Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
San Diego Union-Tribune
May 5, 2007
Reunion revives Marines' memories of Fallujah fight
By J. Harry Jones, Staff Writer
CAMP PENDLETON – It was the first time the four had all been together again since that day in Fallujah, Iraq, nearly 2½ years ago – the day they stepped into a “meat grinder” now known in Marine Corps lore as the “House of Hell.”
For their actions and courage that day, Nov. 13, 2004, Sgt. Maj. Brad Kasal and former Sgt. Robert “R.J.” Mitchell would later receive the Navy Cross, the military's second-highest medal of valor.
“My part was I went in the house, got shot first, came out of the house, told Kasal and everybody else what went down in the house,” said Staff Sgt. Chris Pruitt, shot in the wrist and leg.
“I ran in there and I got behind the first sergeant and he shot somebody and said, 'That was a close one, Nicoll,'” said then-Pfc. Alexander Nicoll, who was rescued by Kasal and Mitchell. “That's when we all got shot. I got shot six times in the leg and once in the chest.”
All three were eventually evacuated from the house. A photograph of a bloody Kasal being helped from the house by two Marines is one of the more lasting images of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Yesterday afternoon, Kasal spoke to hundreds of Marines and later signed copies of his new book, “My Men Are My Heroes – The Brad Kasal Story,” which was released earlier this week.
The battle for Fallujah had been raging for days when the Marines entered a squat, concrete house to rescue some fallen comrades.
Kasal, the senior enlisted Marine from another company, joined Mitchell's squad, and together they charged the building and took up firing positions.
“Without Kasal, it would have been a lot different outcome,” Mitchell said yesterday. “I wouldn't have been as motivated to do the kind of job I had to do if it hadn't been for him.
“Even though he was shot up and wounded, in a way he was still kicking me ... to do what I had to do to make things better.”
Within moments of the Marines' entering the house, an insurgent with an AK-47 opened fire from a second-floor staircase, ripping into Nicoll's lower leg.
Bullets and grenades flew everywhere.
Although wounded by seven rounds and hit by more than 40 pieces of shrapnel from a grenade while using his body to shield Nicoll, Kasal refused to quit fighting.
Mitchell was hit by shrapnel and bleeding profusely when he began treating the others, applying bandages and direct pressure. In the midst of his lifesaving efforts, Mitchell saw a wounded insurgent, shot earlier by Kasal, make a move for a weapon lying nearby.
Mitchell drew his combat knife and lunged forward, driving the blade into the insurgent's neck and eliminating the threat.
Kasal said yesterday that his book's main message is “to lead by example and to recognize the service that all Marines and all the service members are doing.
“And to talk about the injuries,” Kasal said. “I really want to get commanders and people aware of what an injured Marine goes through. I want to make sure the senior leadership understands these young, injured Marines.
“The only way to lead is to understand.”
May 5, 2007
Reunion revives Marines' memories of Fallujah fight
By J. Harry Jones, Staff Writer
CAMP PENDLETON – It was the first time the four had all been together again since that day in Fallujah, Iraq, nearly 2½ years ago – the day they stepped into a “meat grinder” now known in Marine Corps lore as the “House of Hell.”
For their actions and courage that day, Nov. 13, 2004, Sgt. Maj. Brad Kasal and former Sgt. Robert “R.J.” Mitchell would later receive the Navy Cross, the military's second-highest medal of valor.
“My part was I went in the house, got shot first, came out of the house, told Kasal and everybody else what went down in the house,” said Staff Sgt. Chris Pruitt, shot in the wrist and leg.
“I ran in there and I got behind the first sergeant and he shot somebody and said, 'That was a close one, Nicoll,'” said then-Pfc. Alexander Nicoll, who was rescued by Kasal and Mitchell. “That's when we all got shot. I got shot six times in the leg and once in the chest.”
All three were eventually evacuated from the house. A photograph of a bloody Kasal being helped from the house by two Marines is one of the more lasting images of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Yesterday afternoon, Kasal spoke to hundreds of Marines and later signed copies of his new book, “My Men Are My Heroes – The Brad Kasal Story,” which was released earlier this week.
The battle for Fallujah had been raging for days when the Marines entered a squat, concrete house to rescue some fallen comrades.
Kasal, the senior enlisted Marine from another company, joined Mitchell's squad, and together they charged the building and took up firing positions.
“Without Kasal, it would have been a lot different outcome,” Mitchell said yesterday. “I wouldn't have been as motivated to do the kind of job I had to do if it hadn't been for him.
“Even though he was shot up and wounded, in a way he was still kicking me ... to do what I had to do to make things better.”
Within moments of the Marines' entering the house, an insurgent with an AK-47 opened fire from a second-floor staircase, ripping into Nicoll's lower leg.
Bullets and grenades flew everywhere.
Although wounded by seven rounds and hit by more than 40 pieces of shrapnel from a grenade while using his body to shield Nicoll, Kasal refused to quit fighting.
Mitchell was hit by shrapnel and bleeding profusely when he began treating the others, applying bandages and direct pressure. In the midst of his lifesaving efforts, Mitchell saw a wounded insurgent, shot earlier by Kasal, make a move for a weapon lying nearby.
Mitchell drew his combat knife and lunged forward, driving the blade into the insurgent's neck and eliminating the threat.
Kasal said yesterday that his book's main message is “to lead by example and to recognize the service that all Marines and all the service members are doing.
“And to talk about the injuries,” Kasal said. “I really want to get commanders and people aware of what an injured Marine goes through. I want to make sure the senior leadership understands these young, injured Marines.
“The only way to lead is to understand.”