“I was deployed to Ramadi Iraq from September 2005 to April 2006 with a Marine infantry unit. We rotated through a reinforced observation post next to an intersection called 295 just down the the road from a larger intersection dubbed “firecracker,” by previous units.

It was during one of these rotations we heard mortars firing at Camp Ramadi from a hospital to our west and my platoon set up an ambush if they fled our direction. When they stopped firing three cars left the hospital compound with one going west, north and east. The car traveling east drove right into our kill zone and an entire platoon of Marines opened up on this car. In the midst of shooting at this car a civilian vehicle came from nowhere and drove into our machine guns shooting at this other car.

We killed them. All of them. It was an accident and we just stared at this car full of Iraqi civilians from our positions understanding we just ended someone who was likely just going home. I felt nothing about the situation back then. As I have grown older I feel sad about those people. They didn’t deserve that.

Anonymous US Marine. 3/7 India Co. Ramadi Iraq, 2006.
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This story was documented by Battles and Beers. Every soldier has a story, and every story deserves to be told.
This story, and almost 250 like it, will be available in my upcoming book, “What War Did To Us” which will soon be available on Amazon.