[imported_Fluffy_Bunny]

I don't give a damn about what people say for or about the war but I found this quite moving.

[quote:84c16]Lt Malcolm was a good chess player. He looked like any other young marines officer: skinny, shaven-headed, although with a quite beaky nose.
[img]http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40558000/jpg/_40558447_falluja203ind.jpg[/img]

Alpha Company suffered heavy losses in the Falluja assault
Anyway, you could always pick him out. He would be the one with the chess board placed on an up-ended box of MREs (Meal Ready to Eat), working out moves.

I got to know him a little bit, as his bunk was opposite mine.

I would watch as he gave chess tips to those of his men who had not completely given in to poker or hearts.
[img]http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40558000/jpg/_40558449_fallujafloor203body.jpg[/img]
About five hours into the battle, Lt Malcolm was killed.

He was the weapons officer in Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, the unit I had joined as an "embed".

Just before dawn, Alpha Company blew a large hole in an outer wall, and entered the police station right in the heart of Falluja.

It was still pretty quiet then but as the sun rose the marines found themselves surrounded and under attack from all sides.

Lt Malcolm's squad went up on to the highest roof top they could find - but not higher than the two minarets on either side with snipers.

There was a wall about 40cm (16in) tall for cover. Everyone tried to get close to it while bullets skipped across the paving stones.

When he heard his men were in trouble - the men he'd been giving chess tips just the day before - Lt Malcolm came to get them.

Extraordinary valour
[img]http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40558000/jpg/_40558441_fallujaroof203body.jpg[/img]
As he ran onto the roof, one of the sniper's bullets hit his helmet, bouncing off.

He kept going, and did not leave until he had shepherded all his men down.

He was killed by the second bullet. It got him in the back, just below the flak jacket, as he jumped down the stairwell.

He must have thought he was home free.

There was no hint of his extraordinary valour in the press release issued two days later.
[img]http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40558000/jpg/_40558445_falluja203body.jpg[/img]

Alpha Company marines came under fire from all sides
It said: "The Department of Defense announced today the death of two marines who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom."

"1st Lt Dan T Malcolm Jr, 25, of Brinson, Ga, died Nov 10 as a result of enemy action in al-Anbar Province, Iraq."

The other dead marine in the press release was a Sgt David Caruso, who was not from our unit.

At the end of the day on which Lt Malcolm was killed, the 1/8 had taken between a quarter and a third of the killed and wounded for the entire force, across the entire operation.

That was about five times their proportion of the attacking troops.

On Monday, the number of deaths for coalition forces stood at 51, with some 450 injured.

These figures represent the coalition's worst losses in any battle in Iraq since the invasion. And the 1/8 still have 20% of those losses.


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