Battle of Nasiriyah

The Battle of Nasiriyah was fought between the US 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade and Iraqi forces from 23 March to 2 April 2003 during the US-led invasion of Iraq. Nasiriyah is a city which lies along the banks of the Euphrates River in Dhi Qar Province, about 225 mi (362 km) southeast of Baghdad. Its population is made up almost entirely of Shiite Muslims. On the night of 24–25 March, the bulk of the Marines of Regimental Combat Team 1 passed through the city over the bridges and attacked north towards Baghdad. However fighting continued in the city until 1 April when Iraqi resistance in the city was defeated.

The battle

Prelude

On the morning of 23 March, a US Army supply convoy from the 507th Maintenance Company had mistakenly veered off Highway 8 and then turned toward the city into enemy-held territory. The US vehicles ran into an ambush, drawing enemy fire from every direction. Eleven American soldiers were killed and several were taken prisoner. However, a few soldiers held off the enemy attack for almost an hour. At that time a company from the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade (Task Force Tarawa) under the command of Major William Peeples, rapidly came to assist the ambushed US Army soldiers.

The original plan was for Task Force Tarawa to take & hold the two bridges inside Nasiriyah, creating a corridor for the RCT1 and 6th Engineer Support Battalion from Battle Creek, MI to pass north through the city along Route 7.

Nasiriyah was the headquarters of the Iraqi Army's 3d Corps, composed of the 11th ID, 51st Mech ID, and 6th Armored Division – all at around 50 percent strength. The 51st operated south covering the oilfields, and the 6th was north near Al Amarah, which left three brigade-sized elements of the 11th ID to guard the An Nasiriyah area.

U.S. Army convoy ambushed

At around 0600 on the morning of 23 March, an 18-vehicle convoy of 31 soldiers of the United States Army's 507th Maintenance Company and two soldiers of the 3rd Forward Support Battalion of the 3rd Infantry Division missed a turn onto highway 8 and mistakenly continued along Highway 7 into the city. The convoy was led by Captain Troy King, a supply officer with no training as a combat officer. Iraqi technical vehicles began shadowing the convoy as it passed an Iraqi checkpoint near the Euphrates River. After passing the Al-Quds headquarters on the northern outskirts of the city, King realized that he was lost and the convoy began turning around to retrace its steps through the city.

At around 0700 the convoy began taking small arms, RPG, mortar fire, and fire from Iraqi tanks, and in the resulting ambush 11 soldiers were killed and a number of soldiers, including Specialist Shoshana Johnson and Private Jessica Lynch, became prisoners of war. At least 15 of the 18 American transport vehicles in the convoy, ranging from Humvees to Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Trucks (HEMTTs), were destroyed by small-arms fire, RPGs, mortar rounds, and tank gunfire. Some of them swerved out of the road or crashed while attempting to avoid incoming Iraqi fire. One truck was crushed by the traversing gun barrel of a Type 69-QM tank.

Iraqi Type 69QM tank destroyed near Nasiriyah hospital

With the help of two AH-1 Cobra attack helicopters, Peeples and his men rescued 10 soldiers of the 507th that were pinned down by heavy fire, including four who were wounded. However, 11 had already been killed. Others were captured, including Private First Class Jessica D. Lynch, Specialist Shoshana Johnson and Private First Class Lori Piestewa. Having rescued the soldiers, the Marines of 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines (part of 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade), attacked Nasiriyah from the south, using amphibious assault vehicles (AAV's) and Cobra gunships. During this action, the Marines captured two bridges spanning the Euphrates River that were defended by Fedayeen and Ba'ath Party guerrilla soldiers. The remaining able-bodied troops formed a screen around their wounded and fought off further Iraqi attacks. At 07:30, King's three surviving vehicles made contact with the tanks of Major Bill Peeples' Alpha Company, 8th Tank Battalion on Highway 7, about 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) south of Nasiriyah. One of Peeples' tankers noticed American vehicles in the road ahead. Peeples ordered his tanks forward to rescue as many soldiers as possible. They rolled up on ten beleaguered soldiers from the five disabled vehicles of the second element of the convoy (known in the official U.S. Army report as Group 2) which had also managed to escape the ambush and set up a defensive perimeter about 5 km (3.1 mi) south of the city. In heavy fighting, several Iraqi platoon-sized units, two ZSU-23-4 "Shilka" anti-aircraft weapons and several mortar and artillery positions were destroyed by a combined force of M1 Abrams tanks, Cobra helicopter gunships and the artillery of 1st Battalion, 10th Marines.

