News from July 17, 2003 issue

Local Marines tell their Iraqi war stories
BY ALLISON EVANS
Lance Cpl. Michael Croft was sleeping in a foxhole while his daughter, Breanna, turned 2 in April.

While Lance Cpl. Joey Rich's friends hunted wild turkeys in the spring Crittenden County woods, he was stalking members of the Iraqi army in a desert outside the city of Nasiriya.

The two local Marines often daydreamed about home ­ about their families and friends thousands of miles away. Yet while their most intimate thoughts were of a lifestyle they left behind, the reality of a war was staring them square in the face.

Both realized the dangers and understood the consequences of one false move. The intensity of war is difficult to explain to those who have never endured its pain, yet the two Crittenden County High School graduates took time during current leaves from the military to share some of their thoughts and experiences during the Iraqi war. Both men were among the first units to fight their way north through an unforgiving desert and against a hostile enemy that hid behind civilians and veiled themselves in non-military clothing.

Neither Rich nor Croft knew the other one was in Iraq during the height of the war in late March, but both were with platoons which crossed through Nasiriya, a city along the main support route for other troops traveling to Baghdad. Nasiriya was also site of the well-documented ambush of Army Pvt. Jessica Lynch and others in her transportation company. In fact, Rich and Croft's units passed through the Iraqi city just a couple of days after Lynch and others were killed or taken prisoner.

The Marine units that included Croft and Rich each took and returned heavy fire while passing through Nasiriya.

For Rich, it was on just his second day in Iraq after spending about a month sleeping in the Kuwaiti desert where troops had congregated as they awaited marching orders from Washington.

Much like the now famous wrong turn of Pvt. Lynch's convoy, a breakdown in communication sent Rich's unit straight through the city rather than around the outskirts as planned.

Rich explained that Marines were across a river on the southern edge of Nasiriya, taking fire from inside the city. When orders came to move ahead, the troops in front of Rich's unit went a block too far into the city before taking a righthand turn that would lead them around the perimeter of the city where the enemy was not as fortified.

However, when Rich's superiors lost visual contact with the soldiers in front of them, their convoy of Humvees and amphibious units called tracks began moving quickly through the main route straight through the heart of the city.

"We took fire from RPG (rocket propelled grenades) and AKs (AK-47s) from all sides," said Rich, who was riding in a track and returning fire from one side of the vehicle. "Two of the tracks were destroyed, and mine was the only one to make it through from our platoon."

Rich's vehicle was riddled with bullet holes from its one-hour trip through the central Iraqi city. A backpack hanging on the outside of his armored vehicle in front of him was pierced by three bullets. A foot either way and he might have been hit by the 7.62 mm small-arms fire.

Likewise, Croft and his fellow Marines in a mortar company took similar heat from the enemy about 48 hours later when they passed through the city in a Humvee.

"It was pretty intense," Croft said of his unit's day in Nasiriya. "Our platoon spent the night in mud. It was a lot of mud in someone's yard after it had rained really bad and we attempted to sleep in about a foot of water.

"All through the night you could hear bullets overhead."

Rich said his company's orders initially were not to fire unless fired upon. The rules of engagement changed after men, seemingly civilians, were seen waving white flags before dropping them in exchange for weapons.

"It became a moral question of do I shoot or let them shoot me or my buddy," Rich said. "You just do what you've gotta do and ask for forgiveness later."

The designated marksman in his squad, Rich was the only Marine in his immediate 13-man unit whose gun was equipped with telescopic sights. The scope was mounted above a 5.56 mm M-16 automatic rifle. An M-16 fires a round about the same size as a .243 deer rifle. Rich said his scoped rifle is capable of putting rounds in a pie plate at 500 yards.

As the squad's sharpshooter, Rich was often sent on top of secured buildings to serve as a watchman ­ and sniper ­ for his unit which set up in defensive positions outside Nasiriya several days following the battle inside the city.

