House to House: An Epic
Memoir of War
by SSG David Bellavia with John R. Bruning
I have read a lot of books about the Iraq war.
Literally an entire bookshelf worth. Many of them are
Very Important Books, the kind that will make their
way into course curriculums of the future, that are
cited as reference material for other books, that hit
the NYTimes best-seller list.
But I have never pressed my friends to read them,
never choked up trying to explain why a particular
book was so important, never said that they would
never forget this book.
Not until House to House.
Admittedly, I bought the book because of my
familiarity with Michael's account of the Second
Battle of Falluja in Time magazine, when he was
embedded with author Bellavia's platoon. I thought I
knew the story of this battle -- certainly the bloody
story of The House, a small part of the battle but
pivotal in Michael's article and in Bellavia's Medal
of Honor nomination.
What I did not know -- what no magazine article or
news broadcast could possibly convey -- was the
incredible, nearly unbearable sacrifice these men
made. Certainly, the raw and gut-wrenching honesty
that fills this book could not possibly be buffed
clean enough for mass consumption and still be said
to contain anything but the barest glimpse of truth.
It is not an easy read. I fear that some might read
it and be horrified by the things these men say and
do and see; I was only horrified that they
had to.
My admiration for these men is immense. They do not
consider themselves heroes, just grunts doing their
job and trying to keep their brothers alive. Whatever
your beliefs about the war and the politics and the
future, they are dodging bullets while we sit safe in
our homes.
As for David Bellavia, it takes one form of heroism
to have faced Fallujah, and it takes quite another to
bare heart and soul in order to give civilians like
me a glimpse into the true nature of the war in Iraq.
I am truly grateful to him for both.
* * * * *
There are quite a few references to Michael in
the book, but most of them mean little without the
surrounding context, so they are tough to quote here.
One exception --
November 9,
2004.
At the end of the first full day in Fallujah,
Bellavia learns from Michael that while the soldiers
have been pushing south from the city's northern
border, the Marines have bogged down near their
parallel insertion point and are nowhere near the
planned meet-up location. Suddenly, rather than just
being a civilian that the squad must keep alive, he
is an asset:
I'm thinking about what he's just said when Ware
offers, "I will tell you this: this enemy is not
done. Not by a long stretch. These men out there,
they are here to kill you or die trying."
"You were here in April. What's different now?" asks
[SSG Colin] Fitts.
Ware considers his response. Yuri [Kozyrev, Michael's
photographer] stares at nothing.
We’ve got 360 security set up, and all is quiet for
the moment. I sit down and light another cigarette.
I've always considered the reporters and journalists
to be little more than whores. They'll whore us out
for whatever story they can get out of us. And they
never care. Maybe Ware is different.
Ware finally tells Fitts, "Look. These are brazen,
calculated, and organized fighters. They're not the
boys who were here in April. These are foreigners, or
battle-tested Sunnis from around the country. But
they are certainly not the boys you have over in
Diyala."
"Yeah, I hear that," [Sergeant Chuck] Knapp replies.
Ware's right. There is a level of professionalism in
these guys we have not seen before.
Ware looks into my eyes and says, "They're here for
one reason: to die in jihad. That's it."
We're silent. Ware continues. "They know they can't
win. Look at all the firepower they face. But they'll
take out as many of you as they can before they die.
That's their whole reason for being."
The more Ware talks, the more surprised I become by
his confidence in his assessment. Ware is giving us a
lecture. And the more he speaks, the more we all
realize he knows what he is talking about.
Ware launches into a story about the insurgents he's
met. Early on, in 2003, he would sit and drink beer
with them and smoke. They talked about money, girls,
soccer, and Pan-Arabism. A year after the invasion,
though, things have changed. Those who have survived
have been radicalized. They wear beards down to their
chests and quote the Koran. They don't drink with him
anymore. They speak only of God and destiny. They've
become jihadists.
We're not fighting nationalists here. We're fighting
extremists infected with a virulent form of Islam.
They seek not only to destroy us here in Iraq, but to
destroy American power and influence everywhere. They
revile our culture and want it swept clean, replaced
with Sharia law. The cruelties of Taliban rule in
Afghanistan showed us all what that meant.
Ware notices he has his audience's complete
attention. He takes the opportunity to segue into a
discourse on the different groups we are fighting in
Fallujah. He talks about Hezbollah, and the type of
training the Iranian Revolutionary Guard gives to the
insurgents. That leads him into a tactical
discussion. He compares the insurgents who fought in
Samarra to those in Najaf. He speaks of the Iranian
influence on Sunni Wahhabis. He goes on to explain
how Hezbollah-trained squads sometimes carry nothing
but RPGs and move without detection. When they
attack, they volley-fire their RPGs, then fan out as
they retreat. These are all things Fitts and I have
talked about for months, have heard through the
infantry grapevine. But I am impressed to hear the
same things from a journalist.
And then there are the insurgents' ambush tactics.
Ware has seen or heard them all. He explains how
they'll probe an American unit just to get a
response. Then the probing element will break contact
and withdraw with the hope that the Americans will
chase them. If the Americans do give chase, they'll
run smack into a horseshoe-shaped or L-shaped ambush
and get blown away.
In Fallujah, we face an insurgent global all-star
team. It includes Chechen snipers, Filipino machine
gunners, Pakistani mortar men, and Saudi suicide
bombers. They're all waiting for us down the street.
Ware is an authority on the enemy. He knows more
about them than our own intelligence officers. I hang
on every word and try to remember everything he tells
us. It is the best, most comprehensive discussion
I've heard about the enemy since arriving in Iraq.
* * * * *
Read
Michael's article: Into The Hot
Zone
Watch
David Bellavia interviewed on The Situation
Room