Ambush Alley

The bloodiest day of the operations for the Marines was also 23 March, when 18 men of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines, were killed and eight Amphibious Assault Vehicles disabled in heavy fighting with Iraqi forces around the Saddam Canal. The Marines were engaged by RPGs, mortar and artillery fire, as well as four Iraqi tanks hidden behind a building.

A friendly-fire incident occurred when two A-10s from the Pennsylvania Air National Guard strafed the Amphibious Assault Vehicles of Charlie Company by mistake, killing at least one Marine. An article in Salon magazine put the friendly-fire death toll at ten. The A-10 strike was cleared by the battalion's forward air controller, who was with Bravo Company, bogged down on the eastern outskirts of the city and did not have contact with Charlie Company and was unaware that Marines were so far north.

Two other Marines, from the 6th Engineer Support Battalion Corporal Evans James and Sgt. Bradley S. Korthaus drowned while trying to cross the Saddam Canal under fire the following day.

RCT-1 pushes through Ambush Alley

The advance of Regimental Combat Team 1 (RCT-1) through Nasiriyah was delayed by fighting there. On the evening of 24 March, LAVs of the 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion (2nd LAR, commanded by Lt. Col. Eddie Ray) pushed north of the Saddam Canal, leading RCT-1 through Ambush Alley. With Apache Company in the lead, 2nd LAR attacked north on Highway 7, coming under fire from a heavily defended compound north of the city. Two anti-aircraft guns protected the approach to the compound. After coming under fire from LAVs, M1A1 tanks, Cobra gunships and artillery, Iraqi resistance subsided.

That evening Marine 2nd LAR Bn 81 mm mortar crews took position and eliminated known sniper positions which previously had US Army elements pinned down throughout the city. At dusk, 2nd LAR established a perimeter 15 kilometers (9.3 mi) north of Nasiriyah. However, a huge sandstorm rolled in, cutting off communication with main elements to the south in Nasiriyah. As 2nd LAR set up a defensive perimeter for the evening, Iraqi reinforcements were mobilized and sent south to Nasiriyah from Kut, unaware of 2nd LARs defensive position. When the Iraqi force ran into 2nd LAR they surrounded them from every direction, taking positions among the surrounding hillside. Using a combination of overwhelming direct firepower by a platoon of M1A1 tanks, battalion LAV-25s, LAV ATs, and LAV AD vehicles, the battalion engaged the Iraqi forces. Simultaneously, 81 mm mortar crews eliminated Iraqi positions throughout the hillside by indirect fire as well as a strategic ammunition supply point (ASP) used by Iraqi forces during the first half of the attack.

The last Iraqi attack was beaten off just after dawn and a large number of Iraqi prisoners taken afterwards. The battalion estimated that around 300 Iraqi soldiers were killed along with an unknown number of civilians who were loaded by force onto buses while Iraqi troops occupied the rear sections in the hope of breaking the Marines defensive position. There were no U.S. casualties. The battle would later be called "The Battle of the Coil" and was, at that time, thought to be the longest sustained battle by US Marines since the Vietnam War.

Meanwhile, the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines (the "Thundering Third", commanded by Lt. Col. Craparotta) held open Ambush Alley as the rest of RCT-1 passed through Nasiriyah on the night of 24–25 March.

Partly as a result of RCT-1's delay, Colonel Joe Dowdy was later relieved of command of RCT-1.

Aftermath

By 27 March, most Iraqi resistance in the city had been subdued and the focus of the battle shifted from full combat to cordon-and-search operations. Small groups of Fedayeen Saddam militia were hiding throughout the city and launched attacks on Marine patrols with small arms and RPGs. These attacks were uncoordinated and the resulting firefights were lop-sided, with large numbers of militiamen killed.

