Big Trunk from Power Line has an outstanding post based on a report of a little-known Marine battle in Baghdad. Known now as the Battle of the Mosque, the 5th Marines took over 1,000 RPGs in an urban battle that lasted over nine hours. The Marines eventually overcame the enemy, killing over 100 Saddam Fedayeen, to the joy of the residents in the area. But even more gripping than the account of the battle is this demonstration of the courage of the Marines under fire:

On the first day of the battle, the battalion reported 34 wounded, most with fragmentation wounds to the head and upper torso. It was only on the day after the battle that the regiment realized the number of wounded was actually 74.

Many of the Marines had not reported their wounds to the corpsman, because they were afraid that they would be medevaced, and not be able to return to their unit in the midst of this intense fight.

Read the entire post, and if you don't get goose bumps thinking about the heart and courage of these Marines, check for a pulse. You may be dead.

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