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Part 2 of Andrew Kern from Mobile Assault Platoon One shifts from a summer lull into intense July and August gunfights, including a rooftop engagement that breaks an ambush and relieves pressure on pinned-down troops. An RPG comes straight at him and he has enough time to think, “Well, I’m dead,” before it blasts into the Humvee instead. We also get candid about Iraqi security forces, the randomness of getting wounded, and what service means when the paperwork never matches what happened.

• an Iraqi unit’s reputation
• rebuilding Iraqi police and army forces
• the July 13 government center run-in and the July 14th aftermath
• a Route Michigan battle and the rooftop overwatch
• the moral debate around a wounded combatant
• an RPG strike on a Humvee door and a Purple Heart story
• bridge duty, rockets, return fire, and the boredom between chaos
• left seat right seat, the handover to the next unit
• looking back after 22 years on brotherhood, identity, and meaning

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If you like what you heard, please subscribe on your favorite podcast service or follow our webpage for direct downloads @ https://www.buzzsprout.com/2525088

If you are a member of Weapons Company or someone with a story about Weapons Company 2/4 in 2004, please come tell some stories with us - 20 mins or 20 hours! Help paint the canvas of an archival story for others to know what it was like. Contact us @ RamadiPodcast@gmail.com, or via the podcast website above.

All music used with permission by soundbay: https://www.youtube.com/@soundbay_RFM

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Andrew Kern leads off part 1 arriving as a brand-new Marine in Weapons Company and how the path from San Mateo training to Ramadi changes his view of what “ready” really means. He walks us through the early Iraq War confusion, the shift from SASO to a more kinetic fight, and some key moments from April 2004 and Hurricane Point.

• checking in as a boot and learning the personalities fast
• pre-deployment training including MOUT Town and control techniques
• Arabic benefits and fails
• March Air Force Base; early-war training gets improvised
• chaotic flight overseas
• Kuwait staging then the cold convoy North
• first impressions of Ramadi
• early hearts and minds patrols
• Morris’ death, the Farhan brothers raid, and kicking the hornet's nest
• bug hunts, loudspeaker taunts, and the mortars

If you like what you've heard, this is a multi part episode. Make sure you listen to the rest of the story.

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If you like what you heard, please subscribe on your favorite podcast service or follow our webpage for direct downloads @ https://www.buzzsprout.com/2525088

If you are a member of Weapons Company or someone with a story about Weapons Company 2/4 in 2004, please come tell some stories with us - 20 mins or 20 hours! Help paint the canvas of an archival story for others to know what it was like. Contact us @ RamadiPodcast@gmail.com, or via the podcast website above.

All music used with permission by soundbay: https://www.youtube.com/@soundbay_RFM

Send us Fan Mail

Dave closes out the days in Ramadi when one unarmored truck, one hit, and one Marine leader’s absence changes the emotional temperature of the whole platoon. We also talk honestly about what comes after, when you make it home with your family but your body still remembers and reacts like you haven't left combat.

• Recounting late June and July contact and casualties
• What Sgt. Conde represented as a leader, mentor, and friend
• The way grief shows up as rage, focus, and routine work
• How constant contact blurs together and makes you numb
• July 21 QRF memories and the ethics of firefights near a mosque
• Left seat right seat missions
• Coming home with a new baby
• Compartmentalizing for years and getting cracked open by a reunion
• Starting therapy, finding the right fit

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If you like what you heard, please subscribe on your favorite podcast service or follow our webpage for direct downloads @ https://www.buzzsprout.com/2525088

If you are a member of Weapons Company or someone with a story about Weapons Company 2/4 in 2004, please come tell some stories with us - 20 mins or 20 hours! Help paint the canvas of an archival story for others to know what it was like. Contact us @ RamadiPodcast@gmail.com, or via the podcast website above.

All music used with permission by soundbay: https://www.youtube.com/@soundbay_RFM