called Triple A Park, for antiaircraft artillery. The Iraqis had leveled some of the guns and shot them in direct-fire mode, aiming directly at the tanks and Bradleys. The Rogue crews could hear A-10 Thunderbolt II planes pounding away on the antiaircraft batteries, their 30mm Gatling guns emitting low groans that echoed across the landscape.
Highway 8 was taking Ball closer to the city center now, and the traffic patterns were becoming more complex and confusing. Ball studied the military map pinned to his hatch, checking the coordinates against his Pluggerâhis handheld global positioning satellite device. He saw highway signs warning of upcoming exits, but his map didnât show exit numbers or the names of major highways or neighborhoods. Even so, he was thankful that someone in the Baghdad roads department had thought to post huge blue highway signs that read, in Arabic and English: AIRPORT . His company commander, Captain Andy Hilmes, had told Ball to look for the signs.
Enemy fire was intensifying as they drew near the city center. Some of the fighters near the roadside bunkers and trenches were trying something new. They would lie next to the ditches, pretending to be dead. After the tanks had passed, they would leap up, aim an RPG tube, and fire grenades at the rear of the tanks. The soldier who had taken out Charlie One Two may have just gotten off a lucky shot, but he also may have known about the tanksâ vulnerable rear engine grills. And if he did, then some of these fighters probably did, too.
From the commanderâs hatch of his Bradley, Captain Larry Burris, the commander of a mechanized infantry company attached to Rogue, spotted two Iraqi fighters in the median. One was waving a white rag and the other had hoisted a white plastic chair over his head. They were making wild âdonât shootâ gestures. Burris let them go. But just after he passed them, the two men picked up weapons and opened fire on Burrisâs trail platoon. The platoon returned fire and killed them, but Burris realized he now had one more complication to deal with. One of his men already had taken a piece of shrapnel to the face from an exploding enemy truck, and Burrisâs crews were struggling to tell the difference between civilian cars and military vehicles. He thought his men were showing restraint, holding their fire and waving away errant civilians or firing warning shots. But now they had to deal with gunmen in civilian clothes pretending to surrender. Burris was determined to bring all 160 men in his company back home alive. He realized that the enemy tactics were putting both Iraqi civilians and American soldiers at risk, and that angered him.
Over the net, other commanders were complaining about the phony dead men rising up and firing weapons. They wanted permission to make sure people who appeared to be dead really were dead. Lieutenant Colonel Schwartz had heard enough. He got on the net and ordered his men to âdouble tap.â Anything you see, he instructed, donât assume itâs dead. Double tap it. Shoot it againâespecially anyone near a weapon. Schwartz wanted them to check their work. At the rear of the column, Lieutenant Shane Williams, who had put the kill shot into Charlie One Two, would do the final check, making sure no threats with weapons survived. He would execute the final double taps.
At one point, one of the tanks lit up a truck that was unloading dismounts. The soldiers were torn apart, and their remains lay in smoking heaps. In the middle of the mess sat a soldier, who at first appeared to be dead but was now moving. He was reaching for an RPG launcher. Captain Conroy spotted him, but the hydraulic system on his tank was still malfunctioning. His gunner couldnât traverse his main gun and coax.
Conroy got on the radio to the Bradley behind him and said, âThereâs a guy with an RPG,â and he indicated the spot. The Bradley opened up with coax
Highway 8 was taking Ball closer to the city center now, and the traffic patterns were becoming more complex and confusing. Ball studied the military map pinned to his hatch, checking the coordinates against his Pluggerâhis handheld global positioning satellite device. He saw highway signs warning of upcoming exits, but his map didnât show exit numbers or the names of major highways or neighborhoods. Even so, he was thankful that someone in the Baghdad roads department had thought to post huge blue highway signs that read, in Arabic and English: AIRPORT . His company commander, Captain Andy Hilmes, had told Ball to look for the signs.
Enemy fire was intensifying as they drew near the city center. Some of the fighters near the roadside bunkers and trenches were trying something new. They would lie next to the ditches, pretending to be dead. After the tanks had passed, they would leap up, aim an RPG tube, and fire grenades at the rear of the tanks. The soldier who had taken out Charlie One Two may have just gotten off a lucky shot, but he also may have known about the tanksâ vulnerable rear engine grills. And if he did, then some of these fighters probably did, too.
From the commanderâs hatch of his Bradley, Captain Larry Burris, the commander of a mechanized infantry company attached to Rogue, spotted two Iraqi fighters in the median. One was waving a white rag and the other had hoisted a white plastic chair over his head. They were making wild âdonât shootâ gestures. Burris let them go. But just after he passed them, the two men picked up weapons and opened fire on Burrisâs trail platoon. The platoon returned fire and killed them, but Burris realized he now had one more complication to deal with. One of his men already had taken a piece of shrapnel to the face from an exploding enemy truck, and Burrisâs crews were struggling to tell the difference between civilian cars and military vehicles. He thought his men were showing restraint, holding their fire and waving away errant civilians or firing warning shots. But now they had to deal with gunmen in civilian clothes pretending to surrender. Burris was determined to bring all 160 men in his company back home alive. He realized that the enemy tactics were putting both Iraqi civilians and American soldiers at risk, and that angered him.
Over the net, other commanders were complaining about the phony dead men rising up and firing weapons. They wanted permission to make sure people who appeared to be dead really were dead. Lieutenant Colonel Schwartz had heard enough. He got on the net and ordered his men to âdouble tap.â Anything you see, he instructed, donât assume itâs dead. Double tap it. Shoot it againâespecially anyone near a weapon. Schwartz wanted them to check their work. At the rear of the column, Lieutenant Shane Williams, who had put the kill shot into Charlie One Two, would do the final check, making sure no threats with weapons survived. He would execute the final double taps.
At one point, one of the tanks lit up a truck that was unloading dismounts. The soldiers were torn apart, and their remains lay in smoking heaps. In the middle of the mess sat a soldier, who at first appeared to be dead but was now moving. He was reaching for an RPG launcher. Captain Conroy spotted him, but the hydraulic system on his tank was still malfunctioning. His gunner couldnât traverse his main gun and coax.
Conroy got on the radio to the Bradley behind him and said, âThereâs a guy with an RPG,â and he indicated the spot. The Bradley opened up with coax
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