THE LONGEST MORNING
EMANUEL, JEFF
2 6 T H E A M E R I C A N S P E C T A T O R N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 7 THE LONGEST MORNING Heroism,valor,andsacrifice atoparoofinSamarra.THE LONGEST...
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...There was work still to be done at the site, from checking the roof for sensitive itemstopursuingthoseinvolvedintheassault,andBlue andWhitePlatoonswouldspendthenextseveralhours doingjustthosethings.Intheensuinggunbattles,several al Qaeda--both Iraqi and foreign--would be killed or captured, among them the informant who had initially alerted the foreign fighters to Reaper's presence on the roofofhisapartmentbuilding.Followingalargenumber ofthefightersfromtheapartmentbuildingandthesurrounding machine gun positions using surveillance aircraft, Captain Ferris was able to identify the house to whichover20ofthesurvivingterroristswentafterleavingthebuilding.Minuteslater,aGPS-guidedbombwas droppedonthehouse...
...AK-47 and PKC fire, as well, now, as 9-millimeter pistol fire, was beingsteadily spewed from the doorway, and grenades were still bouncing out onto the roof and exploding around Moseratanalarmingrate.Pivotingaroundthecornerto fireanotherburstwithhisM4,hewasabletoseeatleast eightpeopleinthestairwell,allattemptingtomakeitup totheroof.Hedidhisbesttosuppressthecharge...
...Through a hail of bullets from the surrounding buildings,Corriveauboundedoverthedividingwalland came sprinting across the north side of the roof and aroundthestairwell,almostknockingMoseroverashe flewaroundthecorner.Uponseeingeachotheralive,an unspeakable joy flooded the manic Corriveau, and an equalamountofreliefflowedthroughMoseratthesuddenlygainedknowledgethateachwasnottheonlyman leftaliveonthisgodforsakenrooftopinSamarra...
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...N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 7 T H E A M E R I C A N S P E C T A T O R 3 7MORLEY AND WILLIS'S FELLOW PARATROOPERS WANTED THEIR FRIENDS TO BE COMFORTABLE ON THEIR LAST RIDE BACK TO PATROL BASE OLSON.J E F F E M A N U E L...
...Just then, the enemy support-by-fire positions surrounding the building opened fire on the rooftop, sending Moser scrambling for cover again...
...ThesouthernOP,ledbyStaffSergeantJasonWheeler, was manned with paratroopers from Charlie Company's 1st ("Red") Platoon...
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...Seeing that Willis,whowasnexttotheteam'sradio,wasbusyfiring into the stairwell through a window on the enclave'snorth side, and not knowing that one of the first hand grenades tossed onto the roof had disabled it, Morley madeadashacrosstherooftocallfortheQRF...
...Reaper Two," one of the sniper teams from 2nd Battalion's scout platoon, would man the second OP, almost a kilometer to the north.Reaperwouldbeoverwatchingtheareafromthe roof of a large four-story apartment building, which was laid out with the long axis facing north-south, and which was bordered--across the surrounding streets andalleys--byseveralotherbuildings...
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...He absolutely knew this to be the case because, as he sprinted back to the southern stairwell to prevent any more enemy fighters from making it to the rooftop, he was beside himself with emotions the likesofwhichhehadneverfeltbefore.Ifheweredead, there was no way that he would feel the hurt, the loss, thesheerragethatwasbottledupwithinhimnow,that drove him as he fired his PKC over and over into the stairwell, cutting down armed insurgent after armed insurgentastheyranupthestairstowardhim.Hehad seen Willis go down from the gunfire, had heard the explosion of his friend's own grenade, and knew there was no way that he could have survived such a blast...
...Please God, help me," he pled time and again, as he alternated firing into the stairwell, ducking for cover from the returning fire, and searching frantically for some way out of what appeared to be a certain-death situation...
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...A scream from below let him know that at least one of his rounds had hit home...
...As Moser suppressed the enemy activity in the stairwell, Corriveau reached down and picked up the team's radiotocallfortheQRF.ButlikeMoserbeforehim,he found that it had been destroyed by one of the first grenadesthrownontotherooftop.Flingingtheuseless objectacrosstheroofoutoffrustration,Corriveaunext set his sights on the survivors' last hope of a means to callforhelp:theICOMonMorley'svest...
...Willis was well known within Charlie Company as a friendly, laid back, permanently smiling young man whowasalwaysgoodforalaughandforconversation, regardless of the person and the situation...
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...The first call went to the southern observation point, where SSG Wheeler's team was positioned...
