The Fight For Fallujah

I am watching a show on The Military Channel called The Fight For Fallujah. As a participant in that battle I was interested to see the ads for it and wanted to see how good a job they did.

The Military Channel website describes the show like this:

Fallujah was an intense, bloody, personal battle. Just as Somalia (Blackhawk Down) defined a generation of Army Rangers, Fallujah created a special breed of Marine for the 21st Century, one schooled in hand-to-hand combat and urban warfare.

If one had no prior knowledge of this fight, you would be led to believe that only Marines and Iraqi forces were involved in Operation Phantom Fury which took place in NOV 04. You would never know that David Belliva and other members of the 1st Infantry and 1st Cavalry Divisions of the United States ARMY participated in this fight.

I supported both USMC and Army elements during this battle, where I earned the right to wear the 1st MARDIV patch on my right shoulder. My unit and many other Army units that participated in this fight received the Navy Unit Commendation. US Army Soldier David Belliva has been nominated for the Medal of Honor for what he did in that fight. But you would never know what any Army units did in this fight from watching this show.

I understand in a 60 minute presentation it is very difficult to present a picture that shows the entire story especially when it as complicated as Op Phantom Fury. The Military Channel did a good job telling the story of the Marines that they chose to highlight, bit was by no means the story of the fight for Fallujah.

Maybe some day.