Page 92 - 100 Hours to Destiny

Captain Pollard and the Marines of Delta Company were the furthest
elements operating in the northern territory, leading the 1st Marine Division.
Anything and everything that was observed here was enemy operations… As
American Hero topped over a slow rise in the terrain features Capt Pollard
ordered Delta Company to stop in place. “Delta Company be advised we are
observing at least a hundred enemy combatants marching our way. They are
broken and split into different numbers of troops. I will further report, they
are waving white flags, I say again they are waving white flags. These troops
are on foot and as far as I can see do not carry weapons. We will proceed
forward and make contact. Delta elements do not fire on these troops as it
appears they are in a surrendering posture. Let’s roll to intercept. We will be
watching for ambush potential or booby-trapped troops. These are our first
POWs to intercept and make contact. We will take nothing for granted. Stay
on alert Delta…. Move!”
I observed Marcus Mitchell gun Rock’s vehicle forward and the rest
of Delta followed. Finally, my vehicle, Delta 7, crested the rise and what I saw
is something I can never unsee. For the first time in my life, I saw hundreds
of enemy combatants marching toward us, marching south, waving white
flags with their hands in the air, surrendering. And there were 100+. The first
LAV-25s, to include American Hero drew right up alongside the first group. It
was a Platoon-sized group, approximately 70 men, and GySgt Steven Dell
ordered me to stop. We both grabbed binoculars and started looking into
the faces of what would be our first responsibility of enemy troops. They
were haggard. Their beards grown out on their faces, their uniforms were
tattered and filthy, eyes hollow and hungrily seeking food and water. I could
see them gesturing (in the timeless universal gestures) give me water, give
me food. And I dropped my binoculars down from my eyes and felt
empathetic, as obviously these men had been abandoned…. Left on their
own to survive the onslaught of the unstoppable approaching American
forces….Much less the 1st Marine Division, and now Delta Company 3D LAI
was the first Americans they would encounter. I felt like I was landing on the
moon, truly it was a surreal feeling to observe this close encounter with the
deadly Army of Iraq…. And I thought about 80%....80% casualties….and still
not a scratch.