Samarra, Iraq
LAST TUESDAY NIGHT, Charlie Company 2-505 (82nd Airborne Division) left “the wire” and departed Patrol Base Olson to perform a cordon-and-search operation in a neighborhood where a notorious al Qaeda terrorist used to live. “We think we killed him,” said Company commander Captain Buddy Ferris, “so we’re going to ask [the people here] if he’s dead.”
Charlie Co.’s Green (4th) Platoon left the base at 2230 and met the National Police just outside. The group slowly made its way to the targeted neighborhood. Upon reaching the first house, the soldiers quickly dismounted and the Humvees scattered to provide security. The soldiers knocked on doors, spoke with and photographed military-aged males, and searched houses and roofs. In the third house, we heard the loud, unmistakable crack! of bullets directly overhead. The National Police at Patrol Base Uvanni, in south-central Samarra, were firing at the Chem Lite glowstick the troops had placed on the house’s roof.
