WITH THE 2D MARINE DIVISION IN DESERT SHIELD AND DESERT STORM             67


and the   1st Battalion, 8th Marines, were abreast. The 3d Battalion, 23d
Marines, followed in trace and provided additional flank security. As the 2d
Battalion, 4th Marines, moved north, it bad to circumvent another minefield and
encountered increasing armored resistance. Its attack brought it into a large
agricultural area measuring several square kilometers.  This area had been
occupied by one brigade of the Iraqi 3d Armored Division, and also contained
a major logistic support site.~ It was surrounded by a high cinderblock wall,
and was filled with bunkers and fighting positions. The battalion pressed on
through increasing darkness, and consolidated its positions along its section of
the road.
     On the division's extreme right was the 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, tied in
with the 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, of the 1st Marine Division. The battalion
aimed at two small hills, from which it could control the road, as its objectives.
Near to these was a suspected Iraqi strongpoint in an agricultural area known as
the "Dairy Farm."    Artillery fired preparation missions on this area as the
companies began their final assaults on their objectives. In gathering darkness
the battalion's progress slowed as it entered the increasingly restrictive nature
of a more urban area. However, by 1800, it had secured its section of the road
and established anti-tank ambushes along it.~
     In its movement north the 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, had bypassed some
Iraqi  formations, in accordance with orders. Following    in trace, the 3d


                                       Department of Defense Photo (USMC) 0214 22 91
Wounded Iraqi so idlers await treatment at a division compound.