Track rats
INDCJournal: On Patrol with Team Gator
Bill has some great photos accompanying his description of our Marines patrolling a main highway in Anbar province. The Marines’ amphibious assault vehicles, “amtracs” or just “tracks,” figured prominently in the events around Nasiriyah in late March, 2003, which I posted about here. So, it was fascinating to read more about them again and see some detailed photographs.
Bill and I exchanged a few emails before his trip. To the extent that our guys are confined to fortresses, or only moving between them in heavily armed groups, that says a lot. There’s no question that our soldiers and Marines are great guys: patriotic, selfless, brave, and endowed with senses of humor and other virtues needed to see them through a tour in Iraq.
So far, Bill’s reports document the confined and heavily protected aspect of our presence. I hope that there is more to it, or, if there is no more, then that we can gain some hope that a presence of such character can make a difference.
I’ve Been Meaning to Cut Down on my Cat Shit Anyway