When they weren't set up in defensive positions in the desert, Rich's platoon swept through houses and villages and confiscated large caches of weapons.
Croft's unit handled much the same chores, spending a great deal of time sifting through rubble, clearing areas of hostile pockets and searching for military weapons left behind by the retreating Iraqi regulars.

Croft's unit was also charged with guarding prisoners of war, sometimes 30 to 40 new ones each day. Many were captured following raids on Sadaam Hussein's ruling Bathe Party headquarters.

He witnessed the capture of two international terrorists who had been wanted for 10 years for the bombing of a Saudi Arabia military base.

As stated, both men's units traveled through Nasiriya about the same time Army supply clerk Jessica Lynch's convoy was ambushed. Rich learned about it just as she was about to be rescued.

"I was really mad about that," Rich said. "We came through the city and five or six days later when we were in a defensive position outside the city, someone came along and said, 'If you hear a bunch of stuff going on behind you, it will be a bunch of friendlies rescuing some prisoners at the hospital.'

"I was mad because we could have done something earlier if they would have told us. We could have helped if we would have known our people had been left behind. But instead, we were just sitting outside the city."
Both Marines realized the imminent danger they faced. Rich says he dealt with that danger quite confidently.

"I knew I would be all right but then again we didn't have time to be scared," he said.

Rich blames tired fellow Marines for the situation that made him the most uncomfortable during the war. While three Marines slept in foxholes, one was to keep watch for the enemy. One night Rich woke up to find no one awake on watch.

"I jumped up and went down the line kicking everybody," he said. "The guy who was supposed to be awake got in trouble."
Rich said adrenaline took over during raids and the trip through Nasiriya. There was hardly any time for fear. Later, reflecting on the day's events, is when it hit him hardest.

Croft described his war experiences as surreal.

"I thought about being there a lot, sometimes it didn't seem real, it was like it was a dream," recalls Croft, who went into the war as a private and came out a lance corporal. "Never in a million years did I feel I would be at war, and I was pulled out of school early to go.

"In a way I was glad to be there to defend my country, it's what I signed up for. And in a way, I was scared to be there. I realized I had so much to lose and I hoped to get out of there alive."

Ironically, Rich said he found himself worried about his family, which he knew feared for his safety in Iraq.

"The most difficult thing was leaving family behind," Rich said. "I didn't know how they were doing. You knew they were worried about you, but you couldn't tell them anything."

Both Marines say it was their training that helped them most to survive physically and mentally. That, and knowing they were defending America and its freedoms.
Driving through the streets of An Numinya, where Croft's battalion carried out peace keeping duties after the major fighting had ended, crowds of Iraqis ran behind their convoys chanting "U-S-A." or "Mister," Croft said.

"I was surprised by how many people hated Sadaam," Croft added. "While we were patrolling people would throw down their money and stomp on Sadaam's face and say 'Sadaam bad.'

"It is pretty awesome when people run behind the convoy chanting that stuff. That's when you know you're not just doing it for nothing."

Both men plan to relish their remaining days on leave here. Croft says he'll spend most of it with his wife and daughter while Rich prepares for a fall wedding with his fiance Crystal Campbell. And if he gets a little spare time, a frog-gigging trip with buddies might just be in order.

Police choppers locate lots of marijuana
The Kentucky State Police conducted marijuana searches throughout Crittenden County last week with the aid of aircraft.

Troopers in the helicopter spotted several locations where marijuana was growing and officers on the ground were directed to those sites where the pot was eradicated. Police destroyed 812 plants in Crittenden County, about half of that was found on Hurricane Island on the Ohio River. Police estimate the value of a single marijuana plant at $1,000 if grown to maturity. While no arrests have been made in connection with the finds, police say they are still investigating the illegal crop sites. Other sites were near Shady Grove, Tolu and Dycusburg.

Trooper Brent White says air patrols will continue through October.