AN UNSEEN ENEMY
Abu Hardan, Iraq — The Marines of Kilo Company were on the fourth day of an offensive against insurgents in western Iraq, but they had seen little action Wednesday until a loud boom rocked this Euphrates River village, followed by the frantic screams of young troops.
They stopped their convoy and looked back to see an amphibious vehicle engulfed in flames. They knew that about 18 Marines from Lima Company of the 3rd Battalion, 25th Regiment, were in the vehicle, which had apparently struck a roadside bomb.
Within minutes, the vehicle's gas tanks exploded, setting off mortar shells, grenades, bars of C-4 plastic explosives and thousands of machine-gun rounds inside. Rockets randomly shot out of the vehicle. The explosives would crackle and thunder for the next hour.
Marines from Kilo, traveling 500 yards ahead of Lima, rushed to rescue their comrades trapped inside the burning wreck. A Times reporter traveling with Kilo Company followed them.
Some troops ran through thick, black smoke and pulled out wounded men, lining up some of them within feet of the fire.
Some of the wounded suffered third-degree burns. Seared flesh hung from their bodies. Most of the wounded had severe burns on their arms and faces. Others had shrapnel wounds. A 3-inch shard of metal protruded from one Marine's abdomen.
Marines who survived the blast said they believed that four troops died in the vehicle. Officials on the scene and in Baghdad declined to confirm the casualty toll.
Lt. Sam McAmis, who commanded a Marine platoon in the operation, recounted trying to pull a wounded sergeant from the fire, but the man's ammunition pouch was stuck in the vehicle's hatch. McAmis said he yanked him out.
"When he came out, my hand was inside his leg, inside his muscle," he said.
Another wounded man inside was not as lucky.
"One of my lance corporals went in to try to get some more people, but there was too much fire," McAmis said. "One Marine had burns over his face. The last thing he did was reach his hand out and an explosion went off" -- killing him.
Sgt. Dennis Wollard of Biloxi, Miss., who survived the explosion, sat glassy-eyed and bare-chested against a building on the edge of the field. He lamented that he couldn't save all the men inside.
"I was at the back door," Wollard said. "I couldn't get 'em all. There had to be six still in there. I don't know how they could've gotten out."
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