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Wounded soldiers describe 'reckles' Fallujah rebels
Mon Nov 15 2004 09:30:56 ET
LANDSTUHL, Germany - Wounded US soldiers being treated at the military hospital here on Monday gave a graphic account of the battle for the rebel Iraqi stronghold of Fallujah.
US-led forces said on Monday they had taken almost complete control of the city after a week-long battle but were still hunting for pockets of diehard rebels.
The handful of Marines and soldiers who met the press were flown to Landstuhl in southwest Germany, which is the largest US military medical facility outside the United States, last week.
They described the rebel fighters as young, disorganised and often reckless but well-armed.
"You recognise them easily. They wear masks, they carry weapons, they move in small squads," said 22-year-old soldier Kris Clinkscales, who suffered an arm injury from an exploding shell.
"Civilians are usually wearing traditional gowns, they lift their hands when they see you."
He said he was sure he had not shot at civilians because they were easy to identify. "There were bodies on the street, but only insurgents," he said.
Clinkscales is among the 275 wounded on the US side according to figures given by commanders in Baghdad, although a spokeswoman for the hospital said that up to Monday it had treated 419 injured servicemen, mostly from the Fallujah offensive, and that 46 more were due to arrive later that day.
Thirty eight US soldiers have been killed in the assault.
Clinkscales, who arrived at the hospital on Saturday, described the rebel fighters' approach as "reckless", "especially the young ones, aged 18 to 20. They were quite disorganised."
Travis Schafer, a 20-year-old Marine, who injured a hand when a shell exploded, said he was sure the rebels were prepared to sacrifice everything.
"These guys are ready to fight to the death," he told the press conference. "I was surprised by the weapons they had," he added, describing seeing "loads of RPGs (rocket-propelled grenade launchers) and machine guns".
And Schafer said the battle had been conducted from street to street.
"This is a rooftop to rooftop kind of fight. You see the snipers jumping from one roof to another."
Ryan Chapman, a 22-year-old Marine, was hit above the left eye by a sniper's bullet, but escaped with a fractured skull.
"People keep on telling me that I'm lucky," he said. "I don't mind being lucky."
Despite his brush with death, Chapman was keen to return to fight in Iraq.
"I want to go back. It kills me when I see the news, when I think of all my buddies back there."
More than 1,200 rebels have been killed in the battle, the US military said on Monday.
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