Aylmer and Hays had just started into the courtyard when the enemy machine gunner opened fire. They hugged the left wall and backed out into the street. Aylmer grabbed Hays. “Hang on,” he told Hays, “just chill right here until we know what’s going on.”¹⁴

Corporal Baker could see Adlesperger, Sunnerville, and Rogero huddled just inside the courtyard gate. He waited for the machine gun to stop firing, then rushed through the gate. Hays crossed the line of fire behind Baker and entered an adjacent courtyard, leaving Aylmer at the corner of the house. Inside the courtyard, Baker noticed a stairway in their alcove leading to the roof. He stood at the door covering the courtyard and sent Adlesperger up it.

The Darkhorse Marines had walked into a Chechnya-type ambush. The enemy plan was to surprise Marines as they entered the courtyards, then kill more Marines as they rushed to their aid. In this instance, another enemy machine gunner waited patiently on an adjoining rooftop farther down the alley. With the courtyard now empty, the Muj gunner inside the house continued firing into Hodges’ lifeless body.

Meanwhile, a block away, Distelhorst had reached the street after running from the exploding grenade, looked back into his courtyard, and saw that Silcox was down. Distelhorst knew he had to go back in to get him. “Silcox! Silcox!” he yelled into the courtyard. There was no reply.¹⁵

As Kirk made his way back into the street to start rallying his Marines for an assault on the stronghold, Distelhorst rushed to his team leader’s side in the courtyard. Silcox was pale white and had a large hole in his side. He was in dire need of medical attention. Before that could happen, Distelhorst had to get him out of the line of fire.

Without advance warning, an insurgent popped out and sprayed his RPK machine gun at the two wounded Marines. Distelhorst dove for the only nearby cover and snuggled his body in next to Silcox. Fortunately, the enemy fighter fired wildly and missed before darting back into the house. “Dude, you gotta get up or we’re gonna die,” Distelhorst pleaded to Silcox.

Distelhorst rolled on top of Silcox and then stood, pulling the young Marine to his feet with him. While Silcox was staggering toward the courtyard gate, Distelhorst turned and emptied his M16 into the doorway to give them some extra time to escape. When he turned back to help Silcox out of the kill zone, the Muj machine gunner appeared in the doorway again and let loose with another short burst. This time one of the bullets tore into Silcox’s leg, knocking him to the ground.

Meanwhile, Adlesperger had cleared the stairway, checked the roof, and raced back to Baker and the others. “The roof is clear,” he told them.¹⁶ Baker and Adlesperger helped Sunnerville and Rogero to their feet and up the stairs—and none too soon. After tossing several grenades into the courtyard, the enemy went on the attack. Several enemy fighters rushed the stairwell, but Adlesperger cut them down as they rounded the corner in the alcove.

Lieutenant Cragholm was just north of the house. When the shooting started he had to make a decision: attack or take cover. Without hesitation he pulled a grenade from his vest and started around the corner into the open. Lance Corporal Steven Fernandez placed his hand on Cragholm’s shoulder. “Sir! No,” the corporal cautioned.¹⁷

Cragholm shrugged the corporal’s hand from his shoulder and moved forward. Fernandez grabbed Cragholm, spun him around. “Dude! NO!” He shouted the words into his platoon commander’s face just as dozens of machine gun rounds peppered the wall just outside the courtyard. If Cragholm had moved into the open, he would have been killed. Cragholm stopped, took a deep breath, and immediately calmed. “Slow is smooth and smooth is fast.” From that point forward, he became a warrior—not an excited, green lieutenant.

Aylmer was in the second machine gunner’s line of fire. Bullets hit all around him and one punctured his pant leg, but miraculously, none of the rounds found their target. He waited for the gunner to stop to reload, then sprinted north in Hays’ footsteps into the adjacent courtyard.

Cragholm began positioning his men to support Adlesperger and his wounded comrades. Corporal Terrence van Doorn’s Third Squad rushed to the adjacent rooftop, but found a brick wall separating them from the trapped Marines. Together, they pushed on the wall and toppled it over. The enemy machine gunners were holding Kilo Company at bay, and the Marines couldn’t get at the barricaded enemy fighters. Compounding the problem was that they couldn’t call in artillery or close air support while Adlesperger, Rogero, and Sunnerville were on the roof.

Inside, two more insurgents charged into the courtyard. Adlesperger greeted them with a fragmentation grenade. One tried to run up the stairs to avoid the explosion while the other ran into the street. Adlesperger shot the first man and a dozen Marines sprayed the other as soon as he stepped into the street. Three more insurgents charged out of the house into the courtyard, with one attempting to reach Hodges’ SAW. Adlesperger killed all three from his perch above.

Several houses down, Distelhorst pulled Silcox through the gate into the street. It wasn’t until a SEAL team corpsman pushed Distelhorst to the ground and started bandaging his wounds that he realized he had been hit.

