Wounded Troops Describe Fight
USA TODAY
November 16, 2004
LANDSTUHL, Germany - Four U.S. servicemen wounded last week in the Iraqi city of Fallujah on Monday described intense fighting with a skilled enemy, adept at markmanship and rigging booby traps.
The three Marines and an Army soldier were among 419 patients admitted to the U.S. military hospital here since the beginning of an offensive into Fallujah on Nov. 8. Most of the new patients are from that fighting.
The injured troops told reporters that Fallujah's streets were filled with booby traps. They said masked men with automatic rifles and grenade launchers targeted Americans with the aid of spotters who told them where the U.S. forces were located.
"They were willing to fight to the death," said Marine Lance Cpl. Travis Schafer, 20, of Puyallup, Wash. He suffered fractures in his right hand early in the operation. "It was house-to-house fighting, rooftop to rooftop, guys jumping from one roof to the next."
No one saw any civilians in Fallujah. "All the stores and shops were closed, and all the good Samaritans had left," said Marine Lance Cpl. Ryan Chapman, 22, of Lawrence, Kan. Marine Lance Cpl. Jeffery Owens, 21, of Harlan, Ky., said he saw many cars that were booby-trapped with explosives meant to kill a large number of U.S. forces at once.
Despite the difficult conditions, the men said they remain committed to finishing the task the U.S. forces set out to do in Iraq. "It's part of our job, to help the Iraqi people get their freedom," Chapman said.
All four servicemen will be sent home soon to recuperate, but they say it's hard to leave their comrades back in the field. "I'd go back (to Iraq) in a heartbeat," Chapman said. He was hit while on patrol in the turret of a Humvee. After an Iraqi national guardsman was shot by a sniper, Chapman scanned nearby rooftops and windows through the scope on the wire-guided missile launcher he operates. A sniper's bullet hit under Chapman's helmet, temporarily blinding him.
The bullet cracked Chapman's skull, but he said doctors told him he has no brain damage. "Everybody says I'm lucky, and I'll go with that," he said.
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