Photos Operation Phantom Fury: Fallujah 2004

[Chazman]

FALLUJAH, IRAQ - NOVEMBER 20: U.S. Marine scouts of the 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance (LAR) company search for insurgents and clear houses November 20, 2004 in Fallujah, Iraq . U.S. and Iraqi forces are battling remaining pockets of resistance in an effort to clear rthe city of insurgence. (Photo by Scott Peterson/Getty Images)

 

[Chazman]

FALLUJAH, IRAQ - NOVEMBER 11: U.S. Marines of the 1st Battalion 3rd Marines, use a Sasr sniper rifle to take on an Iraqi insurgent counter-offensive in Fallujah, to mark the Islamic "Night of Power" on November 11, 2004 in Fallujah, Iraq. The U.S. Marines are engaged in an extensive attack seeking to root out insurgents in Fallujah before the January elections in Iraq. (Photo by Scott Peterson/Getty Images)

 

[Chazman]

FALLUJAH, IRAQ - NOVEMBER 13: U.S. Marines from the 1st U.S. Marines Expeditionary Force, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines Regiment, Bravo Company,enter a house after using explosives to open the door during an offensive November 13, 2004 in Fallujah, Iraq. According to Iraqi National Security Adviser Kasim Dawood, 1000 insurgents have been killed and 200 insurgents have been captured during the six-day battle. (Photo by Marco Di Lauro/Getty Images)

 

[Chazman]

WARNING: GRAPHIC

 

[Chazman]

 

[BravoZulu]

Members of the 1st U.S. Marines Expeditionary Force, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines Regiment, Bravo Company, take a break while on patrol in Fallujah, Iraq (November 20, 2004)

 

[Chazman]

 

[Chazman]

 

[Chazman]

 

[Chazman]

 

[Chazman]

These guys look like foreign fighters who congregated to Fallujah. There were Saudis, Sudanese, Syrians, Libyans, Chechens and more. They all showed up to jump into the meat grinder.

 

[Chazman]

 

[Chazman]

 

[Chazman]

FALLUJAH, IRAQ - NOVEMBER 6: An Iraqi fighter runs to the front line after an American incursion on November 6, 2004 in Fallujah, Iraq. The mujahadeen are preparing for a major U.S. offensive against their city. (Photo by Ghaith Abdul-Ahad/Getty Images)

 

[Chazman]

FALLUJAH, IRAQ - NOVEMBER 7: An Arab fighter patrols the streets on November 7, 2004 in the city of Fallujah, Iraq. The Mujahadeen are preparing for a major U.S. offensive against their city. (Photo by Ghaith Abdul-Ahad/Getty Images)

 

[Chazman]

I wonder where this guy came from with his tactical vest? I haven't been able to find any pics of Chechens that I know of yet. There were quite a few in Fallujah and were reportedly very well equipped and were tough fighters.

 

[Chazman]

One of two adjoining houses filled with Chechen fighters who ambushed the Marines.

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Sadly, Sean Stokes was killed in Iraq, almost 3 years later.

 

[BravoZulu]

U.S. Marines with Company A, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, Marine Captain Philip Treglia calls in a danger close airstrike while his Marines fire against terrorists operating in Fallujah, Iraq. Marines Corporal Philip Dennis (kneeling), Corporal Butterfield , Lcpl Buskard, Cpl Justin Smith April 7, 2004. U.S. Marines suspended offensive operations after isolating and systematically clearing portions of the city. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Matthew J. Apprendi.

 

[RL64RL]

FALLUJAH, IRAQ - NOVEMBER 13: U.S. Navy medical Corpsman Nick Navarrette from Omaha, Nebraska, with the U.S. Marines of the 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance (LAR) company, handles two detainees during a search for insurgents November 13, 2004 in Fallujah, Iraq. U.S. forces are pushing their offensive farther into Fallujah, battling remaining pockets of resistance. (Photo by Scott Peterson/Getty Images)

Packing a couple of pistolas . . . nice.

 

[BravoZulu]

Delta Force Operators and US Marine pose for photo on rooftop after a firefight. Fallujah, Iraq 2004

DSCs for the operators on the left and right, Silver Star for the one in the middle. Complete and total badasses. From another post:

"From left to right, Master Sgt Donnie Hollenbaugh, Sgt Maj Larry Boivin, and Staff Sgt Dan Briggs. (Marine's ID is unknown to me) Hollenbaugh and Briggs were both awarded the Distinguished Service Cross during this operation for helping save a platoon of Marines from an estimated 300 hardcore Islamist insurgents. Boivin received the Silver Star, and he and Briggs were also awarded the Purple Heart. One Marine was killed and almost all of the rest were wounded over the course of the firefight, culminating in Hollenbaugh singlehandedly defending this rooftop and in the process expending hundreds of bullets, and dozens of grenades and rockets (the latter of which the Delta operators were training the Marines to operate). Sadly, both SGM Boivin and the Marines' commanding officer, Capt Doug Zembiec, were both killed several years after this - Boivin in a freak train-on-parade-float accident in Texas; and Zembiec in Sadr City, Baghdad, while serving as a CIA Special Activities officer, which saw him also receive the Silver Star as well as his second Purple Heart, posthumously.