By Alisa Weinstein
The Bulletin
As U.S. troops battled Iraqi insurgents in the
city of Fallujah in November, a rocket-propelled grenade exploded
near Marine Chad Russell's unit. A burst of shrapnel cut through the
air, narrowly missing all the men but one.
A sharp fragment sliced off part of one Marine's
trigger finger.
"We were out there doing what we were trained to
do. I patched him up and he was fine," Russell said.
"God was watching over me and the other guys out
there because shrapnel hit all around us and didn't get us, but got
him."
On Saturday afternoon, the 20-year-old reflected
on his tour of duty in Iraq from his parents' Deschutes County home.
Serving as a Marine grunt in Iraq, Russell helped
train Iraqi National Guardsmen, captured insurgents and fought in
the battle of Fallujah. Although Russell said the hardest part about
serving in Iraq is losing members of his platoon, he believes
American troops are sacrificing their lives for a noble cause.
"Mainly I want people to know that what we're
doing over there is the right thing," said Russell.
"Sometimes it takes an extreme, and that's war.
It's sad but it's good, we're giving these people an opportunity,"
he said.
Russell, who returned to the U.S. from Iraq in
mid-January, flew from Camp Pendleton to Redmond Friday night for a
month-long stay in Central Oregon. In March, Russell will return to
Camp Pendleton where he will stay until September, when he will
likely return to the Middle East.
Russell joined the Marines after graduating from
Mountain View High School in 2003. His unit, 3rd Battalion 1st
Marines, arrived in Iraq in June. Russell's company, Lima Company,
was assigned to the city of Nasar Wa Salam, near Fallujah. Their
company lived inside the tall, concrete walls of the now notorious
Abu Ghraib prison.
Russell, who arrived after the abuse scandal broke
in the United States, said his unit did not interact with Iraqi
prisoners other than those they rounded up during patrols.
Life inside Abu Ghraib was sweet for military
personnel, said Russell. Air conditioning helped to combat summer
temperatures that reached 140 degrees, cooks served cheeseburgers
and french fries, they even had laundry service.
"Other companies gave us a hard time because they
didn't have it as good," said Russell. "We got hooked up."
Russell and the other Marines lived inside cells
and slept on cots — cushy accommodations for men who normally sleep
on thin mats. Russell decorated his cell with an American flag that
had once belonged to his grandfather.
According to Russell, the biggest dangers for the
Marines in Nasar Wa Salam were roadside bombs.
"These punks, they would come up there — you
wouldn't be able to see them — they would set them up," he said. One
member of Russell's company died in an incident involving a roadside
bomb, he said.
But Russell said the area near the prison remained
mostly peaceful. During patrols with Iraqi police, Russel had the
opportunity to interact with Iraqi civilians.
"I remember mainly the kids. We'd come back every
day and they'd remember our names and they would want to come play
with us," he said. "Adults would ask you your name, and if you had a
baby or if you had kids, they were curious to know that," said
Russell.
"They loved to look at your pictures."
When insurgents did attack, Russell said they not
only went after troops, but also civilians.
"It's hard because there's people that don't want
us there that get violent with us, and we can't let that stand,"
said Russell. "They target innocents, too. To us, it just fueled us
to want to get them more."
Russell recalled one unsuccessful attack on the
prison. A suicide bomber drove a truck into the prison wall,
attempting to break through. Another insurgent shot at the prison
with an old Soviet anti aircraft weapon from the back of the truck.
If mortar fire reached inside or near the prison,
an alarm alerted soldiers to seek cover in a building, he said.
After nearly six months at Abu Ghraib, Russell's
company left Nasar Wa Salam and moved to a camp in the barren
countryside closer to Fallujah.
Once there, the Marines intensified their training
for battle, said Russell.
"It was just like anticipation, we knew we moved
there for a reason, we knew that something was imminent," said
Russell. "They told us, ‘You need to be ready to go tomorrow, just
in case they call us.' "
On Nov. 8, after nearly four weeks of waiting,
Russell's unit rolled into Fallujah. Two members of the Iraqi
special forces also fought with their company, said Russell.
According to Russell, the first two weeks of the
battle were the most intense.
"When we got up there, it was dark. We had Army
tanks, Marine tanks, Air Force, it wasn't just us, everybody was
there. That morning, we dug in and waited to hit ‘em, hard," he
said.
Russell said he and his squad members came to
depend on the Iraqis fighting alongside them during the battle.
"I'm telling you right now, our whole squad really
felt like they earned their keep. They were up there clearing houses
with us, busting down doors. They were out there serving their
country and we really felt honestly like we could trust them,"
"We would've took a bullet for them, too," he
said.
It's for those Iraqis, and the children like those
Russell and his fellow Marines befriended and shared candy with in
Nasar Wa Salam that U.S. forces are laying down their lives, he
said.
"I didn't join (the military) to be a war mongrel,
I joined to go serve my country," said Russell. "Especially in the
circumstances we're in, helping out these people, it's even more
honorable."Alisa Weinstein can be reached at 541-504-2336 or at
aweinstein@bendbulletin.com.