During the morning of 27 March, two recon Marines found a sunken M1 tank at the bottom of the river. The tank had been missing since the night of 24–25 March. Navy Seabee divers from Underwater Construction Team TWO, part of Task Force MIKE spent two days retrieving the flooded tank and the four Marines from the 1st Tank Battalion who were found inside.

According to a captain in the Republican Guard, morale amongst Republican Guard units was bolstered by the resistance offered by the regular army's 45th brigade in the city.

Iraqi casualties were 359–431 dead. More than 300 were wounded and 1,000 captured. U.S. losses were 32 dead, 60 wounded, and 6 captured.

Private First Class Lynch

Initial reporting of the battle emphasized the supposed heroism of Private First Class Jessica Lynch. On 3 April, The Washington Post ran a front-page story which read: "Lynch, a 19-year-old supply clerk, continued firing at the Iraqis even after she sustained multiple gunshot wounds and watched several other soldiers in her unit die around her". The Post quoted an unnamed official who said "She was fighting to the death [...] She did not want to be taken alive."

This description soon came under question. On 4 April, the Associated Press ran a story which stated that Lynch's father had heard from the doctors attending her, who said that "she had not been shot or stabbed during her ordeal." 15 April, the Post ran a story questioning the accuracy of its own account from 3 April, saying "Lynch's story is far more complex and different than those initial reports [...] She was neither shot nor stabbed."

On 24 April, Private Lynch testified before Congress. She called the earlier reports a "lie", and said that she had in fact never fired her weapon, because she was knocked unconscious when her vehicle crashed.

Participating units

U.S. military & U.K. support

• Regimental Combat Team 2
  • 2nd Assault Amphibian Battalion, 2nd Marine Division (Alpha and Charlie Co.)
  • 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines
  • 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines
  • 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines
  • 1st Battalion, 10th Marines
  • Alpha Company, 2d Reconnaissance Battalion,
  • Alpha Company, 8th Communication Battalion,
  • 2nd Radio Battalion,
  • Combat Service Support Battalion 22 2nd FSSG
  • 8th Tank Battalion (Alpha Co.)
  • Charlie Company, 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion
• Regimental Combat Team 1

Alpha co 1st Tank Bn

• 1st Marine Division
  • 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Marine Division
  • 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines
  • 11th Marines,
  • 2nd Battalion 23rd Marines,
  • Charlie Company, 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion
• 2nd Force Reconnaissance Company, Fleet Marine Force Atlantic
  • Charlie Company, 4th Reconnaissance Battalion, Marine Forces Reserve
• Marine Aircraft Group 29
  • HMM-162
  • HMLA-269
• 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit
  • Battalion Landing Team 2/1
• 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit
  • Battalion Landing Team 2/2
• Elements of 507th Maintenance Company (US Army) (including two soldiers from 3rd Combat Support Battalion)
• Elements of 183rd Maintenance Company (US Army))
• G Parachute Battery (Mercer's Troop), 7th Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery

3rd Marine Aircraft Wing Marine Wing Support Squadron 371

3rd Low Altitude Air Defense Battalion

Ba'athist Iraqi forces

• Iraqi Army 11th Division
  • 23rd Brigade
  • 45th Brigade
  • 47th Brigade
  • 21st Tank Regiment (elements)
  • Unidentified Commando battalion
• Fedayeen Saddam paramilitary forces
• Al Quds Army

In popular culture

• The Battle of Nasiriyah is featured in the 2008 HBO miniseries Generation Kill, in episode 2, "The Cradle of Civilization".

• The ambush of the 507th Maintenance Company was re-created at the beginning of the 2003 NBC television film Saving Jessica Lynch. The ongoing Battle of Nasiriyah is the backdrop for the rest of the events of the film.

• Much of playwright and Iraq War veteran Sean Huze's play The Sandstorm draws on his experiences and those of his comrades during and immediately following their unit's (2nd LAR) involvement in the Battle of Nasiriyah.

See also

• Justin LeHew – One of the most highly decorated U.S. military personnel serving in the War on Terror. Recipient of the Navy Cross for his action during the Battle of Nasiriyah in 2003. Recipient of the Bronze Star Medal with Valor device for his actions during the Battle of Najaf in 2004.
• Luis Fonseca – A United States Navy Hospital Corpsman, who was awarded the Navy Cross for his actions during the battle.