By Gerry J. Gilmore<br />American Forces Press Service<br /><br />WASHINGTON, March 28, 2003 -- Two wounded American fighting men yesterday<br />described their experiences in Iraq to interviewers -- including how some Iraqi<br />combatants don't play by the rules of war.<br /><br />Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Joshua Menard and Army Sgt. Charles Horgan are among 24<br />U.S. troops now being treated in a military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, for<br />wounds they received in combat during Operation Iraqi Freedom.<br /><br />The men both recalled recent battles their units had had with Iraqi fighters<br />disguised as civilians. Such a practice, U.S. military officials have noted, is<br />a violation of internationally recognized rules of warfare, as encoded by the<br />Geneva Convention.<br /><br />Menard told Today Show co-host Katie Couric that he was shot in the hand during<br />an ambush near the Iraqi city of Nasiriyah.<br /><br />"We were engaged from the city by people dressed up in civilian clothes with<br />AK-47s … that's when I was shot in the hand," the 21-year-old corporal<br />explained.<br /><br />Menard pointed out that local Iraqi civilians had at first seemed happy to see<br />the Marines. That changed, he noted, when the civilians "turned on us and<br />started firing on us."<br /><br />And, some of the enemy's fire came from a nearby hospital, the Marine remarked,<br />noting, "We were very surprised and it -- it shocked everybody." Menard said<br />he'd soon return stateside for more treatment on his hand.<br /><br />Army Sgt. Charles Horgan, 21, noted to CNN anchor Paula Zahn that he sustained<br />a painful shrapnel wound in his foot, also at Nasiriyah.<br /><br />A gunner on a High-Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle, the sergeant noticed<br />that some nearby Iraqis "were acting a little 'on edge.' … They seemed to not<br />be behaving like the civilians we had previously encountered."<br /><br />Horgan then noticed the civilians moving through a trench line, noting "that's<br />what pretty much tipped me off that something was up." Horgan said he'd just<br />swiveled his machine gun toward the attackers when a rocket-propelled grenade<br />hit the truck.<br /><br />"I yelled, 'RPG,'" Horgan continued, noting the rocket's explosion "blew me out<br />of the top of the turret."<br /><br />Horgan at first thought that he'd lost a foot. Luckily, he sustained just some<br />shrapnel damage to his right foot and leg, with "no major tendon damage or<br />fractures."<br /><br />Menard acknowledged that he misses his buddies back at the front.<br /><br />"Those are the guys I've been with for so long and trained with … lived with<br />every day," he corporal explained, noting he had expected to go through Baghdad<br />with them. It hurts "not to be able to be there with them," Menard declared.<br /><br />The Army sergeant pointed out that neither he nor his fellow troops want to<br />kill civilians or innocent people in Iraq. However, Horgan noted, the<br />circumstance of Iraqi fighters dressing up as civilians is "going to make it<br />really difficult for us to discern who is 'good' or 'bad.' That's a shame."<br /><br />_______________________________________________________<br />NOTE: This is a plain text version of a web page. If your e-mail program<br />did not properly format this information, you may view the story at<br />
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