Friends and Families of Charlie Battery happy holidays from your Marines defending freedom and democracy from Camp Fallujah, With OPERATION PHANTOM FURY, otherwise known as the battle of Fallujah, drawing to an end life aboard the camp is returning to almost normal. The Marines have seen the population of the camp double, the chow hall serve only two meals a day and a nightly light show over the city as the assault commenced. Life for the Marines changed very little other than an increased sense of awareness. In preparation for the offensive, some of the resident units on the camp and some soldiers from a nearby camp augmented us. We worked side by side and made new friends along the way and in some cases learned from each other.

Your Marines continued to man towers, work the gates and defend the pump house, the only water supply for the camp. During the onslaught of the battle for the city we encountered an increased frequency of incoming rocket and mortar fire, that has since subsided and the last few days have been relatively quiet. I am pleased to say that we have yet to encounter our first casualty or serious injury. Of the engagements we have seen, in every incident your Marines have reacted as they were trained and been successful and without injury. I can assure you all of your Marines are safe and in good health.

As Thanksgiving approached the Staff Non-Commissioned Officers, Warrant Officers and Officers of the battery and MEF HQ Group volunteered to man the posts for the Marines to afford them the opportunity to have the holiday meal in a warm chow hall. The holiday meal was a feast of ham, turkey, prime rib, shrimp and all the trimmings. It was quite entertaining to see Master Sergeants, Senior Chiefs, Majors and a Lieutenant Colonel relieve the Marines on the post. Thank goodness the bad guys didn’t know, because if they had attacked it would have been a significant emotional event for all involved. In the end, I think the replacements enjoyed their time on the wall. If nothing else, it gave them a taste of what your Marines do on a daily basis, which is always good to know. We have seen a drop in temperatures here and in the next few days freezing temperatures are expected. We are doing what we can to keep the Marines comfortable, the thought of someday going home safe to families and friends is enough to keep most of them warm in the mean time.

I would like to thank all those that have sent Thanksgiving and Christmas mail to us. We receive about 200 lbs of mail a day and have filled a couple of storage containers with Christmas packages. These packages are filled with stockings, letters and holiday spirit from home. Soon we’ll put up the Christmas tree and surround it with the packages and gifts from home. Happy holidays and thanks again for the your support of the Marines of Charlie Battery.

October was an interesting month. We have completed the “changing of the guard” and assumed the areas of responsibility, which our counterparts have left for us. In the midst of getting adjusted to our new surroundings and activities, we have successfully reenlisted the following Marines: Cpl Ellis, Cpl Glover, Sgt Woodard, and Sgt Mondloch. To the family and friends of these warriors, thank you for your support and dedication to stay in the Marine Corps family.

Creativity has been apparent this month as when Halloween came it was quite shocking to see a Marine with his face totally painted in the scheme of a circus clown, with the hair to boot. I don’t know who he was, but it was done up pretty good. You could tell by the decorations within the hallways of the barracks, we still had the Halloween spirit. I cannot count the times I had to duck around the hanging spiders on the strings as I walked the corridors. It was GREAT!!

November is closing out and we have gorged ourselves with a well-planned and deserved Thanksgiving meal at the mess hall. We are shifting gears, much like all of you at home, in regards to the change in weather. If you had any doubts about the desert getting cold, well let me tell you for the record, “YES” it does.

Special Thanks, to all of the “Operation Santa All Stars”. Your boxes have been arriving by the tons and our lonely little mail clerk LCpl Cheung, can now compete against Arnold Schwarzenegger (OORAH). We are just about set for Christmas, I wonder if there is a Santa suit for the CO, Hhmmm?

We are Charlie Battery!!!
“ If you aren’t on the edge…you are taking up too much space”
1stSgt Wilson
“THE SYMBOL”