasion and subsequent occupation. I look back on this time in history with genuine sadness knowing there was absolutely zero reason for the USA 🇺🇸 forces to complete this mission and sacrifice their lives in the name of “WMD’s”. An absolute tragedy and senseless loss of life on all sides.
Be careful not to underestimate the effect, that getting rid of Sadaam and his Bathist regime had on the civilian population. WMDs or not, or whatever fucking reason we used to justify going in didn't matter to the people who no longer had to live in fear of that monster. Sure we shouldn't have invaded but, since we did, at least _that_ was a positive side-effect.
You’re forgetting what the actual effect on life in Iraq was. Living standards, plummeted, millions of people killed, a Civil War ,sectarian rifts that still haven’t closed, ISIS, impoverishment, there’s still a terrorist attacks, and now we have Iranian domination. We took the closest thing to a secular, stable Arab state and destroyed it killing millions of people on a lie, so some rich pricks could fatten their bank accounts a little more. Just for how destructive we were directly in case you want to blame the book of deaths on the sectarian stuff, America managed to kill just in the opening invasion, phase from bombardment to the fall of Baghdad, more civilians than Russia has killed in the past two years in Ukraine in just over a month.
My father was a Blackhawk pilot and combat medic for over 22 years. Although he started his deployment late into the Iraq War, his torment really began in Afghanistan. I applaud you for your service and bravery. I myself am about to join the Oregon Air National Guard, as I know I would not be able to do well in the Marines, I won't do the Army because of how my dad suffered, and I won't do Navy because I'm not a fan of being on boats. XD
Meh, debatable. Sure, getting rid of him wasn't a terrible thing. He was a monster. But, who knows what would have happened if Sadaam had remained in power. Maybe they overthrow him or he dies and they end up better off than they are today. You can't underestimate the butterfly effect and how 1 decision can transform the timeline.@@michlo3393
To give this some context to those who haven't served. You are awake for long periods, not 14 hours.. like 24-48+, sometimes just nodding off for 5 min, sleep deprived making life or death decisions, unclean, probably sitting in a tactical vehicle for hours with that high pitched spent Diesel in the air. It's 100% an excuse as it's just what happens in war. SAPPER
List of Countries the US has Bombed Since the End c WWII (may be incomplete) Korea and China 1950-53 (Korean War) Guatemala 1954, 1960 Indonesia 1958 Cuba 1959-61 Vietnam 1961-73 Laos 1964-73 Belgian Congo 1964 Dominican Republic 1965--66 Peru 1965 Guatemala 1967-1969 Cambodia 1969-1970 Nicaragua 198OS El Salvador 1980s Lebanon 1982-84 Grenada 1983 Lebanon 1983, J 1984 (Lebanese, Syrian targets) Iran 1987 Panama 1989 Iraq 1991 (First Gulf War); 1991- 2003 (US/UK "NO Fly Zone") Kuwait 1991 Somalia 1992--94; 2007 Bosnia 1994-1995 Iran 1997 Sudan 1998 Afghanistan 1998 Yugoslavia 1999 Afghanistan 2001--ongoing Iraq 2003 (Second War--more recently predator drones) Yemen 2002, 2009 Libya 1986, 2011
7:40 Private Piestowa was KIA, the first Native American woman to die in service of her country. Squaw Peak in the Phoenix area was renamed in her honor, Piestowa Peak. For those unfamiliar, squaw is a derogatory term for a Native American woman, certainly that was a word that should never have been used to name a mountain. Renaming the mountain in her honor was very appropriate.
How Walters did not get the medal of honour is beyond me, I mean he did literally did all he could in his service. He continued until the very end. He ended countless hostiles and never gave up even in the face of death. I know the silver star is amongst the very most prestigious medals one can be given, I always feel when he does absolutely everything he can in the face of overwhelming odds etc, then the highest “reward” is required. Or maybe it’s just my misunderstanding of the US military medal tradition and the purpose of each medal.
I think the stipulation with the MoH is that is has to be an act of selfless bravery in support of others, Walter did what anyone would try to do in that situation, he earned the silver star for lasting longer than anyone else could in a fight of self preservation. Its respectable and noble but i understand why they chose a silver star over a Medal of Honor
@@ScharfSchutzen Wouldn't be surprised if the rationale was to ensure people wouldn't go off and do crazy shit that would likely get them killed unless it's really a situation where the whole unit is endangered.
To be fair, the Silver Star is a "hefty" award for valor. Only the Distinguished Service Cross, lies between it and the Medal Of Honor. Sgt. Walters definitely earned his.
