Through the eyes of a marksman

Parts II and III of Brandon Rehorn's tour in Iraq were published this week.


Fighting the Enemy

In Part II we learn of Brandon's first combat experience, the things that linger after it and his desire to be on the right side of history in this fight. Also we watch as he deals with his misgivings about the mission:

--After the fight, Brandon was both frightened and exhilarated.

“At first I wasn’t scared when the shots were coming down. I didn’t realize until an hour afterward how scared I was. There were a lot of close calls.

“I was excited. We had just got to Iraq and we headed into battle. We weren’t waiting to do anything; we were helping. We got rid of a few people that night.”

--Brandon’s first command to pull the trigger — and his first confirmed kill — came just two weeks after his arrival.

A 43-year-old Iraqi man blew past a traffic control point on his motorcycle while Brandon was on patrol. He didn’t slow when Iraqi soldiers shot a warning; he didn’t heed Marines when they shouted “Stop!” in Arabic. The Marines shot their warning rounds at the driver, but he sped up. The Marines thought he could be carrying explosives.

Over the radio, then, came the command, “Rehorn, take a shot!”

Through the scope of his M-16, Brandon watched the first shot slam between the driver’s shoulder blades and exit through his throat. The driver stumbled off to the side, at which point Brandon thought he was running. The man turned around and Brandon was able to get a head-on shot, through the front of his neck.

The driver, it turned out, was neither a suicide bomber nor a smuggler.

“He didn’t have anything on him. It was really tough to deal with. It wasn’t the fact that I had killed him, but, at the time, I believed I had killed an innocent person. I knew I was the one who had pulled the trigger, and that weighed heavily."

The dead man was eventually brought into the compound, where Brandon saw him.

“It was tough for me to deal with thinking about his family.”

Later, Brandon learned the man had terrorist ties, and Brandon now believes he was running for a reason.

“I have an honest feeling that he was doing something bad. I wish it wasn’t me who killed him, but I would have done it again.”

-- “I don’t think it is possible to fix Ramadi. There is a little progress, but it’s not efficient and it’s not worth it.”Brandon believes the only way to counter the insurgency is to launch a major offensive, similar to the effort organized in Fallujah.

At the same time, he recognizes the presence of the U.S. military in Iraq fuels the insurgency.“

How would I feel if someone busted into my house at 3 a.m., separated me from my wife, threw my stuff around the house and shot holes in the wall? Hell, yeah, I’d shoot back.”

Not safe but safer

Part III focuses on Marine efforts to rid Ramadi of the insurgents who terrorized it. Their strategy: ...exhibiting kindness toward the Iraqi people.

“I wanted them to understand I didn’t want to change their way of life; I wanted to protect them, get the country stable and get out.”

Some Iraqis expressed gratitude toward the Marines; others retaliated against the Marines and those helping them.

Brandon goes on to describe the myriad numbers of small ways the Marines of 1-5 worked to keep locals safe and simultaneously improve their situation. The image brought to mind is that of a wall being built--one brick at a time:

--“We repaired a lot of roads so they wouldn’t put bombs in the potholes..."

--He added that new Dumpsters now hold trash that could otherwise hide IEDs.

Each a small thing when viewed separately, together they help change the landscape. But was it enough?

Brandon's thoughts on the subject reflect a certain confidence that, yes, over time such will make a difference:

If the insurgency was quashed in Ramadi, Brandon believes, stability would follow.

At the same time, he recognizes that people will continue to join the insurgents to protest an occupation by the United States out of reaction to a loved one’s death or destruction of their neighborhood.

“They don’t want us there. If someone gets killed that they know, they will join the insurgents. We are pushing them to the edge.”

Until U.S. troops are pulled out of Ramadi, though, Marines have marching orders to suppress the insurgency.

Brandon said one way Marines can build a case against the insurgents is by photographing their dead bodies.

In court, insurgents would argue the Marines had attacked them. But Marines’ footage of their dead comrades showed how armed insurgents were; that they were not innocent victims, Brandon said.

Likewise however, they reflect the dilemma that faces the entirety of the US contingent in Iraq; where is the line between affecting positive change and feeding an anti-American mistrust and disdain that takes the form of insurgent activity? Brandon doesn't have the whole answer to the question.

What he can say, with some certainty is that he and his unit made a difference:

While Brandon said Ramadi remains a dangerous place, he believes his battalion made a small difference while stationed there.

Prior to his battalion’s arrival, four governors had been killed; Brandon’s battalion kept the governor alive the entire seven months they inhabited the city.

“It’s not safe. But it’s a lot safer.”