As this action was unfolding, Sergeant Kirk organized a group of Marines from multiple squads to assault the house. He took point and led his men across the open courtyard, but enemy grenades and machine gun fire forced them back into the street. Kirk regrouped and attacked the building a second time, but couldn’t find a spot to get a clean shot at the machine gunners without exposing himself. During this assault Kirk was shot in the butt, but he continued fighting, tossing his grenades through the windows.

The firing was so intense that the Marines were forced to fall back a second time, but not before Kirk took out one of the machine gunners with a rifle shot. Back in the street, Kirk refused medical attention and rallied his Marines one last time. He led the Marines back into the courtyard for a third assault on the enemy position. This time Kirk was able to overwhelm the remaining insurgents; this time he cleared the entire building, all the way to the roof.

McNulty was in the street between Kirk’s and Hodges’ houses. He had the company’s FiST team and his CAAT vehicles with him when the fighting broke out. He could hear the machine gun fire and his Marines yelling, but he couldn’t figure out where the fight was developing. Gunshots rang out on his right as Kirk made his repeated charges toward the entrenched enemy machine gunners, and shots seemingly echoed on his left as Adlesperger fought to protect his friends. An AMTRAC was parked just ahead of the CAAT vehicle. McNulty quickly ordered the up-gunner to open fire. The Marine opened fire on Adlesperger’s house at point blank range with his .50-caliber machine gun, chipping away large chunks of the building with each round.¹⁸

McNulty rushed across the street with his First Sergeant, Steve Knox, and some of Taylor’s SEALs to get a better view of the fight. They rushed a building that was catty-corner to Adlesperger’s house, quickly cleared the rooms, and ran to the roof.

Throughout, Baker repeatedly called his company commander to tell him that Hodges was trapped in the courtyard, but to McNulty the messages sounded like “Hajis in the courtyard.”

By now, Corporal van Doorn and his squad had reached Baker, Adlesperger, Sunnerville, and Rogero. Together, they all climbed onto their roof and then rushed the wounded back down to a waiting casevac vehicle.

As McNulty positioned himself to command the assault, nearly all of Kilo Company was moving in on Hodges’ house. Once McNulty understood the situation, he moved back down into the street and crossed over to the south wall of the courtyard. There, he ordered the AMTRAC to push in the blue courtyard gate. The moment the track backed away from the crumpled entrance, McNulty pitched two grenades into the courtyard.

By now Adlesperger, Baker, and van Doorn’s squad was back down on the street. It was not until this moment that Baker, his face bloody, could report to his company commander that “Hodges is in the courtyard.” Adlesperger, whose face was also bloodied by shrapnel and his blouse riddled with bullet holes, refused to be casevaced until Hodges’ body was recovered.

McNulty understood and ordered his Marines into the courtyard. Adlesperger led the three-man stack through the collapsed courtyard wall, with Baker and McNulty following him. When McNulty entered the courtyard he noticed a wounded insurgent reaching for his weapon. McNulty shot him, killing this last holdout.

With the courtyard clear of enemy fighters, Adlesperger and Baker looked around for Hodges. When they finally found their friend buried in the rubble of the collapsed wall, they cleared the debris and removed his body. McNulty ordered the house completely demolished.

It turned out, Adlesperger, Hodges, and Sunnerville had stumbled upon an enemy command center. By the time Darkhorse’s fight was over, the Marines had killed fifty enemy fighters in that small area. From that point forward, the enemy would fight to the death with a fatal fanaticism.

Re-Positioning Forward

After dark Brandl moved his mobile battalion command post to the Government Center, where he set up alongside Avenger’s headquarters team in the high-rise building where Lieutenant Malcom had been killed.

After Dr. Jadick’s experiences at the Cultural Center with the arterial wounds suffered by Wells and Nolte, he knew he needed to be as close to the fight as possible. In combat, the Golden “Hour” concept is a myth; Jadick had watched Wells bleed to death in minutes. He knew that he had to get to the casualties as quickly as possible. Jadick left Kennedy at the Battalion Aid Station, loaded up two M113 ambulances, and with a small party headed to the Government Center with Brandl’s H&S Company to set up a forward mini-BAS.

At 2100, Captain Bethea moved his force recon Marines to the roof of the Cultural Center, and at 2200 he started his attack against the Blue Mosque. He led with his tanks, which blew holes in the mosque compound walls so that his Iraqi soldiers could move in to clear the facility. The entire compound was secure by 0300. Bethea now had his company spread out in three platoon positions: one held the Blue Mosque, another remained at the Hydra Mosque and Cultural Center, and the third manned a strongpoint between BETH and CATHY on Route ETHAN.

When Dr. Jadick arrived at the Government Center, he found a suitable building on the west side of the complex, just north of Brandl’s CP. Under these circumstances, the spot was as good as could be expected. There was access to the main road, parking for his vehicles, and a drive-up “Emergency Room” entrance. It also provided some cover for the medical staff.