...Astheyhelddowntheirquadrantoftheapartment building'srooftop,onefinalgrenadecamerollingoutof the stairwell, exploding harmlessly several feet away fromthem.Then,thefirefromthedoorwaybegantodie down...
...Duckingbehindcoverwhenitappeared,thenswinging his weapon around the wall and firing a burst when it went back inside, Moser could see no progress being madeinhisbattletokeephisassailantsfromtakingthe rooftop--andnoescapeintheeventthattheyfinallydid...
...As the minutes crept by like hours, a renewed sense of hopelessness began to take hold...
...AsMoserfiredintothedoorfromhiscorner in an attempt to suppress the enemy assault, he saw Morley appear to stumble and go down, his weapon skidding across the rooftop towardthestairwelldoor.Hisfirstthoughtwasthatthe teamleaderhadtrippedandfallen;amomentlater,his brain registered the truth: Morley had been shot...
...He was still in shock at Morley's sudden death, and there was no way thathewasgoingtoallowtheseanimalstotakehisteam leader's--and friend's--body...
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...He was dead beforehittingtheground...
...The situation was desperate, and Moser needed a miracle...
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...The four Humvees pulled up to the east, north, west, and southwest sides of the building to establish a security cordon...
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...Due to the insurgents' penchant for placing IEDs alongtheroutesusedbyCharlieCompany'svehiclesin ordertoambushthemontheirwayback,twoseparate rooftopobservationpoints(OPs)wouldbeestablished, one to the north and one to the south of the shop, to watchforenemyactivityontheroadsthatwereserving as Blue Platoon's infiltration and exfiltration routes...
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...Four men holding AK-47 assault rifles (at least two of whom had long beards--a distinctly non-Iraqi trait) emerged from the vehicle and sprinted toward the building's entrance...
...Morley instructed Moser and Corriveau to remain behind to close the gate and remove other signs of the team's presence, while he and Willis made their way into the building and up the stairs...
...Finally, running low on ammunition and facing only sporadic harassing fire from the southern stairwell, Corriveau decided it was time to make a break for it...
...Due to the dividing wall and the fact that, entirely by chance, he and Corriveau were both suppressing the same stairwell, from opposite sides of the roof, in an exactly alternating pattern, Moser never saw that he was not alone, that there was another member of his teamaliveontherooftop(andneither,ontheotherside, did Corriveau...
...Grenades were still being tossedupthestairsontotheroof,andeveryfewseconds a black hand would reach around the wall of the structure and squeeze off a few rounds in his direction...
...at the top of their lungs, the sound of gunfire from below cameechoingupthestairs.OneofRedPlatoon'sturret gunners had positively identified a gunman in analley to the southeast, and was engaging him...
...CORRIVEAU YELLED INTO THE RADIO...
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...The streets were completely deserted as the QRF pulled up to the apartment complex, passing on the southwest corner the body of a black fighter holding an AK-47...
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...Looking around as he climbed toward the roof, Cisneros saw marks in the slick coating that indicated thatseveralbodieshadbeendraggeddownfromabove...
...The rest of Morley's team was made up of Specialist Tracy Willis, a 21-year-old from Texas, and SpecialistChrisCorriveau,a23-year-oldfromMaine...
...2 6 T H E A M E R I C A N S P E C T A T O R N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 7 THE LONGEST MORNING Heroism,valor,andsacrifice atoparoofinSamarra.THE LONGEST MORNING Heroism,valor,andsacrif atoparoofinSamarra...
...Continuing to advance on the man at the top ofthestairs,whowasfiringacrosstheroof,Corriveau quickly loaded a five-round magazine into his rifle and fired a perfectly aimed shot into the assailant's head...
...Lieutenant Smith, who had followed Cisneros out the door and onto the rooftop, moved to Morley's body to check for a pulse, though knowing it was a futile exercise...
...The team took turns keeping watch and sleeping...
...JUST BEFORE 11 A.M., REAPER RECEIVED WORD thatBlue Platoonhadfinisheditssearchoftheshop(which hadyieldednoevidenceofillegalactivity)andwas heading back to Patrol Base Olson, three kilometers to the west...
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...Punch-drunk and mentally exhausted, Corriveau went limp for the briefest of moments in Cisneros's arms...
...As the last man standing, there was nobody else to turn to for help--either he would fight, or he would die, withthetwonotbeingmutuallyexclusive...
...Over a year into its deployment to Samarra, Iraq, and now working on the three-month extension announced by Secretary of Defense Gatesinthespring,thecompanyknewthecity like the back of its collective hands and had its operational routine down to a science, whatever the mission it might be tasked with...
