Word: platoonic
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...Just kill people to the north," a sergeant bellows. "Light him up," cries another soldier as a gunman approaches. On Nov. 17, even as Representative John Murtha was stirring debate on Capitol Hill by calling for an immediate redeployment of U.S. troops, the young soldiers of Blue Platoon were amid a citywide battle that revealed just how hard it will be to pull U.S. troops out soon...
Throughout the day, members of Blue Platoon had been hunkered down in their battle-scarred observation post (dubbed "Hotel") in Ramadi, sniping at reconnaissance units. Then, four hours before Murtha spoke, al-Qaeda let loose an attack on all five American outposts in the city--an assault that a hardened Army sniper dubbed a mini--Tet offensive, referring to the coordinated military actions the Viet Cong launched across South Vietnam one fateful...
...Qaeda's top man in Iraq, Abu Mousab al-Zarqawi, popped up in Ramadi. The insurgents' ability to preserve and regenerate their forces is a hallmark of the war. The official American tally for the Nov. 17 battle in Ramadi: 33 insurgents killed, 1 Marine slightly wounded. But Blue Platoon knows it has not delivered a knockout punch...
Since July, 1 in 3 platoon members has been killed or hurt. "All of my squad leaders and section leaders have been wounded," says the platoon leader, 2nd Lieut. Joe Walker, a South Carolinian who volunteered to fight after 9/11. "For a while, our unit was fighting at less than 70%, and we're still below 60% on our vehicles--so many Bradleys have been blown...
...soldiers of Blue Platoon don't need to be told that. On Aug. 23, with four insurgent video cameras rolling, al-Zarqawi's group sent a truck bomb under cover of small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades straight into their observation post. The explosion knocked the entire platoon--more than 30 troops-- unconscious. They recovered and fought back, only to be hit by the mini-Tet three months later. Until the U.S. begins a withdrawal, it's up to soldiers like those of Blue Platoon to man the bunkers. "After the truck bombing," says Gronski, "every one of them...