A Fallujah Timeline
27 October 2004 to 03 November 2004:
Task Force 2-2 Infantry prepares for their upcoming mission to clear Al Fallujah of insurgents. Still carrying out missions at our FOB Normandy (Muqdadiyah, Iraq) we are pulling long hours of patrolling, fighting localsand preparing for the Super Bowl of urban warfare. Our generation's D Day.
05 November 2004 (D-2):
Task Force 2-2 arrives at the Marine ForwardOperating Base in Fallujah.
06 November 2004 (D-1):
Rehearsals for attack prove the Marines are wellprepared and reseached for this assault.
07 November 2004:
Final rehearsal. Inspections of all gear. Lots of smoking and joking.
08 November 2004:
The battle of Al Fallujah begins. Quickly into the fight, Task Force 2-2 takes losses as the first fire fight of the battle is devastating.
09 November 2004:
We attack south through Askari District and to phase line Linda; Securing two major objectives at Highway Ten. Major fight occurs at the Imam al-Shafi Mosque with A Company repelling assault from a well rehearsed and equipped enemy force. TOW missiles, Bradley 25mm cannon fire, 84mm rockets, grenades, and machine gun fire were frantically used to finally destroy all remaining elements of the enemy assault.
10 November 2004 (D+3):
Task Force 2-2 conducts search and attack missions north. (2330) Third Platoon A Company is ordered to clear a neighborhood of approximately twenty homes to kill or capture six to eight insurgents. Third Platoonexperienced up close, point-blank range urban fighting which devolved into hand-to-hand struggles inside buildings. It is abundantly clear that we are fighting a global all-star team of Islamic fundamentalism as we find passports and manuals in a plethora of languages.
11 November 2004 (D+4):
Task Force 2-2 attacks South into Industrial District. We begin clearing every building and every room of our territory. Complacency and sleep deprivation are now just as deadly to our unit as anything the enemy candeliver to us in this battle space.
12 November 2004 (D+5):
In the bloodiest and heaviest fighting in Fallujah to date for the soldiers of Task Force 2-2, scores of enemy fighters are cut down as we miraculously manage to take only a handful of causalities.
13 November 2004 (D +6):
A Company reels from another devastating loss from an important member of our leadership team. More and more caches are discovered.
14 November 2004 (D+7):
Task Force 2-2 begins the slow, methodical clearing of every structure and every room of the massive industrial district of Fallujah. We find IED factories and a car-bomb factory hastily left moments before we entered the area.
22 November 2004(D+10):
Task Force 2-2 returns to Diyala province to combat a restless enemy who intends to throw everything in their power to disrupt the first free election in Iraq's history on January 30, 2005.
Advance Praise for House to House
“This rapid-fire recreation of the block-by-block fighting captures perfectly the horror—and horrible peak-experience attraction—of war…the narrative abounds with scenes and dialogue that make this account of battle read like a realistic war novel.”—Kirkus Reviews
“The telling of the story appears almost a great coming-of-age story and rivals the greatest accounts of modern warfare including those from the Vietnam-era: A Rumor of War by Philip Caputo and If I Die in a Combat Zone by Tim O’Brien… this book is a must-read that should be at the top of anyone’s biography, military or current affairs reading pile.”—Hooked on Books
“Like St. Mihiel, Normandy, Inchon, and Khe Sanh before it, Fallujah is one of the most horrific and hard-fought battles in U.S. history. SSG David Bellavia’s riveting, poignant, and at times even humorous firsthand account vividly emphasizes why this battle must never be forgotten. And why, because of the breathtaking courage of Bellavia and his fellow troops, it was won.”—Andrew Carroll, editor of War Letters and Behind the Lines
“House to House is a charged and honestly stark view down the rifle-sights of an infantryman during a crucial period in Iraq. Bellavia is our man with boots on the ground. To read this book is to know intimately the daily grind and danger of men at war.”—Anthony Swofford, author of Jarhead
“David Bellavia shows us the stairways and alleys of Fallujah through the sights of his M-4. Politics and strategy are impossible luxuries for the combat infantryman, but Bellavia writes about even bigger themes: courage, fear, brotherhood, and duty. This is a humbling story, brilliantly told.”—Nathaniel Fick, author of One Bullet Away: The Making of a Marine Officer
“A hair-raising tale of men in battle. House to House is about as raw and real as it gets.” —Evan Thomas, author of Sea of Thunder
“House to House is a terrifically realistic account of the hardest kind of combat known to man. Staff Sergeant Bellavia puts you right there with his men as they see it. This is a must read.” —Gunnery Sgt. Jack Coughlin, USMC (Ret.), author of Shooter: The Autobiography of the Top-Ranked Marine Sniper
“Bellavia is the legend from Iraq. He went house-to-house in Fallujah killing the terrorists —alone! MUST reading for all grunts.”—Bing West, author of No True Glory
“Staff Sgt. Bellavia brings it. This is life in the infantry, circa right now. They used to say that ‘the real war will never get in the books.’ Here it does, stunningly. You may not agree with it, or like what he has to say. Read it anyway—and then sit silently for an hour or so and contemplate what he has done on behalf of his country.”—Thomas E. Ricks, author of Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq and Making the Corps
“House to House is a rare and gripping account of frontline combat. While many who contemplate the nature of war focus on technological change, Bellavia's account reveals the continuities of close combat. Bellavia illuminates the human, psychological, emotional, and sensory experience of combat at the level of leadership that wins battles -- the infantry squad leader. Bellavia's story unfolds in a compelling narrative that helps readers understand what it is like to be in battle and what it is like to be a soldier.”—Colonel H.R. McMaster, author of Dereliction of Duty
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