Marines search houses in Fallujah's Shuhada district

by 2nd Lt. Lawton King

Marines from C Company, 1st Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment staged cordon-and-knock operations in the Shuhada district in southern Fallujah as part of Operation Seminole Oct. 28.

Marines from C Company, 1st Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, patrol through back alleys on their way to another residence in the Shuhada District of Fallujah. Marines conducted cordon-and-knock operations in southern Fallujah Oct. 29 in order to collect census-related data and to ensure no weapons were being stashed in the area. 1st Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment is serving with Regimental Combat Team 5 in Fallujah. (photo by 2nd Lt. Lawton King)

"I have done a lot of cordon and searches, and there doesn't seem to be a lot of enemy activity, so I wouldn't be surprised if we find nothing," said 1st Lt. Lane Mandel, the 25-year-old platoon commander from Houston, the night before the operation. Nevertheless, "It's definitely worth doing. We get to know the people better. We'll do census ops."

Marines set out early in the morning and arrived on the scene in the Shuhada in amphibious assault vehicles shortly after dawn.

Quickly dismounting from the amtracs, Marines assumed their patrol formations and initiated their search of the largely residential area house-by-house.

Marines cordoned their sectors of responsibility and knocked on the exterior gates that bar entrance into most Iraqi homes. They notified residents Marines wished to visit to ensure no weapon caches were concealed.

The Marines also snapped photographs of the residents with their registration badges for the ever-expanding Fallujah database.

"We're doing census operations, and in the process of that we're looking for weapon caches," said Cpl. Shawn Wilson, a 27-year-old squad leader in the platoon from Lake Orion, Mich.

House after house, the Marines were greeted by cooperative Iraqis accustomed to such visits. Local residents permitted Marines to search the various rooms of the houses and apartments without offering any resistance.

"This is the first person to ever tell us to knock the lock off," said Navy Seaman Bryan Huffstutler, the platoon's 20-year-old corpsman from St. Louis, after an Iraqi invited the Marines to "jimmy" the master lock to an auxiliary room when he could not produce the key.

Needless to say, the Marines obliged.

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