Quote Originally Posted by MikeF View Post
I'm losing sleep sorting through the book

I'm enjoying Ricks' observations and perspective on the strategic and operational level, but he has left out significant tactical narratives. I suppose this history is simply too rich and too new to be told now.

Off the top of my head, five major battles were neglected:

Pre-Surge:
1. Nov 2006: Battle of Turki Village: movement to contact, 5-73 Recon killing 110 enemy.
2. Jan 2007: Battle of Turki Village II: Clearance of AQI training camp, 5-73 Recon and 3/1 CAV, 250 EKIA.
3. Feb 2007: Battle outside Najaf: 3/2 Strykers and SF killed 300 EKIA.

Surge
4. March-July 2007: Battle of Baqubah: 3/1 CAV and 3/2 Strykers
5. March-Aug 2007: Battle of Diyala River Valley, 5-73 Recon and 3/1 CAV

Several KEY BCT and BN Commanders were left out- COL David Sutherland, COL Townsend, and COL Andrew Poppas. Not to mention COL John Charlton's and 3/3 ID efforts following Niel's success in Anbar.


v/r

Mike
He does reference Townsend and the SBCT he commanded in his para about the promotion board he chaired, and 1/3 ID gets credit for following 1/1's start and the Battle of Donkey Island is briefly mentioned.

As I mentioned on AM's comment thread, and Ken says above - he's writing a narrative, not a history. As such, there is already much teeth grinding over 2d squad, 2d Plt, B Company, 69th Infantry's omission from the book. With all of them - you have to evaluate - did the inclusion or exclusion significantly impact the validity or outcome of Ricks' narrative?

I also remind a lot of mil guys - there were very few reporters and a lot of battles. If you haven't written the 1st hand article on an event you were involved in, do so and send it to the appropriate branch pub or military mag. One reason 1/1 and 2-37 AR have been heavily written about is that their commanders took the time to write their experiences for publication.

In another thread I took a 2ACR SGT to task for complaining about his unit's exclusion in Martha Radditz's "The Long Road Home". I then asked if anyone had written their story or told it outside the unit. The answer, of course, was no.

No writing, no publicity/credit/honor for your guys and their efforts.

(Not directed at you Mike, but I hear this a lot)

Niel