WEBVTT 00:01.049 --> 00:03.990 I just live for that next step . If you 00:04.000 --> 00:06.000 live to take one more step , tender 00:06.000 --> 00:09.149 days easy . Don't worry about going 00:09.159 --> 00:11.890 home , take that next step , right ? 00:13.189 --> 00:15.600 We knew what we were getting into , but 00:15.609 --> 00:17.553 you don't know what you're getting 00:17.553 --> 00:19.720 yourself into until you're actually at 00:19.720 --> 00:19.200 that point . Right on , on the X . When 00:19.209 --> 00:21.209 on the X , it's a different story . 00:35.400 --> 00:38.930 My full name is Willard 00:39.259 --> 00:42.340 Anthony Buell . I go by Willie Colonel 00:42.349 --> 00:44.849 Willie Buell , us Marine Corps retired . 00:45.020 --> 00:48.279 The first Marine division held a 00:48.459 --> 00:51.709 after action review of Fallujah . 00:51.720 --> 00:55.409 One for the potential and 00:55.419 --> 00:58.950 really certain ret attack unclear of 00:58.959 --> 01:02.900 Fallujah . We knew that we were 01:02.909 --> 01:05.169 going to have to clear all enemy 01:05.180 --> 01:08.370 resistance in the city . So we 01:08.379 --> 01:11.860 had a series of objectives linearly 01:11.870 --> 01:15.199 north to south through the city proper . 01:16.339 --> 01:18.510 And if you ever looked at Fallujah , 01:18.540 --> 01:21.120 it's a medieval city and it was scary 01:21.129 --> 01:23.462 looking , you know , it was multi story . 01:23.462 --> 01:25.730 All the buildings were connected , 01:25.889 --> 01:28.480 there were minarets up in careful 01:28.489 --> 01:32.169 positions of Overwatch like ops and it 01:32.180 --> 01:36.040 was a formidable thing . We 01:36.050 --> 01:39.550 improvised . Um If we ran out of 01:39.559 --> 01:42.900 satchel charges , we strung wire around 01:42.910 --> 01:45.199 bangalore torpedoes and threw a time 01:45.209 --> 01:47.650 fuse in them . So we had to be , we had 01:47.660 --> 01:50.169 to be creative and had to figure things 01:50.180 --> 01:54.069 out . The violence that was occurring 01:54.080 --> 01:56.970 right away was a shock . You know , 01:56.980 --> 02:00.000 you're reading about the Kias and Wias 02:00.010 --> 02:02.419 every day , you're reading all the 02:02.430 --> 02:05.269 diabolical ways that the enemy was 02:05.279 --> 02:08.149 concealing things , uh hurting us , 02:08.160 --> 02:11.270 attacking us , uh every day . Some of 02:11.279 --> 02:13.940 the brutality that was going on , you 02:13.949 --> 02:16.350 know , beheadings and tortures and 02:16.399 --> 02:18.455 things of that nature . I think it's 02:18.455 --> 02:20.732 important that everyone and believe me , 02:20.732 --> 02:23.649 enough of that trickled down or was 02:23.660 --> 02:26.580 briefed to our marines . I have never 02:26.589 --> 02:30.490 seen a more focused group of marines 02:30.500 --> 02:33.460 and sailors concentrating using every 02:33.470 --> 02:35.581 minute of the day , every hour of the 02:35.581 --> 02:37.809 training day , making every round count 02:37.820 --> 02:40.139 in training because we knew we were 02:40.149 --> 02:43.220 going to certain heavy combat 02:49.529 --> 02:51.640 full name is Christopher Lee Pruitt . 02:51.640 --> 02:53.640 So my first name is Chris C . Hr is 02:53.640 --> 02:55.807 Thomas Bowen , last name Pruitt Pr U I 02:55.807 --> 02:58.949 TT , I was the senior star at the Bato . 02:59.660 --> 03:01.827 Well , the overview of Beal started in 03:01.827 --> 03:04.049 October actually . So for about a month 03:04.049 --> 03:06.271 or so , the bat was doing faints to the 03:06.271 --> 03:08.216 south of the city . And what we're 03:08.216 --> 03:10.104 doing is we're drawing out the um 03:10.104 --> 03:12.327 they're gonna be towards the south , so 03:12.327 --> 03:11.990 they're building their defense in the 03:12.000 --> 03:14.509 south of the city . So , and we put the 03:14.520 --> 03:16.353 script on him a month later , we 03:16.353 --> 03:18.520 actually invaded from the north and we 03:18.520 --> 03:20.631 came to the train tracks , we through 03:20.631 --> 03:22.909 there , the old city itself though was , 03:22.909 --> 03:24.909 you know , I mean , everything from 03:24.909 --> 03:24.770 burning buildings , right ? Uh , 03:24.779 --> 03:26.369 injured marines , um , 03:28.660 --> 03:32.470 their targets . Um , you had 03:32.479 --> 03:34.646 people that were still trying to leave 03:34.646 --> 03:34.610 the city . You had women and Children 03:34.619 --> 03:36.940 leaving the city , uh , older men , uh , 03:36.949 --> 03:40.149 leaving the city . This law destruction 03:42.080 --> 03:44.247 for the most part fighting was light . 