Letters From The Warlords
By Thomas D. Segel (10/18/04)
Most Americans receive their war news from the mainstream media in the form of battlefield casualty reports, each painting a darker picture than the previous announcement. Few reporters filing stories from Iraq bother to tell Americans of our many victories or even address the human side of the news. That may be the war as most of us hear about it, but it was never so for the family members of one Marine unit.
They are officially designated the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, headquartered at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. While deployed to Iraq, the regiment served as a unit of the lst Marine Division. Unofficially, the 2nd Battalion is known as The Warlords.
Leading this elite band of warriors is a veteran of almost twenty years service in the United States Marine Corps. He is Lieutenant Colonel J. G. Kyser IV and he really has been a Marine all his life. The son of a career Marine and Vietnam veteran, Giles, as family and friends know him, grew up surrounded by those who wear the forest green uniform. He graduated from the Marine Military Academy in Harlingen, Texas in 1981 and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Marine Corps upon graduation from the United States Naval Academy in 1985.
As Commanding Officer of 2nd Battalion he has led his Marines into some of the deadliest fighting in Iraq, where his Warlords proved time and time again that they were one of America’s finest fighting units.
Commanding Officers often have the responsibility of writing to family members when someone from their unit is lost in combat. Few communicate with those at home on a regular basis. Giles Kyser, however, found time to periodically report to family members on the lives of those Warlords under his command. At any time during combat operations 1,100
To 1,200 Marines and Sailors will be found in the ranks of the battalion. That is a lot of families to inform, but Lt Col Kyser did it throughout this Iraq deployment.
In February 2004 the colonel wrote to family members, “The Battalion is returning to Iraq to help its good people build a future of the same promise that we have been blessed with as Americans. This will be a difficult and dangerous mission and your Marines are very aware of the challenges that face them. Your Marines are ready! The demanding training they completed during the past three months prepared them exceptionally well to meet those challenges head-on, and I am supremely confident in their ability to execute the broad range of tasks before them.”
He concluded that letter saying, “You have every right to be proud of your Warlord, because you have helped make him what he is today…the protector of our nation and the most respected warrior in the world. With that in mind, I must tell you that I am immensely proud of you for all you have done for your Marine or Sailor and that your sacrifices are recognized and appreciated as much today as they have been at any time in our nation’s history.”
Other excerpts from the Commanding Officer’s letters home include…”As of the 19th of April we are still in our original location of Mahmudiva, about 30 miles south of Baghdad and we were making significant progress in developing and improving relationships and the security situation in four of the major urban centers…
“Radicals and terrorists began to take action wherever they could to try to stir up hate within the populace. The Warlords responded and at one point the comment of our enemies was that, ‘The Marines are everywhere…we can’t do anything.’
The battalion was next moved to Fallujah and the report to those back home was…”the battalion has moved in force to the southern portion of Fallujah and slammed the back door on the terrorists operating in the city.”
Another report says, “The Engineer platoon was the driving force and the primary architects of the weapons cache search plan that has netted more caches in a 40 day period that had been found by the entire division since arriving in country. Literally tons of rockets, mortars, explosives and other lethal materials were found, thus eliminating the terrorists ability to mix more lethal concoctions to attack the people of Iraq and the forces here to help them.”
About the people, he wrote, “During operations at our previous location our initial contact with local tribal Sheiks was met with coolness and an admonition that they would never work with us and would continue to fight us. Your Warlords met this challenge with their normal tenacity, compassion, and willingness to show people the content of their character. Within a month they were being invited to dinner, being offered tea while on patrol and referred to as a new branch of the Zobai tribe. Amazing? Absolutely!”
Another report informed those at home “After only 48 hours of fighting, the battalion had succeeded in killing between 100 and 200 of the terrorists.” The colonel further reported that within hours the terrorists were at the negotiating table proposing a solution that developed into new Iraqi forces taking over the Marine positions with what was later called the Fallujah Brigade.
Writing home in June, the CO stated “As an overall summery I must say once again what an honor it remains to be privileged to lead your husbands in this campaign to bring democracy to Iraq. They continue to set the standard for the Division and Regiment with their courage, flexibility and determination to get the job done regardless of the circumstances or challenges facing them. They have truly shown the people of Iraq that they have no better friend or no worse enemy that a Warlord from Task Force 2/2”
A letter in September told those at home …’The Marines and Sailors of the Task force performed magnificently…At every turn, the Marines of Easy, Fox, and Golf (rifle companies) met the enemy on his home ground with raids, cordon and search operations and coordinated stay-behind operations designed to ambush the insurgents. On every occasion when he chose to challenge the Warlords, he was defeated. There was no doubt in the minds of these cowards that there was a’ New Sheriff in Town.’
As the battalion prepared for its October return to the United States, Giles Kyser again wrote to the families. “As uplifting and inspiring as the performance of your Warlords has been, those successes have not been without cost. Sadly, as we close in on the end of this deployment I am reminded of each of the more than 150 wounded and our six fallen. I ask each of you to continue your prayers for these men who gave the last full measure in support of their fellow Marines and against those terrorists who would do our nation harm and steal the future from generations of Iraqis who have never known freedom.”
Did the Marines and Sailors of the 2nd Battalion perform their duties with valor? Two were recommended for the Silver Star and another 37 were recommended for the Bronze Star. Other recommendations for awards include 56 for the Navy-Marine Corps Commendation Medal with combat “V”, 21 for the Navy-Marine Corps Commendation medal, 79 for the Navy-Marine Corps Achievement Medal with combat “V”, 55 for the Navy-Marine Corps Achievement Medal and 1,365 for the Combat Action Ribbon.
Not to be forgotten are the 154 Warlords who were awarded the Purple Heart.
In an email to his wife, written near the end of the deployment, Lt Col Kyser wrote “As I award these young men their medals, as they stand in front of me in their combat gear, sweaty, dirty and so very young, I am struck by the purity of their service to our nation and to each other. They accept the recognition but more often than not are embarrassed by it, and always concerned more for the welfare of those wounded along with them. They personify those things that so many people speak of but can never really know; the feeling of camaraderie, the commitment to the point of death to the men around them, and the unspoken hardness of their patriotism. God they are a blessing to me…and I feel so unworthy to stand in front of them to offer them such small tokens. I feel inadequate and humbled to be in their shadow, regardless of their age, and I walk away feeling so damned honored to be with them.”
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