...hewasasked.Hereplied,"Itsounds like the gunfire is coming from north of me...
...Almost in slow motion, Moser saw Willis's body contort, saw him collapse onto the roof, and saw him land on his own grenade, which he had prepped for 3 2 T H E A M E R I C A N S P E C T A T O R N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 7 HE WAS STILL IN SHOCK AT MORLEY'S SUDDEN DEATH, AND THERE WAS NO WAY THAT HE WAS GOING TO ALLOW THESE ANIMALS TO TAKE HIS TEAM LEADER'S--AND FRIEND'S--BODY...
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...Finally reaching daylight at the top of the staircase, Cisneros made an immediate turn to the right, around the northern wall, and almost ran into Corriveau...
...However, despite his creeping sense of hopelessness, Moser continued to do all that he was able--which,atthispoint,wastoprotectMorley'sbody the best that he could, and to keep exchanging rounds withtheinsurgentsbehindthedoor...
...As he popped out to fire again and again, he saw one insurgent after another in the northern stairwell, trying to make it out onto the roof, many of whom, it appeared from their long beards and the coloroftheirskin,hadcomeallthiswayfromsome foreign land just to kill him, and to kill his friends...
...Samarra, Iraq HEDAYOFAugust26,2007,beganlikeanyother for the soldiers of Charlie Company, 2-505 Parachute Infantry Regiment (from the 82nd AirborneDivision)--withamissioninthecity...
...Assignedtothesoutheastcorner,Corriveaupickedupan M4 rifle to complement his sniper weapon and vaulted the dividing wall, moving onto the southern half of the buildingandtakinguphisposition,watchingthebaseof thebuildingsacrosstheroadbutcarefultoremainbelow theroof'sperimeterwallandoutofsightfromthestreet below.Takingaquickpeekoverthewall,hesawawhite sedan nearing his corner of the building but due to the obstructed view that came along with his rooftop concealment,Corriveauneverhadachancetoseethesituationdevelopingonthestreetdirectlybelow.On the northwest corner of the apartment complex,Moserwaswatchingtheroadinfrontofthebuildingthroughacutintheroofwall.Ashelookeddown,he saw a white car speed up to the corner of the building...
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...The radio call received no answer--enough reason for CisnerostocallfortheQRFtomoveimmediately,asthe unit's standard procedure regarding overwatch operations was that, in the event of a lack of communication withanOP,theQRFshouldassumeithadbeencompromisedandmovetoitslocationimmediately...
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...Thanks to the strength, courage, discipline, and unwillingnesstogiveupinthefaceofseeminglyimpossible odds of Chris Corriveau and Eric Moser, the ISI had spoken too soon...
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...As he retreated behind the northern wall of the stairwell (crouched down to avoid the withering fire coming from the north, east, and west), he looked out toward WillisjustintimetoseeaPKCburstfromthenorthern stairwellcatchhimintheback...
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...Further, as he couldn't see or hear a thing from the south side of the buildingtop,duetothe dividingwallandthewithering gunfire coming from all sides, he had no choice but to assumethatCorriveauwasgoneaswell...
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...as his vehicle reached the front, LieutenantSmithjumpedoutofhisHumveeandsprintedinto the building alone, leaving his remaining dismounted soldiersracingtocatchup.Allheknewwasthattheyoung menhehaddroppedoffhereonlyhoursagowereindanger,andhadalreadytakencasualties.SFCCisneros,who leapedfromhistruckthemomenthesawSmithtakeoff, caught up to his Platoon Leader at the base of the stairwell,pullinghimbacksothathecouldassumetheriskof mountingthestaircaseintotheunknownfirst...
...But, if he was going to die, he was going to go down fighting--and he was going to take as many of these animals with him as he could...
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...As if more adversity were needed in a situation that was already an against-all-odds struggle to protect the body of a fallen comrade while also trying to stay alive, against the combined opposition of an assault from foreign fighters in the stairwell and a constant stream of grenades being tossed onto the roof near him--which prevented his crossing the 3 4 T H E A M E R I C A N S P E C T A T O R N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 7 ALMOST IN SLOW MOTION, MOSER SAW WILLIS'S BODY CONTORT, SAW HIM COLLAPSE ONTO THE ROOF, AND SAW HIM LAND ON HIS OWN GRENADE.T H E L O N G E S T M O R N I N G merefeetseparatinghimfromMorley'sloadcarrying vest, which was in the northwestern corner and held a walkie-talkie ("ICOM"), the last undamaged piece ofcommunicationsequipmentontheroof--aswellas nonstopmachinegunfirefromthebuildingsonevery side, now Moser's M4 was threatening to fail him.Inthistimeofgreatestneed,Moser'straining and experience kicked in...
