by Pfc. James Matise
AN NAJAF, Iraq (Army News Service, April 8, 2003) - The smiles and cheers of a liberated populace greeted the soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) as they secured the city of Najaf in the first days of April.
Gen. Tommy Franks, commander, U.S. Forces Central Command, visited Najaf Monday to congratulate 101st troops for liberating the city. He also examined a weapons cache discovered by the troops and awarded two soldiers of the 327th Infantry Regiment with Bronze Stars for valor in combat.
The 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment assaulted two key enemy positions in Najaf March 30 and 31 -- an agriculture trade school and military compound on the southern edge of the city, killing 44 enemy fighters and capturing 150 others without one friendly combat fatality.
It took only 36 hours to secure the school complex, and about 12 more hours to control the military compound. Within the two compounds, soldiers found a gigantic trove of weaponry: more than 3,000 rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers, almost 100 mortars, surface-to-air missiles, thousands of pounds of munitions, uniforms and chemical protective gear, said Maj. Brian Winski, executive officer, 1-327th.
Only one friendly soldier was injured, hit during an assault through a breach in a wall, but the injury was not life threatening, said Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Anderson, senior medic, 1-327th.
The 2nd Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment reported more than 600 shells fired during the assaults, and a massive number of mortar rounds were also unleashed. Army attack helicopters and Air Force fighter jets also fired in close support of ground troops.
The speed and accuracy in the assaults on the city were an example of the U.S. military's ability to bear maximum firepower against enemy targets with minimum damage to civilians and minimal casualties, said Capt. James Moss, adjutant, 1-327th.
As the division wrested control of the area from the local Ba'ath Party militants and patrolled for hidden enemy forces and weapons caches, the local people were quick to show their support and gratitude after being freed from the oppression of Saddam's regime.
"I think it's an outstanding reception," said Pfc. Frank Chelkonas, Co. B, 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment. "We've gotten to talk to people who barely understand English, and they accept us with open arms. They're looking for a change and they're going to get it."
One resident of Najaf gave an Arabic Christian bible to a soldier as a token of gratitude. An inscription on the bible read: "From the Iraqi people to the soldiers of freedom and peace, we wish you every happiness,"
Sgt. Eric Tanner, a paralegal assigned to HHC, 1st Brigade, 101st, was on guard duty when two Iraqis approached him with the bible.
"I was pulling security on a convoy and this man came up to me, he spoke really good English," Tanner said of one of the two men who gave him the bible. "We talked for about two hours. He didn't want anything from us, he just wanted to talk and say 'thank you.'"
Their discussion ranged from family to the similarities of Christianity and Islam, to visions of an Iraq free of the Ba'ath Party.
"He said that he can't wait until we're finished getting rid of Saddam," Tanner said. "In school he wants to study science, before they've only learned about Ba'ath Party stuff."
An Najaf has long been considered an important city with both strategic and political value, officials said. It serves as a key crossing point for the Euphrates River, and is also considered a holy city by the nation's Shiite Muslim majority. Coalition forces had hoped to win the support of the nation's Shiites to help overthrow the regime, officials said, and quickly stabilize the country.
"At first the locals wanted to know who we were -- they saw the flag on our shoulders and didn't recognize it," said Sgt. Lujan Williams, Co. B, 2-327th. "They knew we were here to get rid of the Fedayeen. The locals would point to the buildings and show us where the (Fedayeen) were hiding. They wanted them out of there."
On April 3, in a public move to declare the city's liberation, the division blew up a 30-foot tall statue of Saddam Hussein. For days, as the wreckage of the statue lay broken around its prominent base, Iraqis would drive by and honk their horns at the soldiers.
"Good, good, good," one man yelled from his vehicle as he passed the statue base, giving the "thumb's up" sign out of a window.
"They ask us if we've freed them, and if we're their saviors," Williams said as he looked down from his security position and waved back at the Iraqis milling about the other side of the wall. "They're really nice people. They thank us every day."
Almost immediately after, members of the division began meeting with local people to find civic leaders to replace the infrastructure void left by the fleeing Ba'ath Party.
The citizens of Najaf initially found themselves without running water or power, because both had been knocked out during the fighting, but the locals were able to repair both utilities within days of the city's liberation. In the meanwhile, soldiers helped secure the environment to ensure safe distribution.
"We helped distribute water to begin with, but now it runs on its own," said Winski. "Water and food don't seem to be a huge issue. Our main concern is getting the power and civil structure up...to get basic health and human services running so these people can enjoy a free Iraq."
On the front lawn of a Ba'ath Party headquarters building, Capt. Ryan Morgan, Company C, 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, displayed enemy weapons systems, boxes of mortar shells, rocket-propelled grenades, and other munitions found by his company in Al Kufah, a village on the eastern edge of Najaf, during the assault.
"We destroyed 3,000 pounds worth of mortar shells yesterday," he said. "We had to stop because it got dark and we ran out of demolition cord."
Soldiers of 1st Brigade inspected abandoned houses suspected of containing information on the regime's clandestine chemical and biological programs. They found X-rays, documents, uniforms, discarded bottles of antibiotics, and a copy of a Ba'ath Party membership card. Also, they found stockpiled sacks of rice -- in a city full of starving people.
"Take these sacks of rice and whatever utensils you can find and drag it out to the streets for the people to grab," said Col. Frederick B. Hodges, commander, 1st Brigade. "We'll call it the first phase of humanitarian assistance."
They also inspected an abandoned technical university on the east side of the city, seized by 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment. Inside each building were dozens of metalworking machines and components for more than 1,000 antipersonnel landmines. Drawn on a blackboard was a blueprint for assembly. Printed on the cover of a discarded notebook was the English phrase, "I love this school."
Days after the initial occupation of the city, residents began returning to work. Traffic began to flow and busses started to run. Residents began taking their livestock to the markets, and shopkeepers once again opened their stores. The skeletons of destroyed vehicles were cleared away, and the numerous visages of Saddam Hussein began to come down.
Military legal teams purveyed the areas captured by coalition forces and began processing damage claims. Where possible, local contractors will be hired to repair damages and the claims will be paid for with money captured from the Ba'ath Party, Tanner said.
"Individual claims are small. Some people have clothes missing or broken windows," Tanner said. "The Iraqi militants probably caused most of it, and under the law of armed conflict we don't have to pay any of this back, but we'll probably pay for most of it as a gesture of goodwill."
As commerce flows again and the people begin to lift themselves out of a regime-induced poverty, there is a marked difference of opinion of the western world: "America?" one resident asked. "We love America."
(Editor's note: Pfc. James Matise is an Army journalist with the 101st Airborne Division.)