WflH THE 2D MARINE DWISION IN DESERT SHIELD AND DESERT STORM            65


                                      Department of Defense Photo (USMC) 0300 28 91
Iraqi soldiers surrender to elements of the 2d Light Armored Infantry Battalion.

They came through the breach created by their armor comrades, securing a
bunker complex which was on their objective.21~
    Meanwhile, Lieutenant Colonel Tystadt's armor battalion continued towards
Al Jahrah, moving in column along the hard-surfaced road which ran along the
ridge line. As they approached the Mutlaa police station, Lieutenant Colonel
Tystadt saw the destruction and confusion caused by the earlier air attacks. He
also noted  that some Iraqis were still attempting to escape through the
choke-point. He ordered Company B, which was in the lead, to attack north
across the road and block the Iraqi retreat. It did so, opening fire on the lead
tanks and destroying three. The shock of this action quickly persuaded the crews
of 15 others to abandon their tanks and surrender.216
    At this time, Company C crossed the road to clear the police station. The
fighting here had to be done room by room; when it was over, 40 Iraqis had
been killed or made prisoner. But it was here that the Tiger Brigade suffered
its own second loss. While assisting in positioning the command post, the
battalion's master gunner, Sergeant First Class Harold R. Witzke, was shot by
a sniper and died while awaiting evacuation.217
    With the road now blocked from the top of the ridge, Lieutenant Colonel
Tystadt sent one company southeast along the road to secure a major cloverleaf.
On the way the company had to conduct an "in-stride" breach of another
minefield, and encountered and destroyed several more tanks and APCs.215
    With the 3d Battalion, 67th Armor, now in position on the Mutlaa Ridge,
the Tiger Brigade could end its long exertions of this day. The area they now
controlled was the scene of great destruction and death. The Tiger Brigade had
put an end to what had been begun earlier by the attack aircraft of the 3d
Marine Aircraft Wing. A tightly-packed column of thousands of damaged and
abandoned vehicles, military and civilian (stolen from the citizens of Kuwait),
stretched down the road for close to two miles, filling all six lanes and
overflowing onto the sides of the road for hundreds of meters. This scene, soon
known as `1Death Valley" or "Carnage Road," became one of the most familiar
images to come out of the conflict. All of the soldiers and Marines who saw it
were impressed by the devastation caused by modern weaponry.    Equally, all