My cousin always used to say that "wonderful world" by sam cooke was his song. He would laugh his goofy laugh and sing in that voice he had... "dont know much about history, dont know much biology, dont know much about a science book, dont know much about the french i took" and we would both laugh.
my life has never been the same after march 23, 2003. although i didnt hear the news until the 25th i believe, i wrote something on the 23rd. its a poem i wrote because i felt something was wrong. i felt it. i was worried about my cousin and i told jennifer that i felt bad. but i knew it was something different. i could feel it.
my cousin and i might as well have been brothers. we were one year apart in age and almost born in the same month and time frame. he was 4 august 81, and i was 25 july 82. and although i remember my side of the story vividly, this isnt about me.
i have been struggling to write this for several years. to let everyone else know what happened to him. sometimes in my drunkenness i had let slip some details, but never a full story. i have collected books, word of mouth, an 800 page military report with the details blacked out still, written statements, pictures, and many little pieces because i thought it would make me feel better... if i knew. and it somewhat has. but nothing changes the outcome.
the following is a short version of the story. from what i know, what i've read in books, and all my reports and other findings. although some of the stories conflict, it is expected. its war. no one is clear headed then. i dont mean to offend anyone. i just need to get this out.
In this battle, the lack of good communications cut the marines throats. the plan was simple and it involved Alpha, Bravo and Charlie Companies and some tanks. but that didnt happen. what happened instead was a mess with enough blame to throw in every direction and still have enough left over to eat later. in the confusion the tanks that had been in the lead went around the city of An Nasiriyah as planned and immediately got stuck several feet deep in mud. the rest of the tanks had to go back down south to refuel after rescuing the army who had fucked up and went the wrong way and got mostly killed or captured. this meant that marching toward An Nasiriyah were three companies of track mounted marines. (the track being a thin skinned tracked vehicle used to transport marines and not intended for urban warfare) all in a line with no tanks in the lead. as they crossed the first bridge into the city the lead element (bravo co.) missed a turn and got stuck in a field of mud while taking fire from machine guns and rockets. alpha did as they were supposed to and secured the southern bridge. and Charlie co., the company my cousin was in, decided to push north through ambush alley (the main road determined to be the most dangerous place in the city to drive through) because they thought bravo had done the same. at the same time the lead element Bravo co. lost virtually all communications and was not able to relay position to the other companies. at this point all the companies were taking heavy fire.
the stage was set. Charlie co. was headed north to the canal bridge through ambush alley.
driving through ambush alley in their tracks the were receiving a massive amount of fire from what seemed to be all directions. iraqis were dressed as civilians, shooting out of windows and hiding again. even waving white flags then shooting immediately afterward from the same windows.
somewhere along the way 2nd Lt. Fred Pokorney got hit in the arm from what was later thought to be a ricochet from a bullet. he shook it off and kept fighting with the other marines.
Lt. Ben Reid was commander of track 208. snaking through enemy fire track 208 got hit with an RPG round, the marines inside awaited death with uncertainty. but the RPG didnt explode, instead it just got stuck in one of the packs that lined the outside of the tracks. the explosion never came.
it was observed that iraqis were putting AK's over balconies and firing sporadically and hiding again. the marines that were fighting back thanked god that the iraqis didnt seem to have any marksmanship at all. and the heavy fire continued. sometimes the rockets would explode close by, sometimes they wouldn't explode or wizz by their heads and fly off.
On their way through the city one of the tracks took a rocket to the wheel well and five marines inside were injured critically ( i believe this was track 211). as they reached the canal bridge track 201 realizes that Charlie co. was all alone. bravo had not been in front of them at all. but the marines would not lay down, through the heavy fire of machine guns, rockets and small arms the marines managed to push through to the northern bridge
the marines dismounted the tracks which were battered but still mostly working and took a defensive position near the canal bridge. as they returned fire the incoming fire was steadily increasing, including now machine guns, rockets, and mortars.
Lt. Reid exited the track and began setting up the mortars to suppress some of the fire coming from what seemed to be all directions. As the mortars started firing, 2nd Lt. Pokorney ran up to Lt. Reid and yelled that there was no communications to anyone else. Lt. Reid then told 2nd Lt. Pokorney to keep trying.
Corporal Jose Garibay was mortar squad leader..(something i did not know) and was directing fire to the west to try and stop the enemy fire which was still increasing in rate. Lt. Reid stood up at one point to get a better view of where the fire was coming from when 2nd Lt. Pokorney tackled him and yelled "you stupid fucker, you're going to get us all killed!" But the truth was that with no comm back to the heavy artillery the fire from the buildings would not stop. So Lt. Reid shouted to Cpl Garibay "pick up your shit and bring your crew. we're going to move your position sixty meters to the south!"