...And then his weapon jammed...
...AT PATROL BASE UVANNI,akilometerandahalfaway, thefourarmoredHumveesthatmadeupCharlie Company'sinternalQuickReactionForce(QRF) weresittingjustinsidethegate,itssoldiersintheirvehicles and ready to move at a moment's notice, when the sound of gunfire echoed through the city streets...
...According to the available evidence, nearly 40 al Qaeda were directly involved in the assault on Reaper's position (they believed the team on the roof comprisednearlyadozenAmericansoldiers).During thefirefight,whichlastedlessthantentotalminutes, Corriveau and Moser had killed at least ten enemy fighters--possibly as many as fifteen--and had notonly kept themselves alive, but, against all odds, had preventedalQaedafromsucceedingintheirrealgoal: to kidnap the soldiers on the rooftop, and to make a public spectacle of their imprisonment and murder, justtwoweeksbeforeGeneralPetraeus'sinternationally viewed testimony on Iraq before the U.S...
...With this, the men dispersed across the top of thebuilding,withtwo--MoserandCorriveau--watching the road from corners of the roof, and the other two-MorleyandWillis--takingupapositionbythenorthern stairwell, where the team's radio had been deposited...
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...Thebattlehadonlybeenragingforfiveminutes,butit alreadyseemedlikealifetimetoMoser--andithadcost thelivesofatleasttwoofhisfellowparatroopers.With the machine gun fire pouring in from three sides, the concertedeffortsonthepartofthefightersinthestairwell to reach the rooftop and Morley's body (and do who knew what from there), and the grenades explodingaroundhim,Mosercoulddonothingbutholdwhat little ground he had, and keep trying to suppress the fightersinthestairwell.Fromhispositionbythestairs, the situation seemed utterly hopeless...
...they had done hundreds of these before,and,whilethingscouldgethairyattimes,their job involved far more boredom than excitement-especiallyiftheywerecareful,astheyalwayswere,to keep their heads down and not let anybody below know that they were there...
...ON THE SOUTHERN HALF of the rooftop, across the dividing wall, Corriveau was still very much alive...
...Knowing that what had just become a threeman team could not long withstand the concerted effortbywhatwasclearlyalargeenemyforcetomove up the stairs to his location, he took the same chance that Morley had, and crossed the roof to the radio while Willis continued to fire his .240 machine gun into the stairwell, killing at least two enemy fighters with well-placed bursts as grenades continued to be tossed up the stairs and out onto the roof...
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...Sporadic harassing fire was N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 7 T H E A M E R I C A N S P E C T A T O R 3 5 FOR NEARLY FIVE MINUTES, HE TRADED SHOTS WITH THE FACELESS PISTOLIER ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE STAIRWELL DOOR, ALL THE WHILE KNOWING THAT, IN THE END, HE WOULD NOT HAVE ENOUGH TIME OR AMMUNITION TO HOLD THE ROOFTOP HIMSELF.J E F F E M A N U E L stillcomingfromthesoutherndoorway,butitwasnot enough to be a concern...
...Seeing at least one more armed man charging up from the landing below, Corriveau held the PKC over the ledge and, firing blind, let go with a burst...
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...Shortly after the weaponhadbeentaken,thepersonatthetopofthestaircase made a lunge for another prize on the roof-Morley'sbody...
...He called down to the medic, SPC Thayer,totakehistimecomingup,asthetwocasualties were clearly dead...
...He fired a final suppressive burst into his own doorway, as well as into the one to the north, and made a run for it, dashing across the open rooftop, vaulting the dividing wall, and racing for the semiprotected far side of the northern stairwell.ON THE NORTH SIDE OF THE ROOF, Moser's situation waslookingbleakerbythesecond.Hehadgone through five 30-round magazines with his M4 and was still defending the roof from an attempted assault up his own stairwell, while frantically searching--and hoping--for a miraculous escape from his presentsituation...
...RACING NORTH UP the street toward the apartment building, Red Platoon's four Humvees were heading into the unknown, but were preparing for the worst-case scenario...
...To N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 7 T H E A M E R I C A N S P E C T A T O R 2 9 J E F F E M A N U E L FROM HIS POSITION BY THE STAIRS, THE SITUATION SEEMED UTTERLY HOPELESS...
