2004 Photography Contest
Best of Show
photos by Jack Gruber
USA Today - Albany, CA
Tip of the Spear
United States Army Task Force 3-69 Armor was the "Advance Guard" unit leading the way for all other Army troops to follow from the start of the Iraq War crossing the Kuwait border into Iraq on March 21, 2003 making first contact with Iraqi fighters. "Speed and Power" -- the nickname of the task force made up of M1A1 Abrams Tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles with infantry on board -- was to pave the way to Baghdad clearing any resistance and capturing all the bridges crossing the Euphrates River leading to Baghdad and finally securing the Saddam Hussein International Airport. A water assault under heavy enemy fire in 15-foot rubber Zodiac boats by Army infantry and engineers was the first amphibious assault crossing of a hostile river since World War II by American Army forces. All of these bridges had been rigged to explode by Iraqi fighters but Task Force 3-69 AR was able to battle and capture all the crossings intact keeping roadways open for forces to move north. The final objective once arriving in Baghdad was to be the first US forces into Saddam Hussein International Airport and to capture the vital air link leading into Baghdad.
US Army's Charlie Company, 2/7 Infantry tasked organized to 3rd Battalion/69th Armor Task Force conduct security check of three KIA's killed in a pickup truck traveling away from an advancing U.S forces on the opening night of the Iraq War just north of the Kuwait border in Iraq. (NOTE: greenish cast due to night vision equipment)
US Army's 11th Engineer Battalion, Alpha Company with the 3rd Battalion, 69th Regiment Armor (Task Force 3-69) push north past burning Iraqi tanks and artillery destroyed by close air support during the march through the Karbala Dam pushing north towards Baghdad. The Task Force was the northern-most element of the Army forces approaching Baghdad from Kuwait.
11th Engineer Battalion, Alpha Company soldiers halt concerned Iraqi civilian women and their vehicle before reaching an explosive rigged bridge as the 3-69 Task force battled for control of the span across the Euphrates River during a raging sandstorm which nearly blocked out all visibility and created a yellow cast blocking out the sunlight.
US Army's Charlie Company, 2/7 Infantry soldiers guard an Enemy Prisoner of War (EPW) officer away from other Iraqi captured solders near Iraqi bunkers full of munitions and weapons at the top of an enscarpment. The 3/69 Task force climbed the one lane road and took the high over-look with close air support destroying numerous Iraqi trucks and vehicles at the guard station at the top and destroyed numerous guns and artillery pieces as well as taking numerous Iraqi Prisoners. Vehicles seen below are the other elements of the 3-69 Task Force moving, capturing a key mountain pass.
An Iraqi soldier dead in the middle of an explosive rigged bridge as Army 3-69 Task Force battled for control of the span across the Euphrates River near Najaf during a raging sandstorm blocking out nearly all visibility creating a hazy yellowish glow.
An injured Iraqi woman pleads for aid after being caught in the crossfire between Army Task Force 3-69 AR and Iraqi military fighters defending a bridge at the Euprhates River south of Baghdad.
Soldiers with Bravo Company 3/7 move an injured Iraqi who would later die from his stomach wound towards cover of the bridge over the Euphrates River after US Army's 11th Engineer Battalion, Alpha Company with the 3rd Battalion, 69th Regiment Armor Task Force (Task Force 3-69) captured Objective Peach and crossed the Euphrates River just south of Baghdad.
US Army's 11th Engineer Battalion, Alpha Company's SPC Jared Hart falls to the ground with bullets zipping past his head under fire as the soldiers get pinned down trying to put Zodiac boats in the water of the Euphrates River just south of Baghad.
An Iraqi soldier killed in the van he was riding by a single penetrating round fired from a Bradley Fighting Vehicle while fleeing oncoming U.S. troops in the middle of an explosive rigged bridge spanning the Euphrates River south of Baghdad.
Army 3-69 Armor Task Force soldier gives a wave to fellow soldiers after capturing the Saddam Hussein Presidential Palace near the Saddam Hussein International Airport.
Army 422nd Civil Affairs Battalion (CA TEAM 1) SPC Yancey Christopher, 36 of Haw River, NC on a recon patrol with CA Team 1 carrying a discarded Iraqi flag in a shanty section of Baghdad is kissed on the cheeks by a very appreciative Iraqi man living near highway overpass and is a caretaker for a portion of a historically ancient walled section of Baghdad.
Army's 3rd Battalion/69th Armor Regiment 1st LT. John Thomas, 25, of Heavener, OK sits alone along a wall of the Iraq Hall of Martyrs with inscribed names of Iraqi soldiers killed during the Iraq-Iran war engraved in stone while he listens to "Amazing Grace" being sung during Catholic Easter Mass held for soldiers of the 3-69 Task Force in the complex which has become the base of operations for the task force. Thomas was not participating in Catholic mass but was waiting to take part in escort of soldiers back to the Baghdad Airport but was moved when the song was sung. "Easter in the Hall of Martyrs in Iraq... just seems so unbelievable..." said Thomas.
| 
![[photo]](/images/nav_img.gif){kind=small}
