| Embeded reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle John Koopman captures the war in Iraq as it was lived, firsthand from Darkside’s (Col McCoy) humvee or riding with the sergeant major (the Marine infantry battalion’s "most feared, respected, loved, and hated man"). A former Marine himself, Koopman was seeing combat for the first time. Here are his reports as filed from Iraq and followed up with the Battalions return to 29 Palms. |
| Other Articles of Intrest |
| At the Gates of Baghdad- 4-6-03 K. Rome | Good Kills 4-20-03 by Peter Maass NY Times | Brothers 05-11-03 |
McCoy's Marines / Darkside Toward Baghdad
Marine troops exit an AAV (amphibious assault vehicle) while practicing a possible
landing on Iraqi soil during training at the Marine base at Twenty-Nine Palms.
Chronicle photo by Michael Macor
McCoy's Marines / Darkside Toward Baghdad
Members of the 3rd Batallion 4th Marine unit, from right, Lt. James Nolan, Lt. James Freda,
center, and Lt. Dan O'Brien, play cards in their tent as they spend some free time Sunday afternoon,
March 16, 2003, at Camp Coyote in northern desert of Kuwait.
Boston Herald photo by Kuni Takahashi via Associated Press
McCoy's Marines / Darkside Toward Baghdad
Lt. Col. Bryan McCoy, commander of the 3rd Battalion 4th Marine Regiment.
Chronicle photo by Michael Macor
McCoy's Marines / Darkside Toward Baghdad
Marines of the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment gather in Kuwait for a speech
by their commanding officer, Lt. Col. Bryan P. McCoy, on the eve of war in Iraq.
Chronicle photo by John Koopman
Marines elated to be in the fight
Cpl. James Welter of Chicago, right, guards the perimeter of a U.S. Marines encampment
Friday in Iraq. Orange Co.
Register photo by Mark Avery via Associated Press
Marines engage Iraqi forces in a firefight inside
the central Iraq town of Kut.
Associated Press photo by Laurent Rebours.
U.S. Marines fire mortars at Iraqi positions in Kut, a military town on the
Tigris River southeast of Baghdad. Associated Press photo by Laurent Rebours