Yah, im sure it matters to the now dirt, his bones became. Im betting if we could ask him or his family, theyd probably rather he not take part in an illegal war for oil and military contractors, while remaining alive.
It’s hard seeing this laid out and knowing how unprepared we were even six months later. So many bad decisions, bad leaders, and an unwillingness to challenge things or over prepare.
A section of tanks (2 tanks) go HAM and get things accomplished real quick at the end to help C Company. The Marine Corps will soon forget how invaluable having organic assets like tanks are and made the choice to get rid of them. It’s going to be a hard lesson in the future
@operationsroom - how did the single M1A1 end up in the river and why is that not covered here? "On the morning of 27 March, two recon Marines found a sunken M1A1 tank at the bottom of the river. The tank had been missing since the night of 24-25 March. It had apparently plunged into the river when it drove through a gap where a sidewalk was under construction, causing the exposed reinforcing bar to crumble under the weight. The entire four-man crew died."
To be clear, I ask the question respectfully re: US Army and US Marines involved. This was an intense and unexpected battle and I was reading the military history of if, prompted by this excellent animation. Was surprised to see in the video no mention of the above occurring. Just curious as to why.
@@markrtoffeeman That tank and crew were not part of this battle - their unit were bypassing Nasiriyah to the west at night, in a sandstorm and sleep deprived. It was just a tragic accident.
@@joeschmuckatelli1702 Took an AAVR7 and 2 M88s to fish it out if my memory serves me right. I met the recovery team leader playing warthunder of all things.
It always puzzles me that despite logistics being as important as it is, we always call Motor T, "motor trash" and rightfully so. It's filled with the bottom of the barrel enlisted and half of Motor T officers should be cashiered. Truly incompetent Army leadership with this one
As someone who grew up with the navy and the marines in a small town outside of Portsmouth and who now lives outside Southampton, I laughed my arse off at those remarks 😂
Wait till you realise that a small team captured Afghanistan in 2 weeks. Then command flew in and to get their Combat Action Badge (A requirement for further promotion) had their own HQ bombed. The coordinates looked wrong, but command was demanding the strike.
We learned about this in the Army and were drilled that if we didn't service our weapons, communicate clearly and loudly, and hone the react to contact drills we'd be dead or in an enemy prison.
Thanks for this video, my 1st Squad leader was a part of this battle as a member of the AMC. Its nice to see the bigger picture of what happened and the story told in a respectful way.
The desert sand never jammed our weapons!!!!! After being deployed to Iraq in task force shepherd and ripper we never had issues with sand jamming our weapons.
@@KombatKochPartDeuxYea, support soldiers tend to think they'll never see action. It's not a good mindset for when shit gets real. The infantry is not always in a place where it can come save your ass
@@KombatKochPartDeux this happend to me and what happend to you sounds different....you must be LYING!1!! Really showing the brains of the Infantry there.
Personal request here: when you talk about the aircraft supporting the ground operations, could you say which squadron it was? A lot of good aviators did some seriously great work in the initial push and throughout the war.
How do you make a video of the Battle of Nasiriyah and not speak about the 'Hero of Nasiriyah', at the time, GySgt LeHew? The man received the Navy Cross for his actions that day and is a legend. I had the honor of being chewed out by him when I was a fresh Cpl in 1/3 lol.
Its important to point out this was not a ambush. A bunch of pogs got lost and drove into the middle of a enemy held city. They did every thing wrong and were lucky to survive. Keep in mind not all units in the military are expected to fight the enemy. Also the fact that Lynch went on to try to blame the marines for not stopping them from driving into the city is idiotic. I feel awful for what happened to her but she should have never been on the 50 as she was not strong enough to use it. Also this is one of several events that caused the army to change their weapon manipulation training.
That unit was using a simple map created in PowerPoint to navigate. They had specific points listed in MGRS, but there was no grid on the map. The leadership barely understood how the PLGR worked. There was so many things that went wrong in that unit.
Yeah, I was there and it royally pissed me off when she said that. Good Marines died because her unit was too stupid to follow in a damned convoy, the least she could do is show some accountability and own that
@@gobblox38They should not have been using them, in that case. The leadership ALREADY knows that type of thing and logic. I keep seeing comments from veterans, or family/friends of veterans, that say they used this incident to train for future missions. This is a SHAME! They KNEW already that training on equipment is absolutely necessary before using it in WAR. If you dont know how to use it, it is useless. They learned this in the Revolutionary War, I would have to imagine, although common sense would argue the same point, with or without the stimuli of war variables. My question is, why did they need this incident to study to understand any of these things?
she was not on the .50 she was in the back seat with another female PFC. As mentioned in this video three other guys were in vehicle but were killed by the RPG that knocked out the vehicle.