...Thethree-manReaperteam,knownasthebestin theunit,wasledbySergeantJoshMorley,a22-year-old N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 7 T H E A M E R I C A N S P E C T A T O R 2 7 BY JEFF EMANUEL T SPECIALIST ERIC MOSER, THE COMPANY ARMORER, WAS A COMPETITION-CALIBER SHOOTER, AND HAD GONE ALONG ON SEVERAL OPS WITH REAPER IN THE PAST, SERVING AS A "DESIGNATED MARKSMAN...
...Smith, Thayer, and Durfee carried Willis down the stairstothewaitingHumvees,wheretheygentlyplaced him in a body bag and sat him in the back seat of one of thetrucks.Asecondbagwascarriedbackuptotheroof, 3 6 T H E A M E R I C A N S P E C T A T O R N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 7 "REAPER TWO IS IN CONTACT...
...He remained calm, cleared his weapon, and, undeterred by the fact that now, due to a malfunction in his most precious piece of equipment, he had to chargetherifle'sfiringhandleaftereverysingle shot, resumed the battle...
...T H E L O N G E S T M O R N I N G where Morley was gently wrapped, his head cushioned byCisneros,andwasbroughtbackdowntothevehicles, where Moser and Corriveau, alive and physically unharmed but mentally exhausted and emotionally drained,climbedinandsatdown.Therewasnoroomin the cabs of Red's trucks, so Morley was laid out in the trunk of the rear Humvee, with a gear bag arranged so that it propped up his head like a pillow...
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...As he moved to the radio (which he found to have been disabledbyagrenade),Moserwasabletogetalookdown into the northern stairwell...
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...For this mission, the three-man Reaper Two sniper team was rounded out by a fourth man (and a second Texan), 23-year-old Specialist Eric Moser...
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...As Moser locked down the stairwell with his M4, Corriveau crossed the open rooftop to the northwest corner, where Morley's vest lay, and retrieved the small hand-held radio...
...BY THIS TIME, Charlie Company's 2nd ("White") and 3rd Platoons had arrived from Patrol Base Olson,withCaptainBuddyFerris,theCompany Commander, riding along...
...Seeing this, Moser immediately yelled to the others that enemy fighters were below...
...Morleywasaffectedevenmorethanmostofhisfellow soldiers by the additional three months that had been added on to his unit's combat tour, for he was a new father and was counting the days until the end of the deployment,whenhewouldfinallygettoseehisinfant daughter for the first time--something he had already beenwaitingmonthstodo...
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...The suspicion that kidnapping was the fighters'intentwasconfirmedbyafinalpieceofintelligence that Charlie Company received just after the incident: an announcement, crafted by the Islamic State of Iraq (al Qaeda's Iraqi front), stating that nine U.S.soldiershadbeenkidnappedinSamarra,andhad been beheaded and had their bodies thrown into Thar-Thar lake (to the southwest of the city...
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...Picking it up, he made calls on channel after channel, desperate to get hold of anybody that he could...
...Once the area had been secured and the OP established,therewaslittletodobutwatchthestreet around the building...
...For some unknown reason, the terrorists inside thebuilding,whohadbeenpushingsodeterminedlyup the stairs during the ten-minute gun battle, had abandoned their pursuit, and were quickly evacuating their deadastheyleftthebuilding.Therooftopbattlezonehad becomemuchcalmer...
...The buildingwassetupwithtwostaircases,oneonthenorthside andoneonthesouthside,bothofwhichopeneduponto the top of the building facing west...
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...he could also see Morley, lying face down near the stairwelldoorthathehadjustchargedoutof...
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...THOUGHHEWASinasimilarlydesperatesituation onthesouthsideoftheroof,theideaofleaping off a four-story building never occurred to Corriveau...
...As he glanced away, I placed a similarly colored lab-created yellow DiamondAura ring next to the natural mined diamond...
...His insides contorted with emotion, Corriveau did the only thing that he could do in that situation: keep moving,keeptakingcover,andkeepfightingoffhisassailants aslongashehadthestrengthandtheammunitiontodo so...
...Wheeler had relayed Corriveau's ICOM message to them, stating thattherewerefriendlycasualtiesandthattheOPwas in contact...
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...As Moser was exchanging fire with the topmost fighters in the northern stairwell, and attempting to remain behind sufficient cover to avoid the repeated grenadedetonationsontheroof,heheardfromacross the building top Willis's call to Corriveau to prepare their grenades...
...behindhim,Mosersimplystared,wide-eyed...
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...Morley was regarded within Charlie Company as a consummate professional,andthemenintheunitknew,beyondashadow ofadoubt,thattheycouldalwayscountonhimandhis team to come through whenever they were needed...
