Operation Urgent Fury - 25 October 1983...25 years ago

[rgrokelley]

I was not in the Rangers in Grenada, I was in 2/325 of the 82nd Airborne Division. However after those days on the island I decided I wanted to become one. Less than a year later I was in the newly created 3rd Ranger Battalion.

For the new Rangers, this was a time when there was no body armor and the equipment was the same as Viet Nam. Though night vision devices were around, only a few had them, such as the platoon leaders. I don't think anyone had any on the island from us. All the NCOs who were SFC or higher had served in Vietnam, which had ended just a decade earlier. These were the ancient soldiers that we looked up to. I think they were in their 30s.

I am writing a book about three events that happened in my 20 years. Here is some of what I wrote about Grenada. I will post some more as the day goes on, so as not to bore you too much. It is now 8:34, October 25th, 2008. Exactly 25 years ago I was sitting in a C-141 on the way to my first war.

When we arrived at Green Ramp we laid out in rows behind C-141 aircraft and rigged up our gear for a parachute drop. A few men in each squad carried the M-47 DRAGON missile and they rigged up their DRAGON missile jump packs. We all began loading our ammunition with no real guidance. Some men loaded an entire magazine with tracers, to set something on fire, or to mark a target. I loaded the last four rounds of my M-16 magazines with tracers. This way when the magazine was about to empty I would notice the tracers going down range.

I still had the M-21 sniper rifle and I decided to give it to someone who had no weapon at all. I gave it to one of the assistant gunners of the M-60 machineguns, PFC Dodson, who only carried a .45 caliber pistol. I gave him a quick class on how to use the rifle, and then gave him three loaded magazines. I did not give him the ART-1 scope, but figured he could use the rifle like a standard M-14. I gave my ART-1 scope to another paratrooper in my squad, SP/4 Meirs, who would take better care of it, and told him to wrap it up in something so it would not get damaged.

While we were waiting on the airfield an officer ran over to our platoon and told us our destination. We were going to Grenada. None of us had ever heard of it, or knew where it was. I didn’t even know it was an island until after I had been there for a half a day. The officer gathered us around him and he kneeled down on the concrete and rolled out a giant aerial photograph of an airstrip. He told us that there were an unknown number of hostages being held by the enemy. He said that the 2nd Ranger Battalion had already jumped in and they had suffered 1 killed and 5 wounded in a firefight. They were being surrounded and we needed to rescue them. We were told we would jump onto the airfield in the photograph. It was surrounded by water on three sides and it looked like a peninsula. The officer pointed to an intersection of roads on the photograph and said that our platoon would assemble on that intersection. From there we were supposed to find some American civilians and get them out of there. The entire operations order for my first combat mission took less than five minutes, and didn’t really tell us what we would do once we assembled on that road intersection.

The Battalion lined up in chalk order behind the C-141 aircraft. I would be on the first aircraft, along with the Company Commander, Captain Charles Jacoby, the Battalion Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Jack Hamilton, and the 82nd Airborne Division Commander, Major General Edward Trobaugh. I had a small 35mm camera that I always carried, and I had SP/4 Meirs take a picture of me. No one knew what would happen when we got to Grenada, and I figured if I was killed this final picture of me would be found on my body. We boarded the aircraft and I tried to get some sleep. This was not possible because we were all fighting the upcoming battle in our minds. From time to time the aircraft loudspeaker would tell us of what was happening on the island. As we flew southward the loudspeaker told us that the Rangers were still fighting on the airfield, and now the SEALs were surrounded in a fort at St. Georges and being slaughtered. We all wondered what we were about to get into.

The flight to Grenada took about four hours. When the C-141s were two hours out we were told over the loudspeaker that the Rangers had secured the airfield and we would now be airlanding. I felt two emotions. I was really pissed off that I wasn’t going to be jumping into a hot drop zone, like the paratroopers at Normandy in World War II. However I was also relieved that I wasn’t going to be jumping into a hot drop zone, like the paratroopers in Normandy that suffered almost 50% casualties.
At 30 minutes out we were told to de-rig. We took off our parachutes, the Dragon missile jump packs and the ALICE packs. While we were de-rigging the Company Commander, CPT Jacoby, told me that I would be a sniper assigned to the headquarters section. I found PFC Dodson, the assistant gunner with my M-21 sniper rifle, and took it back. I also took back my ART-1 scope from SP/4 Meirs. I gave my LAW rocket to one of the soldiers on my Team that didn’t have one. I was going to give my M-16 rifle to PFC Dodson, but CPT Jacoby said he wanted it. Company Commanders were only issued a .45 caliber pistol, so I gave him my M-16 and the seven magazines full of ammunition.

Our C-141 came in to Point Salines and touched down. As soon as it made contact everyone was up, and facing towards the back. There were parachutes and de-rigged equipment everywhere inside the aircraft. As our aircraft sped down the runway the tailgate opened up. I was the fifth person in line, right behind CPT Jacoby. In front of him was the Division Commander, the Division Sergeant Major and our Battalion Commander, LTC Hamilton. The jumpmaster came down the line and yelled at us that when we got off the plane we were to run to the right, towards the hill. As the aircraft slowed we could see the runway speeding past. Before the airplane stopped we were told to get out.

