Customer Reviews

Thunder Run: The Armored Strike to Capture Baghdad

5 star:		(50)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

One of the most surprising moves by the United States military in Operation Iraqi Freedom was the quick inception and execution of the two "thunder runs" into Baghdad as they were quickly dubbed (a Vietnam-era term) on April 5 and 7, 2003. The surprise, as author David Zucchino informs in his new book Thunder Run, was that the idea was implemented nearly spur of the moment, and that the soldiers on both sides of the conflict had no idea it was coming.

The military had planned to besiege Baghdad, surrounding the city with the 3rd Infantry Division (Mech.) while cordoning off sections of the city piece by piece via air assaults from the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions. Everyone thought and planned the siege would be a lengthy and potentially very bloody process, including the Iraqis - they had correctly discerned the American strategy and had prepared well for it.

Once the coalition reached Baghdad, commanders decided that a military demonstration into, instead of in front of, the city was in order. The highways into the city were practically unobstructed; the route chosen was a pure concrete and asphalt highway that arced from the southern to western ends of the city, ending with Saddam Airport, which was already in 3rd Infantry Division hands. The intention of the first run was to be the first of many, a risky armored thrust into enemy-held urban territory where tanks were supposedly wholly vulnerable. The second would quickly follow-up the apparent success of the first, two days later - and this time the Americans had come to stay.

Mr. Zucchino writes the physical and emotional peaks and troughs of combat in a powerful yet readable way. Occasionally he falls into the trap of using too much military jargon and slang when repeatedly mentioning terms - the continuing use of "twenty-five Mike Mike" to describe twenty-five millimeter rounds for instance can be jarring, especially when it is not consistent. As an embedded reporter, however, the influences on his writing gauged against his experiences in the war is hard to measure.

What Thunder Run is not is a personal memoir or first-person retelling of how the thunder runs unfolded. This is a blow-by-blow, practically minute-by-minute white-knuckle experience of hectic, frantic firefights on Baghdad highways, bridges, exchanges, and palaces - and serves much more as a tactical oral history than a memoir by a journalist. Occasionally the reader could possibly wonder if the Army troops really could hold out against such heavy resistance. Then, as the author recounts the disorganization of the opposing forces, one is forced to wonder what would have happened if they had been more organized.

Much of the story about the two thunder runs is unknown to the public, with perhaps the exception of the fighting at Objective Curly on April 7 (video documented by NBC) and the incident the next day with the Palestine Hotel.

The latter incident, involving 3rd Infantry Abrams tanks, is a prime example of how the situation was so muddled and confused, and how the people who knew least about the war were the ones fighting it. Mr. Zucchino deftly explains the situation, the fighting on the bridge, frequent direct and indirect enemy fire, and how none of the soldiers below brigade level even knew what the Palestine Hotel was, let alone whom it housed. It was a tragic incident and probably avoidable, but, in war, tragic incidents happen.

Mr. Zucchino not only takes the accounts of American soldiers and officers, he interviewed a bevy of journalists, but Iraqi civilians and military representatives as well. Of course, the bulk of the account tilts toward the U.S. point of view, which can be understandable as many of the Iraqi or foreign (Syrian) fighters died - many needlessly, even haphazardly - during the two thunder runs.

The inside covers of Thunder Run and the few pages contain maps of the south-central area of Iraq, covering the 3rd Infantry Division's march up to Baghdad, highlighting several points along the way. The maps show the paths of the thunder runs, as well as the objectives and other infamous landmarks and visual cues of the area. Specific maps of the objective areas or the terrain around the Jumhuriya Bridge are not given. The back of the books contains a list of combat awards and interviewees. Disappointingly, there is no index, and no photographs (except for the front and rear dust jacket).

David Zucchino, who edited both the serialized versions of Blackhawk Down and Killing Pablo for Mark Bowden, has written a tremendously compelling tale of what arguably was a prime turning point in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Historians and contemporary writers should not ignore it in the growing field of writing emerging from the war.

