- LANDSTUHL, Germany (Reuters)
- For them, the war is over. A few U.S. soldiers were half the way home
on Thursday, bearing wounds inflicted by Iraqis they thought they were
liberating.
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- Two army soldiers and one marine recounted to journalists
how they came under fire at the weekend from Iraqi troops in civilian dress
at the city of Nassiriya, scene of some of the fiercest fighting to date.
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- "We were very surprised. We were told when we were
going through Nassiriya that we would see little to no resistance,"
Marine Lance Corporal Joshua Menard told a news conference at the U.S.
military's medical facilities at Landstuhl, Germany.
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- A group of Iraqis in civilian clothes opened fire on
Menard as he and six other marines approached them on a bridge near Nassiriya
on Sunday, he said.
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- "We were more prepared for what happened in the
Gulf War when they turned over and surrendered most of the time... They
weren't rolling over like we thought they would," Menard, 21, from
Houston, Texas, said, with his left hand bandaged.
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- Beside him, in hospital robes, sat Army Staff Sergeant
Jamie Villafane and Sergeant Charles Horganof the First Battalion, 30th
Infantry Regiment. They told of being hurled out of their Humvee jeep by
an Iraqi missile in a separate attack.
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- "The amount of resistance, some of it I don't understand.
I mean we're there to help them to get them out of the regime. But you
have to understand they are being threatened to fight against us,"
said Villafane, 31, from Long Island, New York, his heavily bandaged left
arm resting on a pillow.
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- JUST LIKE THE MOVIES
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- Villafane said his battalion had been briefed that Iraqi
soldiers might disguise themselves in civilian clothes, but he was still
surprised when it happened.
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- "It was a shock that they would actually do that
given the treatment we try to give them. We try to treat them fairly...
I guess they have to do whatever they have to," Villafane said.
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- Horgan, 21, from Helena, Montana, said he was less surprised
to see Iraqi troops fighting back.
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- Horgan, whose right leg and foot were ripped open when
he was blown from his gunning position, described seeing an incoming missile
and barely having time to warn his colleagues before it struck.
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- "It was just like in the movies. I thought 'Oh my
God, I'm going to die'," he said, adding he feared as he was thrown
to the ground that he might lose his legs.
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- "I looked down and saw I had my legs. I was pretty
relieved about that."
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- The three wounded men said they felt a sense of guilt
at leaving friends behind in Iraq.
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- "I'm relieved that I'm out of that sort of thing.
I'm also kind of sad that I'm not with the guys who protected me,"
Horgan told reporters.
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- All three will head for the United States for further
treatment, Horgan needing extensive physiotherapy if he is to walk again.
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- Villafane said that before the war he had already had
thoughts about ending his term in the military, after 12 years of service.
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- "I made a decision before this actually started
with my family that I was going to get out... This kind of just put the
icing on the cake," he said.
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- Horgan said his thoughts were more on recovering.
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- "Nobody can be shot and say 'Wow, I really want
to go back out there. That was great'," he said.
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- The three also said they hoped any anti-war sentiment
at home would not turn into acrimony against soldiers.
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- "You may be against the war, but don't be against
the soldiers there who are fighting it. I joined to serve my country but
when I was there I was fighting to protect my friends," Horgan said.
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- Landstuhl, America's largest military hospital outside
the United States, is currently treating 72 patients from "Operation
Iraqi Freedom," 24 of them wounded in combat. Five are in intensive
care. The hospital is expanding to 320 beds, doubling its normal capacity.
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