At this point no one knows charlie is up north. but the marines in the rear have become aware that there may be a mechanized unit north of the canal bridge. although high level command has ceased to exist because of the lack of comm, the small unit leadership is working. marines are fighting like they're suppose to. all the while the fire directed toward charlie company is intensifying. RPG's and machine guns are starting to inflict injuries to marines making the job of the navy corpsmen harder. at one point there isnt enough corpsmen to help all the injured marines.
The mortars coming from the buildings were getting closer.
to add to the confusion, track 211 which was hit coming through the city was still on fire and beginning to cook off live rounds that were inside of it. the marines wondered who was shooting at them until they discovered it was their own equipment.
Then Lt. Reid moved the mortars to the canal bridge while incoming fire was steadily increasing in accuracy. An RPG whizzed over his head and exploded 100 meters behind him. then 2nd Lt. Pokorney ran to tell Lt. Reid that he was able to get through to call artillery. Lt. Ried said he knew he could do it. 2nd Lt. Pokorney ran back to his position with the other marines.
Just then there was a tremendous explosion behind Lt. Reid. as the dust cleared he notices his arm isnt missing as he thought, but broken badly. Cpl Jorge Gonzalez then said to Lt. Reid, "thats too bad sir".. from his tone Lt. Reid could tell things were terribly wrong. immediately after, Cpl Garibay relayed to Lt. Reid, "Sir, Buesing is dead." Then he looked right and saw 2nd Lt. Pokorney on the floor next to Staff Sergeant Jordan. Jordan had been the marine that all the other marines looked up to. Lt. Reid then ran to 2nd Lt. Pokorney and turned him over to see his facial structure shattered, and his body crumpled. he looked again at Buesing and went completely numb.
Lt. Reid then turned to Garibay who was standing right beside him, staring at him with the biggest eyes hes ever seen, alive, but also injured, and said "you keep everyone here. im going to get help!" He ran about 20 meters then got hit again, although he didnt know it at the time. He was laying face down in the dirt, and his eye wouldnt open. As he lay there a million thoughts raced through his mind, he wondered what to do... to just die? is this how it happened? or try and get up? For some reason he got up. seeing a track with his one good eye he ran for it. he crawled into the track and told the marines that they needed to evacuate casualties. and to get up on the guns and kill everything in sight. probably in a bit more colorful language than that.
At the same time the company commander for Charlie Company saw the bodies of four Marines, they had been killed instantly; SSgt Philip Jordan, Cpl Jorge Gonzalez, 2nd Lt. Fred Pokorney, Lcpl Brian Buesing. As the casualties mounted, there was nowhere to take them. No helicopters could land because of all the fire being taken, and no one could call in for air support because it wasnt clear where the other companies were located.
Earlier in the deployment a new kind of air support had been authorized where the forward air controller (FAC) gave the aircraft a geographical area to cover without seeing the enemy himself. So it was up to the pilots to decide what was enemy or not, and A-10's had a notorious past of killing friendlies.
The FAC was able to call in to the aircraft to go to the north to clear out was was thought to be a mechanized unit coming in to the city to attack the marines. unfortunately to FAC was in the south and didnt know the location of Charlie company. and he relayed to the aircraft, the A-10's to engage the enemy north of the city. through all the confusion the A-10's misidentified Charlies companies tracks as enemy vehicles seeing as they were Air Force and hadn't received training on Marine vehicles. at the same time the FAC thought they were looking at a completely different area. seeing as no one was supposed to be that far north the FAC told the pilots no friendlies were up there, even though he had no confirmation on that.
On the ground, the commander of track 201, thinking he was the only one left in charge, yelled for everyone to get back in the tracks. track 201 was being loaded with wounded. among the chaos the A-10's were starting to circle over head. on the ground, confused marines were getting into the wrong tracks. this caused leaders to lose track of who was alive and who wasnt.
Lt. Reid managed to get back to the mortars' position. Garibay hadn't moved, like he ordered. He was moaning and groaning from his injuries. Lt. Reid didn't stop to find out what was wrong with him. Instead he said "there will be a track coming over. you need to get these guys loaded up. i don't care how much it hurts. if i don't make it back to here, you need to get out of here and find the Battalion Aid Station and get these guys help. i am going to grab some guys to help us out." Then Lt. Reid went to get more marines while fire erupted all around him. He didn't notice it anymore. Lt. Reid stumbled to the ground and asked GySgt Blackwell, "is my eyeball still in my head?" He replied, "i think its still in there. you look good."
GySgt Blackwell then said, "there's an A-10 here now"
Lt. Reid replied, "that's good, we need help"
Blackwell answered, " no its not. the A-10 is fucking coming at us!"