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...Corriveau was quieter, but had earned the immense respect of hispeersatPatrolBaseOlsonnotonlyforhistalentas a sniper but also for his abilities as a natural leader.The team had been together in Iraq for well over a year, and the three young men were as close as soldiers could be...
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...Within the next hours and days, more informationwouldcometolight,boththroughtheinterrogation of captured insurgents and through the developmentofmorehumanintelligenceonthesituation...
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...T H E L O N G E S T M O R N I N G 2 8 T H E A M E R I C A N S P E C T A T O R N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 7 THE THREE-MAN REAPER TEAM, KNOWN AS THE BEST IN THE UNIT, WAS LED BY SERGEANT JOSH MORLEY, A 22-YEAR-OLD PARATROOPER FROM NORTH CAROLINA...
...Spinningaroundattheedgeoftheroof,hesawaman withaPKCmachinegunemergingfromthesouthern stairwell, and immediately moved toward him, raising his M24 sniper rifle, only to find that it wasn't loaded...
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...Risking his own life to remainwithinreachofthestairwell--andthustobeable to impose himself and his M4 as a barrier between the attackers and Morley's body--Moser fired again and again into the doorway, hitting insurgents inside while miraculously avoiding injury himself...
...A burstofgunfirefromthesouthernstairwellacrossthe dividing wall had scored a direct hit, with one round striking Morley directly in the forehead...
...AT THE NORTHERN STAIRWELL, Moser was holding thehighground,doinghisbesttolockdownthe access route to his half of the rooftop--and to stay alive--by alternately firing his M4 rifle around the northwest corner of the stairwell and taking cover behind the structure's northern wall...
...Machinegunfirepickedupagainfromthebuilding totheeast,butthistimeMoserandCorriveauwerenot aloneinfacingit.SFCCisnerosandSgt.Curryjoinedin returning fire, and the .50 caliber turret guns on the Humveesbelowengagedtheshooters,aswell...
...Corriveauretrievedagrenadeofhisown, pulledthefiringpin,andletitfly,hittingthelastmanin thegrouprunningtowardthebuilding.Secondsbehind himWillispulledthepinfromhisowngrenade,andpreparedtothrowitdownintothestreetaswell...
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...Thefour-manteamemergedontothenorthernhalf of the roof and surveyed their surroundings...
...Further, they had worked together so closely, andforsolong,thattheycouldreadeachother'sbody language and tone of voice, and were able to function as an extraordinarily effective unit...
...AsplitsecondlaterWillis'sbodywasrockedbythe explosion,andMoserknewinstantlythathewasdead...
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...As the column neared the building, Lieutenant Smith could see thick, black smoke rising from the rooftop, while SFC Cisneros saw fire being directedattheOPfromseveralbuildingsaroundthem...
...Moser didn't have time to dwell on Morley's death...
...Wanting to avoid being shot by the shellshockedparatrooper,CisnerosgrabbedCorriveaubythe upper arms and yelled to him, "Hey...
...He repeated this action three or four more times until he was unable to see any more movement in the stairwell...
...Having neutralized the threat at his back (at least temporarily), Corriveau took his newly acquired PKC andsprintedbacktothewesternedgeoftherooftocheck theroadagain.Ashepeeredovertheedge,hesawseveralmenrunningtowardtheentrancetothebuildingfrom thesouth.JusttoCorriveau'sright,overthedividingwall, Willis,whohadleftthenorthernstairwelltoMoser,was lookingatthesamescene.LookingtohisleftandcatchingCorriveau'seye,Willis,whohadsteppedupandtaken chargeafterMorleyhadgonedown,pointedatthemen, pulled a grenade from his vest, and yelled, "We're going tofragthem...
...Dividing the north and south halves of the roof was a four-foot high, eastwestrunningwall.Theentireperimeterofthebuilding's topwaslinedwithawallofthesameheight...
...Moser pulled security while Corriveau quietly closed the gate and replaced the lock, and then the two followed the others inside, clearing the stairwell as they ascended, but not going into the hallways of the apartment building, as they didn't want to alert the inhabitants of their presence...
...There would be no trophy, no publicrelationsvictorytothrustinthefaceofthosein Americaandaroundtheworldwhoseattentionwould inthenextfewweeksbefocusedagainonIraq.Instead, there would only be death or capture, as the ISI members responsible were hunted down, one by one, by CaptainFerrisandhiscompanyofverymotivated,and exceptionally lethal, paratroopers who, as Corriveau and Moser had demonstrated during the fight of their lives on the rooftop that fateful morning, would never, evergiveup,whatevertheodds...
