The Road to Safwan: The 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry in the 1991 ...

The Breach 129
tween the 1st and 2nd Brigades. Once in position, MG Rhame
would call the corps commander and report that his sector was
clear and he was ready to begin passing the British armored division
through the cleared lanes to the northeast. 35
LTC Wilson convened a quick “orders group” late that
evening consisting of the squadron staff, the troop commanders,
and CPT Philbrick to discuss the day’s events, determine
current combat status, and brief the order to continue the attack
to PL New Jersey. Everyone was in good spirits and by 2330
hours they were on the way back to their units. Burdan left the
squadron tactical operations center, now located with the
squadron on Objective 15K, shortly after midnight and crawled
into the back of his HMMWV. His driver had laid the seats
down and there was just enough area to stretch out. As he fell
asleep he could scarcely believe the squadron’s good fortune.
The attack had succeeded beyond anyone’s wildest hopes. 36
Not all of the Iraqi troops were gone, however. A Troop’s 1st
Platoon watched from a distance as some kind of Iraqi unit,
probably a headquarters or supply installation, prepared to
leave. The platoon leader 2LT Jim Copenhaver and SFC William
Molitor continued to ask the troop commander for permission
to fire, which was denied because of the growing concerns over
fratricide. Finally, when a few Iraqi trucks rolled up on the position
and people started to get in them, the platoon received permission
to engage. They fired and destroyed the trucks, one of
which was apparently hauling ammunition as evidenced by the
explosion. The Iraqi soldiers who had not yet boarded the trucks
fled back into their bunkers where they remained the rest of the
night. Few in the platoon slept that night because they were so
close to the Iraqi soldiers, and because that ammunition truck
continued to burn and explode for the next four hours. 37
As morning broke, the squadron resumed the attack to PL
New Jersey. A Troop immediately flushed the Iraqis out of the
bunkers they had been observing during the night. It turned
out to be an artillery battery and, as the Iraqis emerged with
their hands in the air, SFC Molitor stopped his vehicle next to
the dazed enemy. Almost immediately, he found himself talking
with the Iraqi artillery commander who spoke some English.
The Iraqi told Molitor that his whole unit was ready to sur-