03:44.247 --> 03:46.413 We gotten some scraps here and there . 03:46.413 --> 03:48.469 I took shrapnel early , early in the 03:48.469 --> 03:50.639 day , uh , in my lower leg and then we 03:50.649 --> 03:52.760 got to art where our limited events , 03:52.760 --> 03:54.816 what I was attached to , I could see 03:54.816 --> 03:57.070 second squad which is the squad was RJ 03:57.119 --> 03:59.550 RJ Mitchell . I can see those guys 03:59.559 --> 04:01.559 coming down the street but where we 04:01.559 --> 04:03.615 were sitting at , there was this one 04:03.615 --> 04:05.670 house in the corner that did not fit 04:05.670 --> 04:04.809 right with me . It didn't sit real well 04:04.820 --> 04:07.539 with me at all . So why the squad and 04:07.550 --> 04:09.717 the attachments were inside the uh our 04:09.717 --> 04:11.606 last our , our last house that we 04:11.606 --> 04:13.828 cleared taking a rest because it , it's 04:13.828 --> 04:15.883 been a long day . And so I walked by 04:15.883 --> 04:17.772 myself from that house across the 04:17.772 --> 04:19.772 street to this corner house because 04:19.772 --> 04:21.994 corner house had great review rather on 04:21.994 --> 04:24.328 our , our company CP and where we're at , 04:24.328 --> 04:26.494 the gate of the house is open . If the 04:26.494 --> 04:26.320 house is open , someone's probably in 04:26.329 --> 04:28.496 there or had been in there . So I peek 04:28.496 --> 04:30.607 inside the courtyard , I can see your 04:30.607 --> 04:32.662 rat trails . I can see where they've 04:32.662 --> 04:34.829 been practicing their ee routes , very 04:34.829 --> 04:34.760 warm patterned . So they were training 04:34.769 --> 04:37.980 fighters in this area . The Hell House 04:37.989 --> 04:41.420 is an incredible story of , of figuring 04:41.429 --> 04:44.950 out the problem and determining that we 04:44.959 --> 04:46.940 had men trapped inside . We had to 04:46.950 --> 04:49.510 create a different breach to get them 04:49.519 --> 04:52.100 out , pulling bars off a wall and 04:52.380 --> 04:55.010 climbing in with all slick out of your 04:55.019 --> 04:57.720 gear to get in , crawling on your back , 04:57.730 --> 05:00.230 suppressing people above you so that 05:00.239 --> 05:02.859 others without their weapons could run 05:02.869 --> 05:05.399 through danger to get their brothers 05:05.410 --> 05:07.250 and get them out alive . 05:10.190 --> 05:13.420 So then myself and four of the marines 05:13.500 --> 05:15.722 go into the courtyard and I say , man , 05:15.722 --> 05:17.611 they're here , they're here . Two 05:17.611 --> 05:19.778 marines take positions on the flank of 05:19.778 --> 05:21.944 the house and then myself , Weimer and 05:21.944 --> 05:24.056 uh Carla into the house . So we enter 05:24.056 --> 05:26.278 the house . Weer is number one , Carl's 05:26.278 --> 05:28.222 number two and number three , Weer 05:28.222 --> 05:30.167 takes the long wall . So he wasn't 05:30.167 --> 05:32.389 straight . Carla should take the hook , 05:32.389 --> 05:31.970 he freezes up because there's a target 05:31.980 --> 05:34.202 inside that house . I kicked him in the 05:34.202 --> 05:36.202 house . Me and we were engaged , uh 05:36.202 --> 05:38.202 that target , uh got the target out 05:38.202 --> 05:40.549 there in that first room . So now the 05:40.570 --> 05:42.737 gigs up , they all know we're in the , 05:42.737 --> 05:44.903 in the house . The three of us in this 05:44.903 --> 05:47.126 fight , the squad are still pushing and 05:47.126 --> 05:46.929 the other squad is still in the house 