Saber’s Edge: A Combat Medic in Ramadi, Iraq

6: The Streets of Tameem

6 TheStreetsofTameem The streets of Tameem were a deadly and unforgiving place. Just venturing out there was putting your life in extreme danger. A slum with about fifty thousand inhabitants, it was rife with snipers, IEDs, and RPG teams. Every rooftop, every doorway, every corner potentially held a deadly ambush. The insurgency was alive and well here, and those who did not come here to attack us were driving through on their way to attack the Marines on the other side of the river. Many of the streets were narrow, with three- and four-story buildings built very close to the roadways. The roofs and upper windows offered vantage points for snipers and RPG teams. In other areas, courtyard walls surrounded small yards and offered the insurgents a vantage point from which to fire on our patrols. IED triggermen could hide anywhere and never be discovered. Raw sewage flowed unchecked through the garbage-strewn streets. The intensity of the stench was heightened further for us by our edgy tension. The insurgents had a wide variety of weapon systems to use against us, from AK-47s, RPGs, mortars, and IEDs to less common sniper rifles and explosively formed projectiles capable of penetrating several inches of heavy armor and disabling a tank. It seemed as if every house had a parapet wall around the roof and a concrete or stone wall around the yard. Few of the windows had glass in them. The architecture gave the enemy an infinite number of places to hide while they triggered IEDs or shot at us. The insurgents used their plentiful cover to attack our patrols almost every day. At the beginning of each shift, we would sweep the main roads for IEDs and usually find several. Fortunately, we became quite adept at spotting them, and most of them were disarmed before they could explode. A cordon would be set up around the bomb the streets of tameem 77 and the emergency explosives ordinance team would come out and deal with them. Most bombs were blown up in place, and a few were disabled and brought back to be studied. The best way to locate the insurgents here was either to collect information on their whereabouts through informants and target their homes, or through random house and vehicle searches. It was common for us to SSG Jeff Murtha covers an approach to his concealed position in Tameem (Photo by SGT Brandon Allmond) 78 saber’s edge bang on someone’s door at any hour, enter, and search their home. This tactic had been in use for so long that the locals came to tolerate it. Usually at the end of the house search when we did not find anything, we would try to visit with the family good-naturedly, ask them about their neighborhoods and the enemy activity there, and make friends with their children. There was an added advantage to speaking with people privately, in the shelter of their own home: they were free to speak freely with us and not be seen doing it. In fact, by randomly searching all sorts of homes, we were able to conceal the identities of our actual informants. The zip-lock bag full of candy in my pocket was handy for communicating to the children that we were not bad guys coming to take them away. We wanted very much for the children to know that they could trust us and should not attack us. Their parents may have hated us, but ten years from now these children would have to decide whether to become insurgents or perhaps to live peacefully. Often I would be presented with sick or injured children to heal during our tours. It was great to see that the parents trusted us to help their kids, and great to have a chance to help them. In some cases, we quietly took families under our wing. We could not be too obvious, or they would be killed by the insurgents, but we did what we could. SSG Jeff Murtha of Blue Platoon was one of our toughest squad leaders. He and his driver, Sgt. Brandon Allmond, were especially touched by a mentally retarded Iraqi teenager named Abu Jassim. Like most families in Tameem, Abu and his family struggled to survive. They were poor, but they were friendly to everyone who visited their home—including SSG Murtha and his crew. The guys would stop...