It was a political decision all the way,” said Camp, who now works with the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation in Quantico, Va.Ībdicating responsibility for Fallujah's security was a major blunder, said Bing West, a retired Marine officer and author of “No True Glory,” an eyewitness account of the second Fallujah campaign. Bush's administration handed Fallujah over to Iraqi-run security personnel, and the insurgency quickly reorganize. But right after Marines accomplished their mission, President George W. Marines were ordered to wrest control back. Insurgents dragged their mutilated bodies through the streets and hanged two from a bridge.ĭays later, U.S. Once relatively calm, the city exploded March 31, 2004, when four Blackwater security contractors were killed in an ambush. There were actually two fights for Fallujah in one year. “If we had not done it, the insurgency would have spread out from there,” said Camp, a former officer once based at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego. There were uprisings in the city, and the Sunnis were really carrying the fight to us,” said Dick Camp, author of an oral history of the battle titled “Operation Phantom Fury: The Assault and Capture of Fallujah, Iraq.” forces endured house-to-house combat that historians say hadn't been experienced on such a large and ferocious scale since the fight for control of Hue, South Vietnam, four decades ago. Their combat is the subject of several books and documentaries, and film producer Michael Shamberg - whose credits include “Erin Brockovich,” “Pulp Fiction” and “World Trade Center” - is interested in making a movie about the battle, with Harrison Ford playing a major character.įor about a month in Fallujah, U.S. forces to retake the city of Fallujah - a critical military success in the Iraq war.Ĭamp Pendleton troops, including Kruchten of Lakeside, led the offensive along with Army units that included Bellavia, now living in upstate New York. This Veterans Day marks the fifth anniversary of the early stages of an all-out assault by U.S. To decorated Army veteran David Bellavia, “we were in the Verdun of the global war on terror,” referring to an epic World War I battle. Last December, following a period of relative calm, the United States started to fold Camp Fallujah and turn the city back to Iraqi forces.įormer Camp Pendleton Marine Shane Kruchten described it as “hell on Earth.” In early November 2004, Camp Pendleton Marines and others mounted Operation Phantom Fury to recapture Fallujah. The insurgency regrouped, and violence soon escalated. Bush handed security oversight to Iraqi forces. U.S.-led forces first stormed Fallujah, Iraq, in April 2004, days after insurgents killed four Blackwater security contractors.Īfter troops drove out the insurgents, President George W.
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