Col. Bryan McCoy, who commanded the battalion that toppled the statue of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad, has written a fine book about military leadership. It’s called Passion of Command: The Moral Imperative of Leadership, and it has a lot of admirers in the military community.
My new story, which reconstructs the toppling of the statue of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad’s Firdos Square on April 9, 2003, is in ...
On April 9, 2003, Lieutenant Colonel Bryan McCoy, commander of the 3rd Battalion 4th Marines, awoke at a military base captured from the Iraqis a few miles from the center of Baghdad, which was still held by the enemy. It had been twenty days since the invasion of Iraq began, and McCoy had some personal chores to take care of—washing his socks, for one. Afterward, he walked over to a group of marines under his command who were defacing a mural of Saddam Hussein. As I watched, he picked up a sledgehammer and struck a few blows himself. The men cheered. Then he began preparing for the serious business of the day: leading the battalion into the heart of the city. He expected a house-to-house brawl that would last several days.
On April 9, 2003, Lieutenant Colonel Bryan McCoy, commander of the 3rd Battalion 4th Marines, awoke at a military base captured from the Iraqis a few miles from the center of Baghdad, which was still held by the enemy. It had been twenty days since the invasion of Iraq began, and McCoy had some personal chores to take care of—washing his socks, for one. Afterward, he walked over to a group of marines under his command who were defacing a mural of Saddam Hussein. As I watched, he picked up a sledgehammer and struck a few blows himself. The men cheered. Then he began preparing for the serious business of the day: leading the battalion into the heart of the city. He expected a house-to-house brawl that would last several days.
Two days before the statue of Saddam was toppled at Firdos Square, Army troops who had seized control of the Republican Palace were ordered by their commander, Col. David Perkins, to find a statue of Saddam that could be destroyed. Once one was found–Saddam on horseback–the troops were ...
If you want to see a selection of front pages the day after the toppling, click here.
Shortly before heading into central Baghdad on April 9, 2003, Lt. Col. Bryan McCoy joined a handful of his Marines who were taking a sledgehammer to a mural of Saddam Hussein at the military base where they had spent the night. Click here for a slideshow of my photos.
If you have an unlimited appetite for information, photos and trivia about the toppled statues of Saddam Hussein, there’s a website and book just for you–“Toppled” by Florian Gottke. My favorite photo ...
Melinda Liu, a Newsweek reporter, was among the several hundred journalists who stayed at the Palestine Hotel during the invasion. She wrote a colorful story for Conde Nast Traveler about her sojourn, including ...
The Marines who were ordered to seize Firdos Square were not entirely sure how to get there, so they asked a photographer to show them the way. These screen shots, taken from a TV video of the first tank entering Firdos Square, show the photographer, Jan Grarup, on the tank’s turret.
Correction: ...
For the BBC’s story on weightlifter Khadim al-Jubouri, click here.