David Zucchino has written a timeless account of the armored strikes that effectively captured Baghdad. Called "thunder runs," the idea was to thrust an armoured column into Baghdad with such force and violence that tyhe enemy could not resist and would know that the Americans could go where they want, when they wanted.

The first Thunder Run was through the suburbs of Baghdad to the main airport. Zucchino does a superlative job of describing the mishaps, mistakes, lost opportunities and fear attendant to any military operation. One can only marvel at the courage and resourcefulness of the men assigned this task.

The second Thunder Run was to be to the center of Baghdad just to broadcast to the Iraqis that, indeed, American forces could drive right into the heart of the government center, sweeping aside any opposition.

The commander of the operation felt it could go further: that the armored column could not only penetrate to the heart of Baghdad - but stay there as well. This would, it was argued, end the war.

Zucchino distinguishes himself as one of the finest narrators of war in this generation. His descriptions of the frantic Iraqi counter-attacks, the confusion, the almost random nature of death in combat run right to the heart.

Happily, Zuchhino leave politics at the doorstep. He describes combat, not the polemics and politics of this particular war. I am certain that I will be re-reading Thunder Run: the detail is just too vast to grasp in a single reading.

Jerry

First of all, this was a great book. I was a tank gunner with Charlie Company, 1-64 AR with the 2nd Brigade/3ID. What I enjoyed most about this book was the very detailed accounts of what other units in the brigade were going through. At the time, I (and everyone else, I'm sure) was very wrapped up in our own individual actions so, to read about the rest of the brigade, was very interesting. Additionally, while I cannot vouch for anything having to do with other units, the descriptions in the book of everything that happened with C/1-64 were totally accurate. I recommend this book to anyone with an interest in the subject and I would further recommend the book Heavy Metal: A Tank Company's Battle To Baghdad written by my CO (CPT Jason Conroy) and our embedded reporter (Ron Martz of the Atlanta Journal Constitution). This book won't be out until March 2005 but I for one am dying to read it.

There are currently many books out about the Iraqi war. This one focuses on the 3rd division and their "thunder run" up hiway 8 and eventually into downtown Baghdad. It brings the horrors of battle right into your living room with very descriptive passages of battle and the emotions of the men who fought in this untried military strategy. There are vivid descriptions of the firefights and through the narrative you get to see the war from the soldier's point of view. Unlike some non-fiction works, this one reads almost like a novel. It is quickly paced and will keep you reading for hours. An excellent book, I highly recommend it.

The engagements described in this book will be studied from now on in military colleges around the world. Over the years, many experts in military strategy have condenmed US military strategy as being too direct and lacking in creativity. As this book shows, somebody was listening to this criticism: the taking of Baghdad was brilliant.

Prior to these battle, US doctrine was that tanks could not be effective in an urban environment: there was no room to maneuver and tanks were too imprecise a weapon to use amongst hordes of civilians. Someone (and the book doesn't say whose idea the Thunder Runs were) decided to change that doctrine. Rather than the direct approach, laying seige to the city, the planners decided to bypass the defenders and simply thrust into the heart of the city. Once everyone could see US troops in the middle of the city, the psychological blow had been struck and the US was considered victorious without actually engaging in any set battles. Thousands of Iraqi civilians and soldiers were spared by this unprecidented move.

In the history of warfare, I doubt there are any other examples of so few (only 1,000 troops were involved in the Thunder Runs) taking a so large a city defended by so many, so quickly, with so little loss of life. Some Americans were killed and Iraqi soldiers were killed by the hundreds, but this result pales in comparison to what might have happend had the city been taken block by block, the "direct" way.

Zucchino deserves great praise for bringing the story to light, but even more praise for telling the tale so selflessly. His personality and opinions simply never show up in the narrative. There are no politics in the book at all, other than a few comments from the soldiers themselves.