With no way to talk to the Battalion Commander, the FAC had authorized air support. the pilots thought the FAC could see the targets and engaged. Lt. Reid watched as rounds began to tear into the tracks. the tracks where Garibay was loading the wounded, even though he was also wounded. The A-10's continued to strafe the marines and the tracks with their canons killing Lcpl Fribley, nearly cutting him in half. the A-10's still thinking that they are killing the enemy and helping the marines in the city fire munitions at track 203 killing Cpl Rosacker. Rounds continued to rain on the marines as they ran for cover confused and horrified. Some marines tried to signal the planes to stop, but nothing was working. at this time there was so much enemy fire and fire from the A-10's that it was impossible to tell them apart.
finally someone was able to get through to the Battalion Commander to call off the planes. "for gods sake sir, get them to stop!"
The Battalion Commander couldnt grasp the impact of what he had heard. how could there be A-10's firing on our own marines? he called them off.
Track 201 saw the others trying to escape the incoming fire so they loaded the dead and wounded up and ran a U.S. flag up the turret to try and signal the A-10's. from somewhere the call went out to leave back south. track 208 carrying the mortar crew took off, track 201 took off after them. several other tracks took off down the road still taking heavy enemy fire and still being tracked down by the planes.
then the A-10's spotted the Medevac convoy heading south. at this time they planes started shooting maverick missiles at the convoy carrying injured marines.
the driver of track 208 (Cpl Elliot) had been injured earlier by shrapnel to the neck but was still driving south with eleven Marines in his track.
Cpl Kemaphoom Chanawongse
Lcpl Noel Trevino
Cpl Jose Garibay
Cpl Donald Cline Jr
Cpl Patrick Nixon
Pfc Nolen Hutchings
Pfc Tamario Burkett
Pvt Jonathan Gifford
Sgt. Brendon Reiss
Lcpl Thomas Blair
Lcpl Michael Williams
Out of nowhere a blast lifted the track into the air and filled it with black smoke. 208's driver gained bearing and then yelled, "everybody, get out. get out. get out of the track!" he then got out with much of the back of his leg missing and yelled to the nine marines riding in the troop compartment to get out. Trevino exited the other side of the track. Cpl Elliot didn't realize that all the marines in the troop compartment had been blown apart by the blast.
The driver of 201 saw a white flash shoot into 208's cargo hatch followed by a huge explosion. the track then jumped several feet into the air as pieces of flesh flew out into the road and blood splattered his vision block (the window from where they see out of to steer) turning the glass red. nobody could survive that he thought.
The A-10's knew nothing of what they had done. they thought they were doing a good job in fact.
Trying to avoid the blown out carcass of track 208, track 201 tried to steer and noticed they had lost steering. as everyone was trying to get out of a disabled 201, one of the A-10's noticed he still had one maverick left and locked onto another vehicle and began its final approach. then, just as he was about to release the missile. the radio crackled... "cease fire, cease fire, cease fire!"
"we think we might have had blue on blue. some guys might be up north at the canal. but we're not sure" the pilot couldnt believe what he was hearing. He thought the FAC had confirmed them as enemies.
Lt. Reid had escaped the A-10 fire and had made his way back to the mortar squads position. He couldnt see Cpl Garibay or the other wounded. "thats good. they've gotten out of here"
there is a lot more after and before and even during that has been left out. i only relayed the main parts. but my cousin, Jose Angel Garibay, i called him Angel (in spanish) didn't make it passed that battle. in the reports i read it was determined to be impossible to tell what had causes the deaths of the marines. since the amount of fire had been so severe, coupled with the friendly fire from the A-10's. i guess its hard for the government to admit that we killed our own guys.
Angel was injured, loaded up wounded, followed orders, and met the end in a foreign country. far away from his family. from his home. i always wonder what he was thinking. did he think of me? he had always wanted to be a badass... and here he had his chance. i wish for everything in the world that i could have saved him. i carry the pain with me everywhere i go, and everything reminds me of the life we had.
he was twenty one.
and forever will be the same age.
compared to what he saw, i went on a camping trip in the desert.
my uncle was the only one to see him when he finally came home.
one night he was telling everyone... you didn't see what i saw. you didn't see it!! he said... the body was burned and in pieces.
him and i had no place in the marines... but off we went. theres not one day that i dont think of him.
i dream about him. and he tells me he's ok. when i wake up, i find myself missing life.
its 2 am and tomorrow morning i will be going to the cemetery to visit him on his anniversary. its supposed to rain.
i will be going anyways. he'd do the same for me.
if it was the other way around... and i had died. i dont think he could have lived.
but what am i saying. i havent lived since march 23, 2003. my mothers birthday. the day i came home from iraq. the day you died.
i miss you severely. and i really dont know what im doing anymore. sometimes i think im alright. and other times im crying in my car so no one can see me. i wish you'd come home already. ive been waiting to tell you my stories. come home already. i miss you.
.Angel.
The track my cousin was riding in.
Another view of the same track.
Praying over remains
Evacuating the dead and wounded.
Lt. Reid
Jose Garibay and his 60mm mortar tube
A letter to my father.
Me on the left, Angel on the right and his mother in the middle.
High School football.
