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U.S. soldiers reporting steady progress in one-time insurgent stronghold

May-16-2005 » Filed Under: 1/25 SBCT

News and photographs of Stryker Brigade action in northwest Iraq

Blood, sweat and tears pave way for new day in Tal Abtha

Link to Full Article
By Sandra Jontz, Stars and Stripes

TAL ABTHA, Iraq — After seven months in the bowels of the war in Iraq, there’s one thing that lifts Sgt. Erik Griffin’s spirits.

“The one thing that doesn’t keep me down in the dumps is that I see progress,” said the 34-year-old soldier with Battery C, 2nd Battalion, 8th Field Artillery, 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division. [...]

Progress also is measured by the collaboration between the U.S. and Iraqi army forces.

On Wednesday, 2-8 U.S. soldiers and 102nd Iraqi Army Battalion detained 94 suspected insurgents and killed three in a firefight that ensued after they descended on the town of Aitha.

The assault didn’t come without a high price, however. Two Iraqi army soldiers were killed and two U.S. soldiers were wounded severely.

With the U.S. military clampdown on the northern city of Mosul, insurgents have been heading south and west to the vast open areas of Ninevah province, where they find safe harbor in impoverished tiny towns and villages. [...]

On May 7, combined forces of U.S. soldiers and 102nd and 107th Iraqi Army Battalions cracked down on the village of Muhallabiyah, a nexus of insurgent activity where terrorists manufactured car bombs.

An explosive ordnance disposal team destroyed three ready-made car bombs, and forces detained 34 suspected insurgents.

But the soldiers don’t rest on their laurels. In fact, they don’t rest much at all.

Missions for soldiers of Battery C, for example, typically last for 12 hours or more mainly because it takes so long to drive from one objective to another. Most soldiers get by on five or six hours of sleep, if that.

On the long drives, they often pass the time talking about anything that pops into their minds. About their families, life in Iraq, near-death experiences, future plans. And there’s always a comic among them.

“I signed up for three years and I want to get out in three years,” said Pfc. Tony Gastone, 25, of Long Island. “I need to go home. I need to become president. They need me.”


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