A frontline account of the battles, the brotherhood, and the grit that defined the opening drive of Operation Iraqi Freedom. 2100 hours, 20 March 2003, western Kuwait. Missiles streaked the night sky like the Fourth of July as American fighting vehicles revved and rattled near the Iraqi border. Distant fires flickered on the horizon. Jittery soldiers reported unidentified objects they thought were enemy tanks. The ground war in Iraq was fifteen hours old, and after more than a month in Kuwait, Task Force 2-7 stood ready to enter the fray - to breach the border and race toward their objective 400 miles away: Baghdad. During the next three weeks, the 2-7 would fight a series of eight battles culminating in the capture of Saddam International Airport and the thrust into the heart of Iraq's capital. Lieutenant Colonel Scott Rutter commanded Task Force 2-7 - an aggressive battalion-sized outfit built to pack a punch while advancing fast - and then-Captain Matt Paul led a mortar platoon under him. 21 Days to Baghdad is their firsthand account of the 2-7's thundering drive up the Iraqi desert during the opening phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Beginning with the tense, uncertain moments when the task force rumbled into Iraq and swung its left hook along the Euphrates River, Rutter and Paul vividly narrate the 2-7's march through a landscape haunted by the landmarks of ancient Mesopotamia and littered with debris from Desert Storm a dozen years earlier. From As Samawah to the Karbala Gap, from Saddam Airport to Baghdad, Task Force 2-7 waged a daring ground campaign that shocked and awed every bit as much as the massive aerial bombardment that preceded it. With the special grit and determination of the U.S. Army, the 2-7 fought its way north, battling a motley assortment of Iraqi Republican Guard, special forces, and militia - busting bunkers, demolishing enemy tanks, searching cars and buses - braving snipers, ambushes, boobytraps, and suicide bombers - enduring sand, sun, and heat - and dealing with the inevitable loss of good soldiers, one of whom would be awarded the Medal of Honor. Visceral and reflective, 21 Days to Baghdad is an unfiltered account of modern war, told from the tip of the spear that drove deep into Iraq in March and April 2003. More than a memoir by two commanders who led from the front, it is testimony and tribute to the fighting spirit of the American soldier.
Lt. Col. Scott Rutter was one of the most visible soldiers of the first phase of the Iraq War, where he received the Silver Star for his leadership of Task Force 2-7. During his more than twenty-year career in the U.S. Army, he served in air assault, mechanized, and intelligence assignments. As a company commander during Operation Desert Storm in 1991, he earned the Bronze Star. After his retirement in 2004, he became a war correspondent for Fox News and covered events on the ground in Iraq, including the Battle of Fallujah. He has also appeared on CNN and MSNBC as a military analyst. A board member of the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, Rutter now spends much of his time as a speaker and advocate for service members, veterans, and their families. He lives near Glassboro, New Jersey. Col. Matthew Paul spent ten years as a platoon leader and company commander in various U.S. Army units. After serving in Iraq with the 3rd Infantry Division's Task Force 2-7, he returned with the 101st Airborne Division in 2006 to train Iraqi Security Forces and conduct counterinsurgency operations. Colonel Paul remains on active duty with the U.S. Army Acquisition Corps. He lives near Washington, DC.
"In this essential book, Scott Rutter, the indomitable battalion commander, and Matthew Paul, the thoughtful and resolute mortar platoon leader, tell the story of their men's courage, determination, and goodness across the battles they fought and won in that history-making thunder run. Their book places the tale of American courage, patriotism and devotion where it belongs--center stage. Theirs is the story that has been waiting to be told--and retold."--Caroline B. Glick, international affairs advisor to the prime minister of Israel "Scott Rutter and Matt Paul have masterfully captured the ground truth of modern combat operations through the eyes of those who executed them at the most crucial moments. The speed, violence of action, and tactical excellence demonstrated by Task Force 2-7 Infantry represents the finest traditions of the American combat arms. Their story deserves to be told, studied, and remembered."--Maj. Gen. Buford Blount, USA (Ret.), commander, 3rd Infantry Division, Operation Iraqi Freedom I "Damn Fine Soldiers affirms a truth we hold sacred at TAPS: that America's promise to her fallen and their families endures. This book honors those who stood the line for freedom and ensures their stories of bravery, loss, and brotherhood will stand the test of time."--Bonnie Carroll, president and founder, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) "What was it like to go to war in America's last big ground offensive? During the epic 2003 march to Baghdad, the 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, led the way. Scott Rutter commanded this fighting outfit. Matt Paul headed up a key platoon. In Damn Fine Soldiers, these two veteran combat officers take you inside this great battalion. There's plenty in here about weapons and tactics, but the real heart of the story is about the soldiers--many of them very young--who risked it all under fire to gain a smashing victory."--Lt. Gen. Daniel P. Bolger, USA (Ret.), author of The Panzer Killers "What Rutter and Paul have accomplished in Damn Fine Soldiers is remarkable--capturing not just the tactical brilliance of the operation, but the indomitable spirit of American combat Soldiers working in concert. For professional military officers and anyone seeking to understand modern warfare, this account stands as essential reading."--Gen. Scott Wallace, USA (Ret.) "What Rutter and Paul have captured in this book embodies the essence of combined-arms warfare--armor, infantry, artillery, and air working in devastating concert against a determined enemy. This account does not merely tell one battalion's story; it highlights how sister units forged unbreakable bonds in the heat of combat. Damn Fine Soldiers stands as a testament to what American combined-arms task forces and units can achieve when speed and power meet tactical excellence."--Col. Rock Marcone, USA (Ret.), commander of Task Force 3-69 Armor, Operation Iraqi Freedom I
