The USA 3rd Brigade, based out of Vilseck, Germany, came to Iraq eight months ago. The brigade includes Spc. Frederick Ofori from Ghana.
They are normally stationed in Muqdadiya, Iraq, a mostly Sunni Muslim city 70 miles northeast of Baghdad, Iraq. They were briefly deployed outside the southern Shiite holy city of Najaf, Iraq, during rebel cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's uprising in April. However, they never entered the city, saw no real combat and soon returned to their northern base.
Back then, soldiers said, Fallujah was a place they knew only through grisly news updates on CNN.
The brigade's rank and file was given just a few days' notice of their role on the front lines of Operation Dawn. Many have not even told their families that they are in Fallujah. After days of relentless fighting, the soldiers no longer winced through a symphony of rifle fire, artillery booms, AK-47 bursts and grenade explosions.
Sitting amid the rubble of a home in southern Fallujah, Sgt. Randy Laird, 24, of Lake Charles, La., challenged Ofori to eat a packet of military-ration crackers in two minutes.
Ofori stuffed his face as his friends giggled. With a gasp, he gave up.
Hours later, Ofori was with a team of soldiers clearing another house. They entered a room and found an insurgent with a grenade in hand, poised to throw.
Ofori shot the man several times in the chest. The rebel flew back, his arms reaching toward the ceiling.
His face drawn and serious, Ofori left the room without a word.
