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Iraq Vet Speaks Truth

By Robert Sarra

Speech given at VVAW Memorial Day event, Chicago 2004.

I am a former Marine sergeant, and a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom. I speak to you today in order to remember those Marines who were killed in action in Iraq last year and this year. I was assigned to the 1st Marine Regiment during the initial combat phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Rob Sarra at Memorial Day, Chicago 2004

On April 8, a day before my company reached Baghdad, we lost our first Marine to enemy fire. Pfc. Juan Garza, from Temperance, Michigan, was 20 years old and had been in the Marines for seven months when he was killed by an enemy sniper as our unit fought across the Diyala River four miles outside of eastern Baghdad.

In the ensuing months after the fall of Baghdad, my unit lost three Marines to accidents. Lance Corporal Adam Klieboker from Illinois was incinerated in an ammo dump explosion. On May 19, another Marine was severely wounded when an anti-aircraft shell he found went off in his hands. He lost his right eye, disfigured his face, and suffered shrapnel wounds to his chest and legs.

On the same day, Sergeant Kirk Straseski, from Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, who was a member of my company, drowned when he attempted to rescue the crew of a helicopter that crashed into the Shat al-Hillah Canal. The three crew members on board were killed in the crash. To date, over 790 Americans have lost their lives and countless numbers wounded in a war that hasn't been "won," but is far from being over.

My unit, the 1st Marine Regiment, left the United States on January 17 and invaded Iraq on March 21. Once we were engaged in combat operations, I felt confused. We were not fighting Iraqi regular forces but Saddam's Fedayeen. At one point we were calling the war "Desert 'Nam." We were fighting guerrillas who wore black clothing, carried AK-47s and did not adhere to our "rules." On the highway north to Baghdad we were engaging and slaughtering civilians mistakenly due to the Fedayeen and their tactics. I found myself and several of my fellow Marines asking ourselves, "What are we doing? Where are the WMDs? Who are we fighting?"

We were told in the outset that Iraq was an imminent threat to the United States. Some Marines felt that this war was payback for September 11. Some Marines felt that we were defending our way of life. This wasn't true. How is it that if Iraq was such a threat, their own troops couldn't stop us from reaching their capital in three weeks? We never found any WMDs or signs of battlefield chemical weapons. We did however, find hundreds of caches of discarded weapons and an army throwing away their uniforms for civilian clothes so they could escape certain death and return to their homes and families. We found that once we got to Baghdad, we had no exit strategy. Some of us wondered how we were going to get back out of Iraq when we had bypassed towns teeming with guerrilla fighters. Did they expect us to fight our way out?

The supply problems that everyone talks about during the war were not what they seemed. In past conflicts, many American combat units such as the 101st Airborne at Bastogne in World War II and the 1st Marine Regiment at the Chosin Reservoir in Korea have been much worse off supply-wise in combat than we were. Yes, it is true that we were down to one MRE a day for two weeks. The fact is that we were outrunning our supplies and those supply columns were being hit by guerrillas. The only supply problem I saw was before we crossed the border.

My platoon was short on batteries for our night-vision equipment. I personally went to a nearby Army camp and bought several cases of AA batteries with the platoon commander's money from a store on base. Hardware used for mounting night-vision goggles on our helmets was also in short supply. We traded a few cartons of cigarettes with another Marine unit for 50 helmet mounts. Most importantly, there was a lack of enough ballistic plates for our body armor. Prior to crossing the border, we were told that the plates would be coming up to us as soon as they got in-country. These plates never got to us. Nevertheless, senior Marines were giving up their back ballistic plates to give to junior Marines that had none at all. I did this, and saw my platoon sergeant and platoon commander do the same. The three of us, and several others in the platoon, went into combat with only one plate in the front of our vests, and we were frontline infantry.

The only time during the war that made any sense to us was our arrival in Baghdad. People cheered in the streets, we were thrown cartons of local cigarettes, children gave us flowers which we wore on our body armor. We all felt that this justified what we had gone through. We felt we had a purpose as we heard stories from Iraqi civilians about what Saddam did to his own people. A dictator and regime had been toppled and the people of Iraq were free of his reign. We felt as if it had all been worth it. By late April, we would move south for stabilization operations and would turn from war-fighters into humanitarians.

