Clue to Attack in Iraq Started With Eyes

A white Chevy Suburban with bullet holes in the windshield veered menacingly toward the Marine convoy rumbling down a sleepy country road.

Capt. Jer Garcia got a look at the driver’s eyes.

“I knew instantly that this was not right and he was going to do something bad,” Garcia, the company commander, recalled Wednesday.

But there was no time to react. The suicide vehicle plowed into a seven-ton truck ferrying 18 Marines from Bravo Company of the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment. Eight Marines were killed and nine injured in the car bomb attack Saturday. It was the biggest death toll for U.S. troops in a single incident in Iraq in more than six months.

As U.S. troops gather around the insurgent stronghold of Fallouja west of Baghdad, the attack on the Marines serves as a reminder that, despite overwhelming American firepower, guerrillas have worked to exploit gaps in U.S. defenses.

Marines of the 1st Battalion assembled Wednesday to honor their fallen comrades on a former Iraqi military base used by U.S. troops. A photo of a smiling former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein that looked down on Marines eating their meals was taken down before the ceremony.

The loss was a devastating blow for the unit -- which arrived recently in Iraq -- as it prepared for what is expected to be one of the bloodiest operations of the war.

“We [will use] this anger we all feel and focus it like a laser beam on the enemy,” Garcia told his troops.

One after another, the Marines vowed to channel their grief toward insurgents who await them a few miles away, in a city thought to be filled with booby traps, hidden bombs and other dangers.

“They’re ready to go,” said Staff Sgt. Jason Benedict, who was in the bombed truck and suffered burns on his left arm. “I’m ready to get back in with them.”

Among the wounded at the memorial was Dennis Astor, a 22-year-old Navy corpsman attached to Bravo Company. Astor suffered burns on both hands and his face, and a shrapnel wound on his forehead.

Astor, a Philippine native whose family immigrated to northern San Diego County five years ago, was thrown clear of the truck and knocked unconscious.

“I asked them to put me back out there, but they said I have to get healed first,” said Astor, who arrived at the ceremony in hospital garb -- blue paper shorts, plastic sandals and an olive-green T-shirt that matched his olive-green sling.

“I don’t think I’m really going to make it to the big battle because my wounds really aren’t healing that fast. I’m kind of disappointed. Those are my friends,” he said

A series of mishaps -- a vehicle breakdown, a broken towing device, a wrong turn -- slowed the Marine convoy and gave the guerrillas time to deploy their biggest weapon: the suicide car bomb. Insurgents then attacked the crippled convoy with mortars and small-arms fire

“They had plenty of time to set up an ambush,” said Staff Sgt. Jason Benedict, who suffered burns on his left arm.

Bravo Company had spent five days in a dangerous area south of Fallouja in an operation the military calls showing “presence.” The Marine unit, on its first extensive operation in Iraq, searched for weapons caches and handed out water and Meals Ready to Eat packages to civilians.

“They didn’t really seem to care for us down there,” Benedict said.

The Marines moved around a lot, mindful not to spend too much time in one place. They set up camp one night in a cornfield, and another night next to a date grove, Astor said. They occasionally were targeted by mortars from outlying villages.

“We didn’t want to stick around too long,” Benedict said. “As soon as we could, we wanted to get on the trucks and start rolling.”

On Saturday, the Marines were heading back to their fortified base outside Fallouja, about half an hour away, Benedict said. The last unit scheduled to leave was Bravo Company with its 57 troops, mostly from the 3rd Platoon, Astor recalled. Mortar shells fell about 800 yards from their position that morning, he said.

“I wasn’t scared at all, because I knew that’s what combat’s supposed to be,” Astor said. “Still, I definitely felt it wasn’t safe.”

Things went badly from the beginning for the convoy, which included four troop transport trucks and a number of Humvees. One of the trucks sent to pick up the troops broke down and had to be towed by another truck. That slowed everyone down. Some civilians threw rocks at the Marines as the convoy passed a market, Astor said.

Then the convoy took a wrong turn. And while trying the difficult maneuver of turning all the vehicles around, a tow bar pulling the disabled truck broke, causing another delay. Yet another truck had to be hooked up to tow the vehicle.

“It was just a snowball effect of vehicles breaking down, slow movement of the convoy ... the wrong turn,” said Garcia, the company commander. “We gave the enemy more time to set upon us.”

A convoy that was supposed to be as quick and low-profile as possible was lumbering along. The insurgents noticed.

“I was a little bit scared that time because I knew we were going very slowly and we were in a really bad neighborhood,” Astor said.

“Every minute counts because they’re watching us. They’re watching all our moves -- everything that we do.”

As the Marines crossed a bridge several vehicles passed them, Benedict said. He suspected that they were scouting the Marines’ position.

The driver of the Suburban struck on the other side of the bridge. He accelerated from a concealed position along the side of the road and came alongside the convoy. As soon as Garcia noticed the Suburban and looked into the driver’s eyes, he said, he began reaching for his weapon, trying to alert a gunner and grab the radio to get word to the rest of the convoy. But it was too late.

“We were just rolling by, going home,” Astor said, “and the next thing you know there was a boom.”

The troop transport was engulfed in flames. Astor was thrown to the ground. Bodies were sprawled in the bed of the burning truck.

Other Marines rushed to the wounded. Helicopters evacuated the injured. Such attacks have occurred before in Iraq. The U.S. death toll has soared beyond 1,100.

The Marines of the “1-3” are still reflecting on the attack.

“Nobody could ever imagine a guy waiting at the side of the road, waiting to drive a car into you,” Garcia said.

“You just don’t imagine that.”