Urban Combat in Fallujah
In this American Veterans Center interview, Elliot Ackerman recounts his experience leading Marines during the Second Battle of Fallujah in 2004. He describes the house-to-house fighting, heavy casualties, difficult command decisions, and chaos of one of the Iraq War’s most intense urban battles.
Leadership Under Fire
Ackerman explains how his platoon crossed Highway 10, established a foothold inside the city, evacuated wounded Marines, and fought through entrenched resistance. He also reflects on the responsibility of leadership when the mission places the unit and the people within it at risk.
Fear, Courage, and Brotherhood
Looking back on combat, Ackerman argues that the opposite of fear is not courage, but love. The bonds between service members allow them to act for one another under extraordinary danger, while also creating lasting grief when those bonds are broken by war.
War and Its Aftermath
The interview also considers the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the difference between counterterrorism and counterinsurgency, and themes later explored in Ackerman’s book The Fifth Act.