The door gunner in a Huey helicopter keeps watch as Marines scan the terrain near Al Kut in Eastern Iraq. (Rick Loomis / LAT)
Cpl. Kenneth Bass walks over a berm near landing spot of Huey helicopter. (Rick Loomis / LAT)
Lt. Col. John Mayer, center, looks over a map on the battlefield south of Al Kut. (Rick Loomis / LAT)
A Huey helicopter flies ahead while a Marine on the ground keeps watch for Iraqi troops operating near Al Kut. (Rick Loomis / LAT)
A Marine keeps his weapon trained on the distance as smoke rises from artillery strikes. (Rick Loomis / LAT)
Iraqi RPG launchers, hand grenades and the boots of Iraqi soldiers that have been sucked off by the deep mud remain at the scene after a fight with U.S. Marines. The Iraqis fled after Marines returned fire. (Rick Loomis / LAT)
Iraqi women flee the roadside as American forces roll through a small village in near Al Kut. (Rick Loomis / LAT)
The boot of an Iraqi soldier sits stuck in the mud near adandoned RPG’s (rocket propelled grenades) after U.S. forces fired on soldiers trying to engage them. (Rick Loomis / LAT)
Members of a U.S. disposal team place mortar rounds in a pit. The ordnance was seized from an Iraqi supply truck in southern Iraq. (Rick Loomis / LAT)