I saw the Division Commander, MG Trobaugh, run out the back, lose his balance, and tumble along the runway. All I could think was “that had to hurtâ€

[rgrokelley]

A black jeep without a windscreen drove up to our group, and an officer in jungle fatigues got out to talk to the division Commander. We all crouched on one knee and faced out. I had never worked with the Rangers, nor seen them before, so I had no idea who these people were with the black vehicles and plain green uniforms. Other Rangers in the jeep jumped out and guided us to the top of a hill. We would be relieving the Rangers who had been fighting since dawn. A commandeered dump truck took MG Trobaugh off to the Ranger CP.

As we moved up the hill more of our Battalion landed in a C-141, and the snipers began firing again off to our right. I could hear return fire as I neared the top of the hill. As one of our platoons approached the top they came under fire from Rangers nearby, who did not know who we were. Luckily no one was hurt and the Rangers quickly realized their mistake. We continued up the steep hill, following a narrow dirt trail, struggling under the oppressive heat and the weight of our rucksacks. I passed burned out buildings and enemy corpses, left where they had fallen.

At the top of the hill was a four barreled 12.7mm anti-aircraft gun beside a house. The gun had either been knocked out, or had quit working. Around the gun position were several Rangers. I dropped my heavy rucksack on the ground with theirs. It felt great to get that thing off my back. I crouched down with the Rangers and asked them what was out to their front. They were observing a group of buildings and warehouses that were located in a valley about 800 meters from our position. The Rangers told me that inside those buildings were a bunch of Cuban holdouts who wanted to die for their country. The Rangers said that a lot of the Cubans had surrendered earlier, and had let hostages go, but these Cubans were not going to give up without a fight. They flew a Cuban flag from one of the buildings.

CPT Jacoby came over to the anti-aircraft gun and told me to follow him to 1st Platoon’s area. Over the next few days I became CPT Jacoby’s “bodyguardâ€

[BruteForce]

Nice! Thanks for sharing this. When do you anticipate having your book in print?

Also, and unrelated - any chance your photo(s) could be posted so those of us without access to the Gallery can see them?

[edisapimp]

Excellent.

[rgrokelley]

Nice! Thanks for sharing this. When do you anticipate having your book in print?

Also, and unrelated - any chance your photo(s) could be posted so those of us without access to the Gallery can see them?

I don't write books very fast. This one may not be out for a year or two.

There are some of these photos as my author website at

http://bluehousetavern.com/

Look in the link called "Gallery"

[rgrokelley]

Around 3:00 three BTR-60s, under the command of Warrant Officer McEwen, were ordered by Ewart Layne, Grenadian deputy secretary of defense, to launch a counterattack at the eastern end of the runway. McEwen had 24 PRA soldiers in the three armored vehicles. Abizaid’s Ranger company OP saw the BTR-60s coming fast, one right behind the other. The Grenadians rushed through the Rangers of the 2nd Platoon and then began firing with the guns in the turrets. Every Ranger nearby returned fire on the attackers.

………………………….

I looked up from where I had been firing my M-21 and saw all the Rangers running towards the sound of the firing. This wasn’t AK-47 fire, but was a deep booming, like an automatic cannon. I could hear LAW rockets firing, with their loud popping noise. I took off running to the sound of the guns, with the CO following. I stopped at the end of the ridge and could hear the explosions going off. I could see the dirty gray smoke caused by high explosives, but I couldn’t make out what the Rangers were shooting at. I saw one of the Rangers down below me raise up and fire his LAW, the backblast peppering me with dirt and rocks. I couldn’t see what he fired at, since a house blocked my view. I did see the 66mm rocket ricochet off something and fly straight up in the air.

There were figures moving inside a building down below me, but I was not sure if they were friendly or enemy so I held my fire. I needed to see what was going on, and it sounded as if every gun on the island had focused on whatever was behind the houses. I thought the Cubans had broken through our perimeter and were counterattacking. I slid down the ridge to try to find a target that wasn’t concealed by the houses to my front. A Ranger M203 grenadier came up, joined me, and we both moved as a team towards the fighting. (I would love to know if that Ranger is on Armyranger.com)

…………………….

As the three BTR-60s penetrated the Ranger’s lines, the drivers must have realized what a fatal mistake this was. The lead BTR stopped quickly, and then began backing up just as quick. It slammed into the second BTR that had stopped in the road. While both vehicles were motionless they were hit by multiple anti-armor rounds from the 90mm recoilless rifles and the LAW rockets. SGT Kerry Barry, of the 1st Ranger Battalion, wrote “the LAW shot hit the front glacis plate and went under the BTR. At that time the 90 team fired and killed it.â€

[rgrokelley]

Throughout the day I posted some excerpts of my story, about the same time it happened 25 years ago. This is the last one. There is more, much more. The biggest firefight the 82nd Airborne had with the Cubans occured the next day, on October 26th. This is the one that killed CPT Ritz. However, its time to end this story of October 25th.

At some point I had lost CPT Jacoby, so I figured I needed to get back to the Company CP. I told the Ranger grenadier “good luckâ€