Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro said the USS Fallujah will commemorate what have become known as the “First and Second Battles of Fallujah.'
“It is an honor to memorialize the Marines, soldiers, and coalition partners that fought valiantly and those that sacrificed their lives during both battles of Fallujah,” Del Toro said in a statement Tuesday.
The first battle of Fallujah was triggered by increasing violence in the city including the deaths of five U.S. soldiers hit by a roadside bomb, and four security contractors working for Blackwater USA. The contractors were killed and their bodies set on fire. Two of the corpses were hung from a bridge, and photos of the carnage were distributed to media.
The second battle came in November 2004, and was a massive air and ground offensive by U.S. forces, along with British and Iraqi troops, to take control of the city. Dozens of Americans and hundreds of militants were killed and large sections of the city were damaged and destroyed. Gen. Richard Myers, who is now retired but was chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff during that time, said that “hundreds and hundreds of insurgents” had been killed and captured. He said the Fallujah offensive was “very, very successful” but wouldn’t finish the insurgency.
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