Once we began stabilization operations in a town called Al Hillah, 60 miles south of Baghdad, things seemed to be going well. The Iraqis were generally happy that we were there. We rebuilt schools, got the power back on, and reestablished the police and fire departments. Unfortunately, as we stayed longer, that sentiment wore off. The waves and smiles we got when we first moved in were disappearing quickly and we all had the feeling that we had overstayed our welcome. When we were told we would be going home, missions and excuses kept popping up and we were kept in-country with no certain end in sight. This was a cause for severe frustration on all levels in my unit, as well as for our families at home. We felt as if we had done our part as combat troops.

I am not in any way angry at the Marine Corps or the military. I volunteered to join, and volunteered for the infantry knowing that at some point in my career I might, realistically, go into combat.

The Marines I served with did remarkable things under extreme conditions. Our leaders were strong and the Marines themselves did what was asked of them and upheld their reputation of being the best. We got by with very little. We improvised, adapted, overcame and showed the world that we could be both aggressive and compassionate.

Currently elements of the 1st Marine Regiment and several of my close friends are back in Iraq. They have been given responsibility of the Al Anbar province, which includes Fallujah. The 2nd Battalion 1st Marines fought for three weeks in the siege of Fallujah and lost several Marines to enemy action. The last elements of their regiment returned from Iraq only eight months ago.

Last week, I received an email from a Marine friend of mine about Echo Company 2/1. This account of action in Fallujah is from Sgt. Grit, a website dedicated to Marines. The following is an account from 1st Sgt. Bill Skiles of Echo Co. 2nd Bn 1st Marine Regiment:

Currently Co. "E" 2/1 has 40 wounded and 3 KIA's.....wild huh?...mostly small shrapnel and eardrums, but had a Marine lose an arm and 1,a leg ...This place is too messed up to explain...We have been living in the northwest of Fallujah for 3 weeks now....Actually living in some homes we confiscated...across from us about 300 yards is the downtown area of Fallujah...We are shot at every night. We are mortared a lot as well...We always are firing back with our snipers and/or machine guns....It's almost surreal. We could be playing cards. we hear gunshots and booms. we keep playing....no big deal. I have to tell you about our gun battle today. We started receiving sniper fire from this Mosque/ tower...then some bad guys threw grenades at our pos. on our roofs...Marines got wounded and Marines fought the enemy close in. Frags were thrown and massive 5.56 was used in close proximity. I've never been shot at so much in my life. AK's were firing at us 10 yards away....I would fire my M-16 with one hand while I was running back and forth....OH MY GOD>>> I think Carl Lewis would be proud of my speed getting our wounded boys loaded up for medevac. Anyway, 8 wounded today, 1 died....I actually broke down and had the chaplain say a prayer while I hugged this guys head....He was a good Marine.....I am back in the rear tonight to rest my hurt back and rest my brain....NEVER have I had so much blood around me....I take these boys too personal sometimes.....We ARE the purple Heart Company..152 strength, 40 WIA, 3 KIA...1/3 of the company ...

Approximately two weeks ago, I heard from another friend of mine at Camp Pendleton that 250 Marines were deployed to Iraq in order to replace Marines that were killed and wounded during the siege of Fallujah. Marines are now out of Fallujah, but are still in the Al Anbar province. Their estimated time of return to the United States is supposedly in the next five months. Although these Marines are due for rotation, more Marines are being deployed as we speak.

Today is an important day for the families of the fallen servicemen from not only Iraq, but all the past conflicts our country has been involved in. The main thing I ask everyone to leave here with today is this: No matter if you agree or disagree with the war in Iraq, have a loved one overseas or not, we must support all those who are currently deployed, and those who have fought and died for our freedom to speak out as we do today.

I would like to conclude by thanking VVAW, Barry Romo, and Military Families Speak Out for the opportunity to speak today.

Thank you.