...The company armorer, Moser was not a member of the Battalion Scout Platoon like Morley, Willis, and Corriveau, but was a competition-caliber shooter, andhadgonealongonseveralOPswithReaperinthe past, serving as a "designated marksman...
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...The four-man sniper team hustled to the northern gate of the apartment building, cut the lock, and quietly moved into the courtyard...
...Fighting like a man who had nothing to lose, Corriveaumovedtothesouthernendoftheroof,staying low to avoid the continuous fire from the surroundingbuildings,and,keepinganeyeonhisownstairwell,began tofireburstsfromhisPKCacrossthedividingwallinto the northern doorway as he bounded back and forth across the end of the roof, ducking for cover between bursts...
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...Morley and Willis's fellow paratroopers wanted their friends to be comfortableontheirlastridebacktoPatrolBaseOlson...
...He could see Morley and Willis lying on the roof, unmoving, knowing that they would never move again...
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...Morley,whoalongwithWillishadbeenpositionednext to the stairwell, raced to Moser's corner of the building to assess the situation and if possible to engage, but could not move quickly enough to prevent the men on thegroundfrommakingitintothebuilding...
...Having made his transmission, Corriveau threw the ICOM aside and moved back to the northeastern corneroftheroof,whereheandMosertookturnsfiringattheenemymachinegunpositiontotheeastand suppressing the northern stairwell, continuing to protect Morley's body...
...Lieutenant Smith ordered another check--again, nothing.Uponthesecondfailedradiocall,heorderedthe four-HumveeQuickReactionForcetorolloutofUvanni andmakeforReaper'slocationasfastaspossible.Asthe Humvees sped out of the Iraqi Patrol Base, Smith continuedtryingtoraisethesniperteamontheradio.Hedid not know that their radio had been destroyed by a grenade, and could only hope that the sounds echoing downthealleywaysfromthenorth--whichsoundedlike afull-blownbattleatthispoint,completewithautomatic and single-shot gunfire, as well as frequent explosions--werenotcomingfromReaper'slocation...
...Finally, as he turned the knob to Channel 13, he made contact with SSG Wheeler on the southern OP...
...Finally,ashereachedthelastflightofstairs,heencounteredadeadbody,orientedasthoughithadbeenmovingupthestairswhenithadbeenkilled...
...ON THE OTHER SIDE of the roof's dividing wall, Corriveau had been watching the area to the southwestwhenthegunfirebeganathisback...
...Corriveauyelledinto the radio...
...On this morning, that mission was to establish a defensive perimeter around a block in central Samarra, so that Charlie Company's 3rd ("Blue") Platoon, led by Lieutenant Scott Young, could search a shop where it had information that Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) were being manufactured...
...As he knelt over the sniper team leader, he wondered over and over again how in the world this could have happened when he and his men had been so close to the OP the entire time...
...Further,hehadnotseenMorleyorMosersincetheinitialshootinghadbegunoverfiveminutes(thatseemed like hours) before and knew--though his mind could not accept it--that they, the last of his team, the last of his support, the last of those who were closer to them thanhisownfamily,mustbedeadaswell...
...Apparently there had been fighters stationed in the building before the white car's arrival...
...As my broker admired this treasure, I decided now was the time for a little amusement...
...Measuring its distance from the rooftop, Moser wonderedforthebriefestofmomentsifhecouldsurvivea jump off the building intact enough to be able to run the three kilometers back to Olson...
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...Looking to the west, he saw the unmistakable form of the 52-meter tall Spiral Minaret, which stood in the northwestern corner of the city, a scant thousandmetersfromPatrolBaseOlson--andsafety...
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...Suddenly, machine gun fire erupted from both of the stairwells behind them...
...Instead, as he bounded back and forth across the building's edge, alternately firing into the northern stairwell door and taking cover from whatever return fire came his way, his mass of conflicting emotions was overridden by only one thought: Get to the radio on the other side of the roof...
...Looking tohisright,hesawWillisdisappearbehindthedividing wall,thepreppedgrenadestillinhishand...
...military in Iraq this past August, September, and part of October...
...The sound of automatic weapons fire is as common in Samarra as traffic noise is in the United States...
...Spurred into renewed action, Moser flew around thecornerofthestairwellandletloosewitharelentless series of bursts at the advancing enemy...
...AROUND THE FAR SIDE of the northern stairwell, Moserwasengagedinabattlewithahandholding a 9mm pistol...