@@chargree the leadership of this unit did not take the training seriously. They didn't think to inspect equipment regularly. To be fair, there were individuals who were very serious about their training and maintaining their equipment. They were the ones fighting back
fun fact a close relative of my family was in this convoy(not really sure if it was this specific convoy) as translator and when our neighbors knew about this they started shooting our house long story short The US didn't help us, application got rejected we left the country, and Denmark saved us out of nowhere.
"It's not like Southampton, there's no beer and they're shooting at us.... More like Portsmouth." Say what you like about marines but they say it how it is.
In OSUT we were given a jingle for immediate action for Jessica Lynch. SPORTS (now STR- slap tap reassess) Scream Panic Overreact Throw a tatrum Surrender It was proven that she didn’t understand what to do when her weapon had a stoppage. Maintenance issues were a problem for her entire convoy.. among many other issues
I see little mention of command responsibility for the condition of the unit, vehicles, and soldiers in your remarks -- all the way from company and battalion training to ensure sufficient knowledge and muscle memory, all the way to division and strategic failures that led support convoys in the early years to go in without vehicle armor, crew serve weapons, blue force trackers, or even more than 2 radios in a whole convoy. Those are the big issues there -- the ones that created and aggravated the situation. A maintenance soldier in service one year who is not quite competent with handling a double-feed (while dealing with continuous gunfire, smashed vehicles, no armor, no comms, smoke, broken bones/concussion and under extreme stress, is not the decisive factor here. Greater weapon experience -- a responsibility reliant on her command, not her, to provide training time and feedback -- would not effect the outcome more than maybe having her fire 5 more rounds before being shot. My aggravation here is fueled by the recognition that you focus on one tiny feature of a broader failure, while giving a pass to the leadership that put under-trained and drastically under-equipped soldiers in the CF to begin with. That convoy had no add-on armor, little training, few if any blue force trackers, few radios, and poor leadership oversight from platoon to division level. I was in Iraq, 2004-2005. Battle of Fallujah with 2/2 -- David Bellavia's unit. My first two humvees were blown up. They had plywood armor. Logpacs only had 2-3 radios and maybe 1 BFT. Mostly un-armored. Dozens of IEDs and RPGs. I was wounded in Baghdad (1 Jun 04), got burns in the 9 Apr 04 ambush on the road to Najaf, and took a bullet to the SAPI plate in Fallujah. I cleaned CSM Faulkenberg's bloody bullet-splintered helmet out in Fallujah, and had to step on top of an aggressive staff sergeant who curled up on the floor in the fetal position in my vehicle gunbox, in order to return fire during an ambush in Muqdadiyah. I don't blame a maintenance unit private for the failing of a convoy or a whole Army corps. I blame the leadership -- including strategic level leaders who sent soldiers in without vehicle armor, BFTs, radios, maps, rest, mission briefings, sufficient training. Not the privates. And no, I'm not a kid. This is my daughter's Chromebook acct. I think having daughters is part of why such woman-targeted army jokes bother me these years. "You go to war with the Army you have, not the Army you want, or might have a later date." -- Donald Rumsfeld
Good video as always. I remember the story about this, how much I tried to dig for info back then to understand how a maintenance company ended up front, didnt find much. Then the movie about it.. and now this video making those thoughts come back to my head. What an awful situation to live.
God Bless Major Peeples (and the men in both tanks) for crossing the bridge both ways to aid trapped soldiers. And to everyone else as well that day who found themselves in a bad situation they didn't have any control of. And to everyone who made similar efforts whose stories we don't know. Trying to navigate in a foreign country while people are trying to kill you doesn't sound fun. Memories to the (somewhere between I think 30-40 people) who lost their lives that day, and who knows how many lived with lifelong injuries. And to the foreign servicemen, like the Royal Marines. The men captured. I hope whoever signed off on those plans was punished beyond a delayed promotion or demotion. They sure didn't care about the men they killed, or injured for lifetimes. I can't believe they lacked the necessary support.
General Mattis. The man in charge, Colonel Dowdy, realized how well fortified the enemy position was and didn’t want to attack it with his light infantry force, so he halted, but then General Mattis came up, relieved him of command, and then ordered the attack, Anyway, getting a lot of Americans killed. “Maneuver warfare” my ass!