As an Army Officer, I am very interested in hearing what tactics, techniques & equipment worked in Iraq and what didn't. While the Army has been gathering much of this information internally, a few books are now appearing to tell the story of what really happened during the march on Baghdad. Conventional wisdom and Army doctrine told us that urban warfare was not the ideal place to use armor. To secure the city would require that US forces set a siege while the light infantry (e.g., 82nd Airborne or 101st Air Assault Divisions) clear the city block by block. What the Second Brigade, Third Infantry Division (Mechanized) did was to simply rewrite Army doctrine. Aggressively employed, they proved that armor can be the supreme tool in urban warfare. There were several other lessons learned from the Third's charge ("Thunder Run"). The Army has had to rethink convoy procedures and other areas concerning logistical support in a "non-linear" battlefield. Furthermore, the division proved that organic fire support using mortars and self-propelled artillery is still critical to success in the "close battle", and that airpower has not replaced those important systems. The story is gripping, because the battle was a closely fought affair. The book is full of examples of how great our young soldiers are; for they are the best army in the world. David Zucchino was an embedded reporter with the division during the battle and he has done an outstanding job in telling the Third's story. Overall, this is an important book and undoubtedly the first of many that will tell of this conflict.

Looking at the news media, most give the impression U.S. forces simply walked into Baghdad, ending the war. This book tells the true story. It wasn't a cake walk. The Thunder Runs (the first on April 5), and most importantly the second on April 7, involved extensive and prolonged engagements. The battles were fierce and intense.

Other reviewers have provided a good accounting of the core of the book, so I will provide some information on the sourcing. Although written in novel form, the author, David Zucchino, provides information on the extensive sourcing used for the book. Zucchino, while also an embedded reporter, interviewed over 100 of the participants, establishing first hand accounts of the action. To that he added reviews of combat histories of the units, notes and journals of soldiers, logs, radio conversations, photos, videos. He was also able to interview Iraqi officers and Iraqi civilians, providing a rare and insightful glimpse on what it was like on the other side. He avoids page by page sourcing (which would bog down the narrative), but does provide notes on sources at the back of the book. The end result is a beautiful narrative that in its own right would be a masterful fiction novel, until you realize it is non-fiction. It really happened!

Tells the true story. Well written. Well sourced. Highly recommended. Five Stars

Absolutely one of the best books of modern warfare! It equals if not exceeds the drama of Black Hawk Down. My mouth dropped open a few times reading of the actions some of the soldiers undertook during combat. Incredible, this book grabs you from the very start and makes it very hard to put down. No political opinions are expressed. It is combat up close and personal. I for one thought the Thunder Runs were cake walks. This book tells just how ill-informed the world was of the U.S. Army's Battle for Baghdad. I can't recommend this book enough. It is OUTSTANDING!!!

Also recommend:
"The March Up: Taking Baghdad With The 1st Marine Division"
"Storm on the Horizon : Khafji--The Battle that Changed the Course of the Gulf War"

From a history standpoint, the US military's overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime in a few short weeks in 2003 was a brilliant, unprecedentedly effective military accomplishment which will be studied by soldiers thousands of years from now, just as today we study Sun Tzu and the Anabasis.

Zucchino's report, gleaned while being embedded at the tip of the spear, details a grunt's eye view of the campaign's "tipping point."

The book is non-stop, action-packed, dramatic, and exceptionally well-written and edited. He is a great reporter in the traditional sense; he details what actually happened when and where, and doesn't preach from some pre-conceived political viewpoint. This book is an objective report, not subjective; despite reading the entire book, I still can't figure out if Zucchino considers this war noble or folly.

A must read if you ever wore a tactical field uniform, and even more important to be read if you didn't: it might help you understand why some choose to serve.

A quote from page 324 in this book: "Many different methods by many different countries have been tried to force the Saddam regime to collapse, and only one worked. The one that worked was putting the boots of American soldiers on the streets of Baghdad." Like it or not, it worked...

Cervantes once famously stated that what really counts in life are "Deeds, not words." This book is a superb account about deeds.

It is a feat for a media person to touch the emotions this old soldier and at the same time inform and move the uninitiated. David Zucchino has managed to accomplish both with his poignant and compassionate view of this historic engagement through the eyes of those who fought the battle and reported on it.

A must read!