CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (July 28, 2006) -- His
desert utilities shredded by shrapnel and streaked with his own blood
and that of his fellow Marines, Cpl. Robert J. Mitchell Jr. limped out
of the cement block house in downtown Fallujah, Iraq, and into the
annals of Marine Corps history.
The day was Nov. 13, 2004, and according to the Marine Corps’ official
account of the fierce, close quarters battle, Mitchell ignored his own
wounds and repeatedly braved enemy fire to administer first aid to and
evacuate other Marines wounded in the fight.
Nearly two years after that fateful day, in a solemn ceremony at Camp
Pendleton, Calif., Mitchell received the Navy Cross from Lt. Gen. John
F. Sattler, commander of the I Marine Expeditionary Force. The Navy
Cross is the nation’s second-highest award for battlefield heroism.
“This is a truly special occasion,” said Sattler, addressing the
assembled Marines and guests after presenting the award. “Valor comes
in a scale, and all the Marines, Sailors, and veterans here today know
how rare of an occasion this is.”
As a cool, dry wind snapped the flags around the parade deck, Mitchell
choked back tears as he thanked God, his family, and his fellow Marines
for their support and attending the ceremony.
Mitchell joined the Marine Corps in early 2001, and was on his second
tour in Iraq with the 1st Marine Division when Coalition forces
launched a joint U.S.-Iraqi offensive to reclaim Fallujah from
insurgents who had fortified the city.
Dubbed Operation Al Fajr (aka Phantom Fury), the assault on Fallujah
kicked off on Nov. 8, 2004, and quickly turned into a bloody,
street-by-street contest with then-Corporal Mitchell and his fellow
Marines in Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, in the
thick of the fighting.
Day by day, Mitchell and his squad pushed through the city,
methodically clearing pockets of enemy resistance as they progressed.
During an assault against an insurgent strong point on Nov. 12,
Mitchell was shot through the right tricep, but ignored the wound to
help destroy the fortified position, and later refused medical
evacuation to remain with his squad.
The next day, an assault against a squat, cement house had gone
horribly wrong and several wounded Marines lay trapped inside with
several well-fortified insurgents waiting in ambush positions.
Mitchell’s squad got the call to come and assist.
“When the call came, we knew we had to get them out,” said Mitchell. “That became the mission – the only mission.”
Once on the scene, the Iowa native quickly established a casualty
collection point and organized his men to assault the building.
Then-1st Sgt. Bradley A. Kasal, the senior enlisted Marine from another
company, joined Mitchell’s squad, and together, they charged the
building and took up firing positions.
The first floor of the house was littered with dead or dying
insurgents, and the wounded Marines lay further inside. Other enemy
fighters were in fortified positions on the roof looking down through a
skylight, creating a kill zone between Mitchell and the wounded
Marines.
Covered by suppressive fire, Mitchell raced through the kill zone
toward the wounded Marines as the rooftop insurgents showered the room
below with rifle fire and grenades. Shrapnel from one of the grenades
peppered the back of Mitchell’s legs, but he made it to the stranded,
wounded Marines.
“It was great to see him come in,” said Cpl. Jose Sanchez, an
infantryman from Houston, Texas. “Until he got there I was switching
between treating Carlisle [Lance Cpl. Cory] and providing security.
When Corporal Mitchell came in, he took over the medical treatment and
I could focus on firing at the insurgents.”
A trained combat lifesaver, Mitchell went to work on Carlisle’s
bullet-mangled leg. With his medical supplies running out, he once
again orchestrated suppression of the insurgents on the roof to allow a
corpsman and another Marine to sprint through the kill zone.
By this time, both Kasal and another Marine, Pvt. 1st Class Alex
Nicoll, had been seriously wounded by rifle fire and grenades, and were
holed up inside a small room across the kill zone Mitchell had crossed
only moments before.
Leaving the wounded Marines in the care of the corpsman, Mitchell once
again braved the kill zone, and like before, the insurgents sprayed the
short, treacherous path with bullets and grenades. One bullet smashed
into Mitchell’s M-16A4 assault rifle, shattering the weapon before
ricocheting down and into his right leg. More shrapnel slashed
Mitchell’s legs and face, yet he remained on his feet and made it to
Kas |
