60                                       . ARINES IN THE PERSIAN GULF, 1990-1991


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                                         Department of Defense Photo (USMC) 0726 27 91
A column of armored and wheeled vehicles carried the Marines of Headquarters
Baaalion deep into Kuwait. Here they cross the Iraqi minefield via lane Blue 3, 25
February 2991.

road intersection held by the tank company and the boundary between the 1st
Battalion, 8th Marines, and the 2d Battalion, 4th Marines, which was set in at
the "ice-cube.' The battalion's eastern flank also received some accurate artillery
fire, causing five casualties.  The battalion's tanks and CAT worked very
effectively at beating back this attack. They destroyed several enemy armored
vehicles, some of them within only 75 meters of the battle positions. Effective
counter-battery fire from the 10th Marines soon silenced the artillery fire, but
the fight continued for another hour and a half. At 0400, quiet returned to the
scene. Lieutenant Colonel Gombar and his fire support coordinator, Captain
Mark Ettore, were preparing to enjoy a well-deserved cup of coffee after their
exertions of the night. Captain Ettore, thinking that the Jraqis were also taking
advantage of the moment to regroup and relax, impressed on his commander that
they should not be allowed to do so. Accordingly, Captain Ettore called for a
repeat of three groups of targets which had been fired by the 10th Marines
during the engagement. The results proved the correctness of the captain's
thinking. There were several spectacular secondary explosions, and the next
morning nearly 200 devastated and demoralized prisoners were taken, some of
whom told of how the artillery barrages had caught them just as they were
preparing to fall back to alternate positions.203
    While these actions were going on, at the division CP the question of
boundaries was significant once again. General Keys was still concerned about
the division's open western flank. The 2d LAl Battalion, which had been
screening to the east, was moved west, and screened the Tiger Brigade's flank.~
The eastern boundary presented unique problems of its own. There was a need