...As the dismounted paratroopers--Smith and Cisneros,aswellasSergeantTimCurry,PrivateFirst Class Tim Durfee, and Specialist Brady Thayer, the platoon's medic--raced up the stairs, weapons at the ready and hollering "Friendlies coming up...
...He had larger problems to worry about than the rifle,though.Thechargeupthestairsbyclosetoadozen men(bothblackandArab)wascontinuing,andgrenades wererollingoutofthedoorwayoneandtwoatatimeand exploding with thunderous bangs...
...Enemy fighters had established supporting machine gun positions in the buildings on three sides (north, east, and west) of the apartment complex, and hadbegunfiringrelentlesslyatthebuildingtopthathad becomeabattleground,sendingdebrisflyingupallover theplacefromthewallsandroof.Overtheloudchatter ofthesupportingfire,Corriveau,whowasstillfacingthe street, heard a loud burst from his five o'clock...
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...Continuing to close on the man, who was now on the ground, Corriveau fired again and again, recharging the firing handle each time, until he had emptied his remaining rounds into the body...
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...The entire roof of the building was covered withwelloveradozenblastmarksfromgrenades,with some patches still burning, and shell casings from expended rounds seemed to cover every remaining inchofground.Fromthenortheasterncorner,hecould clearly see Willis's body diagonally across the roof, lying on its side directly over a large blast marking...
...Suddenly, the morning exploded into gunfire, and bulletsbeganflyingattherooftopfromseeminglyevery direction...
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...He immediately ordered radio checkstobeattemptedwithbothOPstomakesurethat theywereokay...
...For nearly five minutes, he traded shots with the faceless pistolier on the other side of the stairwell door, all the while knowing that, in the end, he would not have enough time or ammunition to hold the rooftop himself...
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...EARLY IN THE MORNING, after dropping off SSG Wheeler's team, Red Platoon's four Humvees rolled up to the predetermined dismount point forthesecondOPandcametoastop,allowingMorley, Willis,Corriveau,andMosertogetout.Upondeparting the area, the trucks would make their way to Patrol Base Uvanni, an Iraqi National Police outpost in the center of the city (about 1.5 kilometers southwest of Reaper's OP), where they would wait until it was time to pick up the overwatch teams, while also serving as a Quick Reaction Force in the unlikely event that anythingshouldgowrongateitheroftheoverwatchsites...
...LieutenantSteveSmith,however,Red'sPlatoonLeader, theseshotsseemeddifferentforsomereason--likethey were coming from the north, instead of from the usual east-west direction...
...He had never felt more alone...
...After the joyous yet indescribably brief reunion, the two Americans resumed the fight together...
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...Inside, he saw a number of armed men, both black and Arab rushing up the steps toward the roof--none of whom were the individualshehadseengetoutofthecarmomentsbefore on the street...
...It sounds likeReaper...
...Unfortunately, unbeknownst to the four men of ReaperTwo,oneofthebuilding'soccupantshadseen them enter and had passed the information along...
...Stayinglowtoavoidthemachinegunfirefromthe surrounding buildings, and wary of the prospect of walking into another ambush, Cisneros turned and surveyed the scene on the rooftop...
...ONTHEROOFoftheapartmentbuilding,Morleyand Moser were taking AK-47 and PKC (a 7.62mm Russian-mademachinegun)firefrombothstairwells.Astheyspunaroundtoreturnfire,theysawseveral small, dark objects flying onto the roof from the stairwell--hand grenades...
...SergeantFirstClassRodolfoCisneros,Red'sPlatoon Sergeant(rankingnoncommissionedofficer),orderedan immediateradiocheckwithReaper.Hehadabadfeeling about the gunfire and explosions that sounded like they werecomingfromtheexactdirectionofthenorthernOP...
...Thestairwellitselfwascoveredinblood,fromtopto bottom...
...The number of targetsneverseemedtodiminish.Assoonasheshotone personattemptingtofighthiswayoutofthestairwellto seizeMorley'sbody,anotherwouldappear...
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...Morley recognized that the situation was rapidly deteriorating and knew that, though his team currently occupied the high ground in theemergingbattle,theycouldnotholdoutforverylong due to their vast disadvantage in numbers...
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...As he took cover behind the wall yet again, Mosersawasingleenemyfighterreachoutofthe stairwell and grab the M4 that Morley had droppedwhenhehadbeenhit.Thoughheimmediatelyleapedupandbeganfiringintothebuildingagain, Moser was too late to prevent the weapon from being taken...
Vol. 40 • November 2007 • No. 9
