"Baas Deployment Updates"

I recieved a brief update from my sister, Becca, today. It appears that her deployment to Iraq on the 15th has been cancelled. She may head out at a later date, but for the time-being, she'll remain stateside at her Air Force base in San Antonio, TX.

Officially, this now means there will be only one Baas serving over in Iraq -- Ben, with the Marines. And he's already on the front lines with the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment -- one of the busiest units to date in the Iraq War.

The battalion, known by its numeric designator "Three-Four," is among the first to go back for a fourth tour. During its first three tours, it lost 11 men.

Three-Four was with the 1st Marine Division when the United States launched the invasion of Iraq in March 2003. The unit saw a lot of action, first at Basra, then Diwaniya, Kut and later in Baghdad. The battalion led the fight for a key bridge over the Dyala Canal, a waterway along the southeast area of Baghdad, which was key to allowing the rest of the division to cross into the city. On the way, it lost four men -- one to an accident and three to hostile fire.

This was the Marine battalion that helped pull down the statue of Saddam Hussein, effectively marking the end of the fight for Baghdad.

After the fall of Baghdad, two more Marines from Three-Four lost their lives. One was killed by an Iraqi and another by a Marine sniper in a "friendly fire" accident.

The battalion left Iraq in June 2003 and returned again at the beginning of 2004. The Marines fought in Fallujah when that city erupted in violence in April 2004, following the horrific assassinations of four American security contractors. Three-Four lost four Marines there.

Three-Four returned again in 2005 with a different commanding officer. On that tour, the battalion provided security and stability operations in and around Fallujah, and helped with the Iraqi elections late that year. They lost one man.

You can read the full article about the unit's fourth deployment here.

-Jon
posted by Jon at 4:47 PM  I   I  0 comments