The Marines wait for war in the Kuwaiti desert, training for the battle and passing the time in daily ritual, while remembering life back home. Here a Marines artillery unit waits for word to begin live fire exercises in the desert near the Iraqi border at dawn, their helmets and flak jackets placed neatly in a row. Photo Credit: Kit R. Roane
A Marine shows off his tattoo of his son's name while another Marine sits down for a haricut done by his comrades in the "Betio Bastards," out of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. The Marines are at their desert camp near the Iraqi Border. Photo Credit: Kit R. Roane
Staff Sgt. Mark Staley, 26, of Cleveland, OH, eats an apple while watching his men do pushups with full packs for not following orders. All of the men are part of the "Betio Bastards," Marines out of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Photo Credit: Kit R. Roane
LCPL Jeremy Johnson, 22, of Montgomery Alabama, plays cards with other "earth pigs" as the front-line infantry are known by those closer to the rear. Another Marine leafs through Stuff Magazine, which would probably be prohibited by the Kuwaiti's were he not on a Marine base in the desert. Photo Credit: Kit R. Roane
A Marine weapons company sends a shell with a personal message to Saddam as they take out an Iraqi position that had been firing on them all night long. Photo Credit: Kit R. Roane
After running over an Iraqi mine himself -- one which disabled his tank -- a Marine tank commander worries over security before treating an Iraqi boy injured by U.S. shelling during the taking of Safwan, the first Iraqi town across the border. He wonders aloud about the desolation of his surroundings. Photo Credit: Kit R. Roane
A Marine convoy makes its way toward Baghdad, obscured by the smoke of oil pit fires. The air is acrid and nothing seems to be moving. The fires were used by Iraqi soldiers to provide concealment from Coalition helicopters and troops. Photo Credit: Kit R. Roane
The marines have watched many movies about other conflicts in which their ancestors were victorious. They mimic what they can. Taking a page from World War II, where tanks were sometimes personalized, he crew of an Armored Assault Vehicle tries on a moniker that exudes how they see themselves and the threat they pose. Photo Credit: Kit R. Roane
Marines stand guard on the road to Baghdad as thousands of Marine and Army trucks, tanks, APC's and supplies move toward the Iraqi capital, readying for assault. Photo Credit: Kit R. Roane
The Marines dismount to protect a nearby convoy of supplies on the Main Route Supply and shoot at shadows in the distance as they are engulfed by a swirling sandstorm. Photo Credit: Kit R. Roane
The enemy has yet appeared and some Marines worry that they will go through the entire war without firing a shot. But there is a report of Iraqi fighters in the distance. Fire is laid down. Then an anonymous contingent of Marines makes its way off the road and into the heart of a swirling sandstorm in search of the combatants. Photo Credit: Kit R. Roane
Off to the side of the road, the Marines encounter four dead Iraqi soldiers. These are the first dead men most of these Marines have ever seen. The bodies are fresh, although battered by the heavy machine gun fire that felled them, most probably coming from a helicopter gunship that loops about in the distance. The Iraqis had been caught unaware. Photo Credit: Kit R. Roane
Marines lay more artillery rounds down-range at an Iraqi Tank position in preparation for ground forces moving into battle. The earth shakes. Photo Credit: Kit R. Roane
Marines enter Al Kut to battle with Republican Guard forces and Iraqi militia as the destruction wrought by American heavy guns burns in the distance. Photo Credit: Kit R. Roane
The Marines find the combat many were seeking. They expend thousands of rounds of ammunition and route a group of Iraqi tanks sitting in a palm grove, somewhat stuck. Shell casings litter the highway, like shiny metal ants. Photo Credit: Kit R. Roane
The refugees from Baghdad stretch into the distance, some on their way to Basra. The Marines stay far away from them, fearful that coming too close might get them killed. Photo Credit: Kit R. Roane
Navy corpsmen and Marines bag a fellow Marine killed when a mortar round -- possibly from friendly fire -- lands on their armored assault vehicle on the edge of the Diyala Canal, the last barrier to Marine entrance into Bagdad. Following this event, the Marine's commander decides to take the canal. Many civilians are killed on the other side. Photo Credit: Kit R. Roane
The Marines expect heavy resistance as they near the Diyala Canal Bridge. Recon is conducted by fire. Every Iraqi is a possible enemy, explains one Marine, why take a chance. Photo Credit: Kit R. Roane
Marines expect heavy resistance as they near the Diyala Canal Bridge. They are full of fear and anger as they cross the bridge and dig in near Baghdad. Photo Credit: Kit R. Roane
The Marines shoot before properly identifying enemy targets. They wonder what they have done. Photo Credit: Kit R. Roane
I call him the Running Man, to differentiate him from the other bodies on the bridge before him, or those killed farther afield as they drove toward the hidden Marine positions. He is frozen in flight. Death makes him only more vulnerable. By the next morning, a Marine vehicle has run him over, crushing his legs. Photo Credit: Kit R. Roane
This car holds a family fleeing the war. Three of the five passengers are killed, including a woman. Photo Credit: Kit R. Roane
The Marines have been warned that suicide bombers may be coming their way shortly after crossing the Diyala Canal bridge. They open fire on everything that moves, including this old man walking with a cane. Photo Credit: Kit R. Roane
The violence of her demise forced her body to splay out on the back seat of her family's van, her flip-flop wedged under the pot of food she had taken for the trip to safety. Her brother and his wife had sat with her during the night, quiet as church mice, not wanting the Marines amassed down the road to shoot again. Two other relatives sat dead in the front seat. Photo Credit: Kit R. Roane
In only one car was a weapon found, an AK-47 resting in the bed of this truck, Marines later admitted. This was long after the other cars and the commuter bus had piled up behind. The driver of this car, a soldier at least at some time, was likely fleeing Baghdad. Photo Credit: Kit R. Roane
The Marines look at a picture of an Iraqi police officer found in a nearby house where three men had taken refuge when the Marines began firing at what moved in front of them. A fourth man, their friend, had been shot by the Marines, then bled to death as they watched. These Marines think the bald man may be the police officer in disguise. Photo Credit: Kit R. Roane
Marines roll into central Baghdad to the cheers of crowds of iraqis who then attempt to topple a large statue of Saddam Hussein. After it comes down with the help of the Marines, Iraqi men and children beat the statue with shoes, metal scraps and sledgehammers. Photo Credit: Kit R. Roane
The head of Saddam rests alone now, not far from the park where his statue once stood. No-one bothers even to kick it anymore, its only visitors being those in a passing car that attempt to spit. Just beyond chaos reigns. Photo Credit: Kit R. Roane
