Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans
7:23 | Ric Hickel couldn't understand it. The Marines had Muqtada al-Sadr, the leader of the Mahdi militia, cornered. They were beginning to negotiate a surrender when he was let go. To the grunts, this was incomprehensible. But they still had a war to fight as the Battle of Najaf raged on. (Caution: strong language)
Keywords : Ric Hickel Iraq Muqtada al-Sadr Mahdi Militia mosque Imam Ali Shrine sniper Najaf dud Combat Action Ribbon mortar FOB Baker Iraqi M249 Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW) thermal optics
Ric Hickel was born in the South American nation of Colombia but was raised in south Florida. He knew from childhood that he wanted to be a Marine. He grew up without a father and it would be in the Corps that he learned how to be a man.
This new generation of war fighters was trained by a peace time generation. That's the observation of Marine Ric Hickel, who also has a convincing view on the value of hazing.
It was a boat company but it wound up in Iraq. Ric Hickel spent a lot of time training in rubber boats but became part of the ground element for the 4th Marines there. His unit's job was to train the Iraqi National Guard but there was little trust between them.
The assault of Najaf was made more difficult because a mosque in the center of the city contained a shrine that was a holy site. Ric Hickel recalls how the Marines were not allowed to fire on the complex despite receiving fire from there. (Caution: strong language)
He came home proud. Ric Hickel had seen what war is in Iraq and, now, home seemed unfamiliar. He was changed and it took a while to readjust. He had caught some shrapnel from a mortar round, and this was misreported to his mother as an amputation. A phone call cleared that up but, when she met him at the airport, there was nearly another moment of panic. (Caution: strong language)
After his Iraq deployment, Marine Ric Hickel trained for amphibious raid operations. This could be for hostage rescue situations and it turned out they did just that when a cargo ship was boarded by Somali pirates. (Caution: strong language)
He was good at being a bad guy in the sense that he had to be a tough infantryman. But what do you do after the fighting? How do you turn it off? Ric Hickel went through this after his combat experiences in Iraq.
Ric Hickel pays tribute to an NCO he knew during his training who inspired him to become a better man and a better Marine. This was very valuable to him because he had grown up without a father.