Seeley is my old CO. He told this story very differently in 2004. This leaves out a crucial detail about how/why the AAV sunk and had to be abandoned. They took a different route to avoid ambush ally, which was a seewage canal that had been hardened over to look like a road. The weight of the AAV caused it to sink and get stuck.
I remember the whole "Private Jessica" thing being all over the news for a while and thinking what a screwup that whole thing was, but this is the first I've heard of the details involving the Marines and the Army sgt. who was left behind and murdered by his captors. What a goat rodeo.
@@raytrace2014 But the working-class bits of Portsmouth (mostly Southsea) are way worse. I spent a bunch of time there, and what isn't delapidated student digs is terraced slum.
I was in basic training (OSUT) during this. I was appalled at how an army unit screwed up so badly. I doubt the unit had the discipline to regularly clean their rifles. Saying "the desert sand caused them to malfunction" is BS. Several soldiers in the unit had no issues with their rifles, same with the marines who came in later. I wasn't aware of the several issues the marines faced when going into the city either. If the Iraqis were competent, it would have been a bloodbath.
@@honeyforce996 A Regimental Combat Team is a group of Marines, trained to conduct hidden movements and long-range target strikes, tasked as a battalion's quick reaction force to serve as the first Coalition forces responders to any emergency.
@@honeyforce996 it means battalion/regiment. He was 1st Battalion 4th Marine Regiment. When I was in the Marines, CAT stood for combined anti armor teams. But there are so many acronyms you generally need more context.
As a veteran of the Iraq war. I will never understand why they allowed convoys to blindly ride into enemy territory. You can see in this video they are clearly getting shot up at the beginning. Yet do not form a combat line and try to fight back. Its like making yourself a target.
A nice overview - but you have many of the locations wrong. The Alamo was only a bit south of the Sadaam Canal on the East side of the road (Ambush Alley) - the second group of buildings from the Canal. Charlie Company was not fighting at the "T" intersection, but instead was arrayed facing south across the Sadaam Canal facing back into the city (we'd been told there were no fixed emplacements - a lie). The A-10s were NOT called in by the Marine FAC with Bravo, but instead the A-10s misidentified Charlie's vehicles themselves, identified them as enemy to the FAC and requested to fire - but yes, due to chaos on the radio the Marine FAC did not know any Marines were north of the Canal at that point. King was supposed to turn left WAY south of Nasiriyah; there's a cut-off road not far west from the freeway interchange and he missed that. Alpha 1/2 was fighting on both sides of the road north of the Euphrates bridge. I strongly suggest "Ambush Alley" by Tim Pritchard if you want more. The chaos on the radios was real. Oh - and Bill Peeples was the real deal. Guy kept getting off his tank and running through fire to talk to adjacent commanders. Rescued the wounded from the Alamo. Hell of a Marine
@@tomaszskowronski1406 There is so much misinformation about this battle, it's sad. We gamed out a plan similar to what we executed back on the boat. Had already named "Ambush Alley" that, back on the boat. We had a plan; a good one. The problem was the tragedy of the 507th - that precipitated a rescue attempt, rather than us executing our original assault plan. Also - the day before our attack, the decision was made to strip the MEB of its organic Air assets - likely b/c the AirForce wanted air to be Purple (Joint). Marine Corps should have never let that happen (tbh - we got Air back, but it took a while, then we had plenty). Infantry attacked while tanks were refueling after we rescued 1/3 of the 507th. Comms nightmare caused by internal micromanagement leadership style - and simply the fact that all units were engaged at the same time. Their decision to lie to us about enemy composition & deployment did not help. Once the Company Commanders were free to make decisions on their own - they made good ones - and the Marines performed exceptionally well. Shrug - mistakes were made. It happens. Results both tragic and successful. War.
@@joeschmuckatelli1702I was working in the TF Tarawa Direct Air Support Center (DASC) or callsign Chieftain. You account is spot on except for the A10s. Because we had no organic air assets that day, the FACs were going out on Guard poaching aircraft to support their guys. I get that. The problem is the DASC is specifically there to provide battlefield situational awareness to the Aircraft prior to them checking in with their terminal controller. Those A10s never checked in with Chieftain. Had they, we would have told them of that unit to the north out there pinned down. We had SA. The Battalion FAC/AO Timberwolf did not. That is what caused the frat incident; lack of SA, not utilizing proper command of control and bad communication all the way around. That was a bad fucking day and we didn’t send anymore A10s up there to support the forward units after that day.
