Michael Fumento

In my "New Band of Brothers" article in the Weekly Standard I wrote of the attack on OP Hotel, now jokingly called "The Ramadi Inn," in the Industrial Area, one of the sectors for which 1/506th is responsible. "In a video a soldier showed me on his laptop, enemy soldiers attacked observation posts on the building. They poured in fire as a diversion, while a dump truck packed with explosives sped towards the structure. The tactic failed. The GIs (from 2-69th Armor of the 3rd Infantry Division) shot up the truck, which exploded in a massive ball of orange flame. Concussions all around, but no Americans were seriously hurt. To look at the hotel now, though, it seems like one good hard breath would knock it over."