05:46.940 --> 05:49.107 and no one's like really coming to our 05:49.107 --> 05:51.218 aid or anything . No one knows what's 05:51.218 --> 05:50.839 going on . I believe there's two fires 05:50.850 --> 05:52.683 upstairs And so I'm not . So I'm 05:52.683 --> 05:54.739 tracing the stairs with my weapon to 05:54.739 --> 05:57.017 see where these guys were at . Impacts , 05:57.017 --> 05:59.072 start hitting right around where I'm 05:59.072 --> 05:58.619 standing at on the , on the walls and 05:58.630 --> 06:01.260 ricocheting . And so as , as I had the 06:01.269 --> 06:03.325 weapon up , up to my face , the door 06:03.325 --> 06:05.547 open up in front of me , uh and another 06:05.547 --> 06:07.769 target comes out out of the room with a 06:07.769 --> 06:09.936 chest rig on . I get shot initially to 06:09.936 --> 06:11.936 my leg and it was thrown through my 06:11.936 --> 06:14.047 calf . I don't even know that at that 06:14.047 --> 06:13.540 moment . But what hits me the next as 06:13.549 --> 06:15.709 I'm engaging the b my weapon is , is 06:15.720 --> 06:17.887 smacked . And then the next round hits 06:17.887 --> 06:20.053 my right wrist and so hits my nerve on 06:20.053 --> 06:22.164 a shattering my wrist . And so I spin 06:22.164 --> 06:24.276 around , I go outside to grab the two 06:24.276 --> 06:26.387 of the marines to get in the inside . 06:26.387 --> 06:28.276 They come in and I exit the house 06:28.276 --> 06:30.387 because I need to get the other squad 06:30.387 --> 06:29.959 in this fight . And I don't have any 06:29.970 --> 06:32.303 communication with that with that squad . 06:32.303 --> 06:34.470 So as I go outside , there's a fighter 06:34.470 --> 06:36.526 up top . And so I'm running from the 06:36.526 --> 06:38.748 front door to the gate as I get to that 06:38.748 --> 06:40.914 gate , I'm shot again . Took a burst , 06:40.914 --> 06:42.970 break my ribs . I fall right . I get 06:42.970 --> 06:44.914 now I'm facing that squad . It was 06:44.914 --> 06:47.081 pushing down towards us . So I jump up 06:47.081 --> 06:49.248 and I run towards him and hey , we got 06:49.248 --> 06:48.540 you guys over here . Castle was 06:48.549 --> 06:50.605 attached to that squad and he pulled 06:50.605 --> 06:52.716 and said , hey , what's going on ? So 06:52.716 --> 06:54.882 as he's trying to be me up , I draw in 06:54.882 --> 06:57.216 the sand in the schematics of the house . 06:57.216 --> 06:57.170 Keep in mind when I left that house , 06:57.179 --> 06:59.290 Carla and we were still there , Carly 06:59.290 --> 07:01.568 was shot in the femur . He's screaming . 07:01.568 --> 07:03.679 You ever heard a grown man scream ? I 07:03.679 --> 07:03.670 like that . You'll understand what I 07:03.679 --> 07:05.957 mean . But he's screaming in the house . 07:05.957 --> 07:08.470 So I tell RJ , he immediately RJ takes 07:08.480 --> 07:10.647 the squad , they go into the house and 07:10.647 --> 07:12.313 they start cleaning the house 07:12.313 --> 07:14.480 themselves . And that's where my story 07:14.480 --> 07:13.829 stops and their story starts beginning . 07:24.640 --> 07:27.140 We created a humanitarian center . We 07:27.149 --> 07:29.700 called it Brahma Park . We immediately 07:29.709 --> 07:32.089 turned to getting the city cleaned up 07:32.670 --> 07:36.309 and restored mercy services , sewage , 07:36.320 --> 07:39.529 electricity , all of that . And we did 07:39.540 --> 07:42.679 the first vote in 55 years there . Um 07:42.690 --> 07:45.429 You know , the purple fingers and uh it 07:45.440 --> 07:47.496 shocked me how many people wanted to 07:47.496 --> 07:50.010 come and vote . Thousands , thousands 07:50.019 --> 07:52.690 came out in the rubble of their city to 07:52.700 --> 07:55.609 show up to the voting booths and , and 07:55.619 --> 07:57.730 vote because they just never had done 07:57.730 --> 08:00.730 it before . You always wanna believe 08:00.739 --> 08:03.630 it's worth something . If I'm around my 08:03.640 --> 08:06.190 brother and sister Marines , it's worth 08:06.200 --> 08:08.311 it . I don't have to look past that . 