"When the dust clears, the men realize they've cleared out more than 600 feet of hostile trench. Twenty dead fighters surround them, with more wounded nearby."

It is Day Six of what British forces know as Telic, the Australians label Falconer, and the US calls Operation Iraqi Freedom.

An early attempt at a decapitation strike of "bunker busters" and a barrage of cruise missiles from four US ships and two submarines has shaken Saddam's regime but not knocked it out. Now, operators from Delta Force and the CIA's Special Operations Group are on the ground in Baghdad, laser-painting targets for ongoing bombing runs, while the elite Air Force combat controllers are seizing territory in the western part of the country to prevent retaliatory Scud attacks on Israel, Jordan, or Saudi Arabia.

A massive ground assault has been underway since the earliest hours of the fight, with British and American units seizing the southern port cities of Umm Qasr and Basra and then starting the long mechanized drive toward the capital and Saddam.

They've encountered T-55 tanks dug into position and Special Republican Guard troops. They are now on the lookout for harassment by the Fedayeen, Saddam's paramilitary loyalists who act as thugs for the regime. There are reports of Saddam's forces pulling every trick in the book to stop the coalition: booby-trapping oil wells and pipelines in the south, firing Ababil-100 missiles into Kuwait, and pretending to surrender to draw Americans closer and then launching surprise attacks. Coalition troops are under pressure close the deal quickly, as reports surface of Turkish troops coming in through the north to launch strikes against the Kurdish territories and possibly split the country. And there are still rumors of possible attacks with chemical or biological weapons as the men near Baghdad.

But today, the Fedayeen strike at a lone convoy on Highway 1. Then-Lt. Brian Chontosh, leading a weapons company of the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, encounters a burst of fire from mortars, RPGs, and automatic weapons. The tanks ahead of him blocking his way, Chontosh realizes he's in a kill zone and has to act quickly. His driver, Cpl. Armand McCormick, steers their HMMWV through a hole in the column, toward an Iraqi machine gun nest. Cpl. Thomas Franklin, the HMMWV gunner, blasts away at it with their .50-caliber weapon.

The HMMWV crashes into the trench full of Iraqi fighters. Cpl. Franklin mans the gun and calls for backup as Chontosh, McCormick, and Cpl. Robert Kerman leap into the fray, firing bursts at the enemy with M16A2 rifles and handguns.

The Iraqis swarm, returning fire, while the three men empty their clips, felling enemy fighters. As the Marines run out of ammunition, they pick up the AK-47s of their dead foes and continue to move forward. With the AK-47s spent, McCormick finds an RPG launcher hands it to Chontosh to blast a last group of Fedayeen. When the dust clears, the men realize they've cleared out more than 600 feet of hostile trench. Twenty dead fighters surround them, with more wounded nearby.

Chontosh is promoted to Captain and awarded the Navy Cross. Cpl. McCormick receives the Silver Star. Cpl. Franklin is honored with the Navy Commendation Medal with "V" for Valor. McCormick opts to extend his contract and redeploys back to Iraq almost immediately after being given his award. Capt. Chontosh is heading back this month, September 2004.