“He made the Marine Corps better, his fellow marines better and the world better,’ said the commanding general of the 1st Marine Division. The main assault into Fallujah in November 2004 ( Operation PHANTOM FURY/AL FAJR) commenced when eight GBU31s, 2,000-pound joint direct attack munitions (JDAMs), dropped by Marine Fighter/Attack (All-Weather) Squadron 242 F/A18Ds, smashed into a railroad-topped berm bordering Fallujah’s north side. mistake with the infamous Map in the Sand episode during the invasion phase of Operation. Paxton praised Adlesperger’s “quiet, steadfast valor,” in a 45-minute sun-swept midday ceremony at which family members wiped tears. Dawn in Arabic the original name was Operation Phantom Fury. native became only the 15th Marine to receive the Navy Cross for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. 9, 2004, in a separate incident when he was helping clear another house, less than a month after the firefight that got him an infield meritorious promotion to lance corporal and eventually the Navy Cross. On Friday in front of about 1,000 5th Marines, some veterans and family members at Camp Pendleton, Adlesperger joined a select pantheon of warriors when Major General John Paxton presented his parents with a Navy Cross, the second highest honor given to Marines for combat valor.Īdlesperger was fatally shot on Dec. And even though he didn’t see it that way, on Nov. He returned moments later to once again face and kill the enemy, ultimately paving the way to help clear the last insurgent strongpoint in the Jolan District of Fallujah.Īdlesperger, 20, did not die that day. Marines since the Vietnam War's battle of Hue City,' said Del Toro. He would later tell his fellow Marines that he thought he was going to die but if that was to be the case, he wanted to do a few things first: take care of his comrades and die with his finger on the trigger.ĭespite being hit with fragments from an enemy grenade, Adlesperger managed to single-handedly reach a stairwell and move three Marines and a Navy Corpsman to the rooftop, where they could get medical attention. 'With over 100 coalition forces killed and 600 wounded, Operation Phantom Fury is considered to be the bloodiest engagement to the Iraq War and the fiercest serving combat involving U.S. Marines for: adventure and excitement.ĭuring Operation Phantom Fury, the second battle of Fallujah in late 2004, the private first class and his platoon were in a fierce firefight inside a house full of insurgents with machine guns. By the end of October, coalition forces had convinced most of Fallujah’s civilian population to depart, leaving as few as 500 civilians remaining in the city when the battle began. CAMP PENDLETON – Less than three months into his deployment in Iraq, Christopher Adlesperger got what he joined the U.S. In late October, the 1st Marine Division started marshaling forces and reinforcements for what would become Operation Phantom Fury: the second battle of Fallujah.
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