U.S. forces recall fight to expel al-Qaida from southern Baghdad neighborhood

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First Lt. Andrew Teague, 24,of Glen Ellyn, Ill., who leads 4th Platoon, Company G, 3rd Squadron, 2nd Cavalry (Stryker) Regiment, points out enemy positions from a room where his soldiers took cover Sept. 18 during a battle with insurgents in Baghdad's Hadar neighborhood.


U.S. forces recall fight to expel al-Qaida from southern Baghdad neighborhood
By Seth Robson, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Friday, December 7, 2007

BAGHDAD — The streets of southern Baghdad where 3rd Squadron, 2nd Cavalry (Stryker) Regiment fought through September to root out a nest of al-Qaida in Iraq fighters were quiet Tuesday.

In the Hadar neighborhood, near the epicenter of the violence, a couple of young Iraqi men sat outside a small shop frowning at soldiers from the squadron’s 2nd Platoon, Company G. The Americans, on their way to another mission outside Baghdad, were taking a last look at the place where one of their toughest battles happened, on Sept. 16.

“This street seemed a lot longer that day and a lot wider,” recalled Staff Sgt. Jared Utter, 34, of Columbia, S.C., who took cover on a nearby rooftop when the enemy opened up with machine-gun fire on his platoon.

“Time slowed down,” recalled Sgt. Angel Fernando, 25, of Marietta, Ga., an expert sniper who gunned down a fleeing insurgent during the fight.

The battle was one of many fought by 3rd Squadron, which bore the brunt of heavy fighting by the regiment, losing six soldiers killed in action in three months in Iraq.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=50790