I can honestly see parallels here with the Russian so-called 'Special Military Operation' in Ukraine. Multiple groups of Russian special forces - often in thin-skinned auxiliary vehicles - travelling into urban territory with very poor intel, making wrong turns and subsequently getting ambushed and shot up by militia and partisan forces. If it weren't for the initiative instilled and encouraged by their training and traditions, and the availability of heavy armor support, the Marines might have had a far, far worse day in Nasiriyah than they already did.
I think my staff Sargent was in this. Back in 2015. He never gave me great details but this sounds like it. Especially the rpg hitting his track and getting on the other side of the bridge.
Gosh, the fog of war. Even the most well equipped military in the world is not immune to it. I don't remember the details of this battle being all that well covered by media at the time. It's been a long time though, maybe I just don't remember.
Also, another main weakness of the Abrams main battle tank during this war was their rear - 'bustle rack' - being used to store - _ammunition, flares, fuel, and other incendiaries._ When they were hit with - small arms fire - the resulting conflagration would then drip down into the engine compartment vents thus wrecking the engine, and then having the tank being abandoned. From my memory, this happened more than once where Iraqi small arms fire took out mighty American battle tanks.
@@Mortablunt It would if they also put ammo on their tank in an exposed position as stowage. At least the Abrams is not well known for popping its turret a few hundred feet into the air when any tank or AT weapon sneezes at it.
Bustle rack storage is the exact opposite of a weakness. It's a strongsuit and adds functionality to the tank for next to no cost. Misusing it by putting volatile materials in it, is not a weakness of the design itself.
@KombatKochPartDeux and your point is? I spent enough time around officers to never trust them with a map. You had one officer out of how many? There is always an exception but it doesn't happen often. I served too long and lost enough Marines. You will never convince me
@waltdyer0302 My point is that most officers I've seen should not be allowed to touch a map. Ok, I will give you that at least starting at Captains, they seem to improve. I'm not saying that there are no outstanding officers. I served with some of the best in history, but my opinion may be a little bias. That being said, there are more that I don't trust with a map than I do. Therefore, as a general rule, I say never trust an officer with a map.
Having the context, watching a video that shows Iraqi troops in the city, made that moment when King turned around gut-wrenching. Maybe he thought he could squeak back through the same population center that didn’t fire on him the first time. It might have seemed more appealing than guessing his way back to the main force through unknown and unscouted areas. Brutal.
Great job telling this story. Nasiriyah has an interesting history. Many of Iraqs non Islamic minority groups were prominent in the these areas like the Sabians (John the Baptist), Jews up until the invastion. There is also a Ziggurat in this region so it is very old. Sad to see how they were impacted by the war. It's also the place of the Shiah uprisings against Saddam. Saddam was executed over the suppresion of the uprisings here. Now these same people are in power today and many of the Pro Iran armed militia are from these areas. Now they are fighting against US interest.
Ya know, I’ve heard hundreds of war stories from an academic perspective… but god DAMN this is much harder to stomach when it occurred so recently. It’s easy to shrug off the deaths in the Punic Wars, but this hits completely differently.
My heart goes out to all those who lived, were wounded or were killed in action thru this ordeal. I hate to say it but it sounds like communication problems turned this whole event into one unbelievable Cluster Frak. I know it’s easy to look back thru the 20/20 recto-scope to say this or that should have been done. To all those who think that just try if you can even do that, to put yourself in that environment, not knowing much of what’s going on and getting shot at from all directions, fearing for your life and hopefully fearing for the lives of all your counterparts, before you start playing Monday morning quarterback on this. Of course mistakes were made. But this is Modern War. Not a game. Give them the respect they earned and deserve. Thanks to the Operations Room for putting all of this information together like this. You deserve your own medal for demonstrating to the general public that our freedoms that most people ignore every day are b/c troopers like these have put their lives on the line to help achieve. In this war and all the wars that this country has been involved in. Whether you agree with them or not the men & women who fought them deserve your praise, gratitude and your thanks for doing what they.
I hope one day we will get to see similar videos on Afghanistan. The Battle of Takur Ghar, Operation Red Wings, and Operation Medusa(Sperwan Ghar and The White Schoolhouse) would be amazing.
Back in 2004, we had those blue force tracker gps with 1990 maps. We were on iraqi highway 1 and lead veh got lost and drove into the dense city. 2 hrs behind us was a marine unit who was on route continued north without getting lost. As we were trying to get back on highway 1. We heard theur got hit by an ied. That ied attack could have been us...