08:10.070 --> 08:12.510 I want to take a quick moment to tell 08:12.519 --> 08:16.119 you a story that I think perhaps was 08:16.130 --> 08:18.130 the most important component to the 08:18.130 --> 08:20.899 success of our battalion . Then we had 08:20.910 --> 08:23.279 a lot of corporals , senior lance 08:23.290 --> 08:25.346 corporals and some sergeants who did 08:25.346 --> 08:27.399 not have time to make a third 08:27.410 --> 08:31.179 deployment . We had 100 and 34 of them 08:31.190 --> 08:33.450 and we were getting large numbers of 08:33.460 --> 08:35.900 school of infantry , new PF CS and 08:35.909 --> 08:38.562 privates uh significantly expanding the 08:38.572 --> 08:42.242 battalion and I was about to lose 15% 08:42.252 --> 08:44.833 of the best leadership right at the 08:44.843 --> 08:47.242 lance corporal sergeant level that you 08:47.252 --> 08:49.163 could ask for men who had done a 08:49.172 --> 08:51.752 tremendous work up to that point . So 08:51.763 --> 08:54.023 the our major and I brought all of them 08:54.033 --> 08:56.802 out and made an appeal to them to 08:56.812 --> 08:59.796 extend just to make the time for that 08:59.806 --> 09:02.945 deployment . As we uh were speaking , 09:02.955 --> 09:05.226 almost as if I couldn't have asked for 09:05.236 --> 09:08.306 it to be choreographed . Four buses 09:08.356 --> 09:10.300 came rolling up from the school of 09:10.300 --> 09:13.786 infantry . Our last dump of new uh of 09:13.796 --> 09:16.018 new marines and they were stumbling out 09:16.018 --> 09:18.074 of the buses with their sea bags and 09:18.166 --> 09:20.333 platoon SERNS were yelling at them and 09:20.565 --> 09:22.945 I said that's why I need you to stay so 09:22.955 --> 09:24.733 we can bring them home to their 09:24.733 --> 09:27.530 families . And 100 and 18 of the 09:27.539 --> 09:31.510 134 marines agreed to extend to 09:31.520 --> 09:34.479 make the deployment . And that was the 09:34.489 --> 09:37.390 core magic at that level , that made 09:37.400 --> 09:39.178 the difference for us that made 09:39.178 --> 09:41.969 everything in training and absolutely 09:41.979 --> 09:45.700 in combat . Every time you deploy in a 09:45.710 --> 09:47.877 combat scenario , if you ever have any 09:47.877 --> 09:50.099 type of trauma or experiences like that 09:50.099 --> 09:52.210 overseas , if you come back expecting 09:52.210 --> 09:54.432 to be the same person . They're wrong . 09:54.432 --> 09:56.654 You changed . Every time I deployed , I 09:56.654 --> 09:58.710 changed , I lost a part of you every 09:58.710 --> 09:58.450 time I deployed . It's always never the 09:58.460 --> 10:00.571 same before . So I had to accept that 10:00.571 --> 10:03.719 change . The ones who have , who have 10:03.729 --> 10:05.673 fallen they always thought about , 10:05.673 --> 10:07.840 always talked about . A lot of us will 10:07.840 --> 10:07.500 always come back together and talk 10:07.510 --> 10:10.460 about so and so their experiences , the , 10:10.659 --> 10:12.659 the funny thing they did , the dumb 10:12.659 --> 10:14.881 thing they did . Uh But the camaraderie 10:14.881 --> 10:17.103 that uh a lot of us still have together 10:17.103 --> 10:19.326 is still still present if you were , if 10:19.326 --> 10:21.900 you were with me in 31 with my batoon 10:21.909 --> 10:24.559 or or not , that whole entire time is , 10:24.570 --> 10:26.681 is deserving to become that same croy 10:26.909 --> 10:29.131 still today . Like those marines and Ma 10:29.131 --> 10:31.187 Batino were still in contact today . 10:31.890 --> 10:34.510 Uncommon valor was a common virtue on 10:34.520 --> 10:37.349 Iwo Jima and it wasn't Fallujah . You 10:37.359 --> 10:39.470 know , we always wanted to measure up 10:39.470 --> 10:41.137 to what they did , you know , 10:41.137 --> 10:43.359 Guadalcanal , Tarawa , Iwo , Jima , 10:43.590 --> 10:47.320 Okinawa , the chosen reservoir Incheon , 10:48.070 --> 10:50.109 our marines did . And the next 10:50.119 --> 10:53.309 generation I hope will believe in 10:53.320 --> 10:55.630 themselves every bit as much as the 10:55.640 --> 10:57.070 ones that I serve with .