As the Marines approached the house they observed a man sitting on the stoop, who matched the description of a wanted man. The man, who did not visible have a weapon, fit the description of a known high value target, according to Sgt. Tobey J. Owens, squad leader, 1st Squad, 3rd Platoon.

Owens then ran after and tackled the man. The man struggled with the Marines while he was being detained. The Marines found a Glock 9-mm pistol on the man, said Owens.

The Marines continued towards the second house. The Marines quickly cleared the house of insurgents, said Cpl. Brandon L. Soetaert, team leader, 1st Sqd., 3rd Plt.

Once the house was originally cleared, the Marines began a more detailed search of the house. The Marines found a metal door in the rear of the house that was locked. The Marines breached entrance into the room and discovered a large weapons cache, said Lance Cpl. Adam Wiedler, assaultman with 1st Sqd., 3rd Plt.

The Marines breeched the doorway and entered the room. Once inside of the room the Marines discovered a weapons cache that was large enough to outfit a small militia, according to Wiedler.

The room was lined with every type of weapons from pistols to anti-air craft rockets. The weapons were well maintained and some of them were loaded, said Weidler.

In addition to the weapons systems, the Marines found anti-coalition propaganda, videotapes showing the insurgents beating Iraqi hostages and falsified identification papers, according to Leonhart.

“Once we realized what we had discovered, we decided to conduct a more detailed search of the property,” said Owens, 29, a native of East Liverpool, Ohio.

Upon further search coalition gear and U. S. currency were found inside the house. On the property surrounding the house Marines found a locked concrete shed. After cracking the door they realized that there were people in the room, said Soetaert, 20, a native of Kansas City, Mo.

“I didn’t realize what they were at first. We had been banging on the door for a few minutes and they were asleep,” said Weidler. “Once I realized what that they were hostages, I was extremely happy to be able to help this people.”

The hostages were civilian contractors that had been working with coalition forces toward bettering the future of Iraq.

During a more detailed search of the property multiple weapons caches were found among three vehicles. Not wanting these weapons to fall back into the hands of insurgents Multi-National Forces placed charges on the vehicles destroying them in place according to, Lance Cpl. Russell D. Antonuccio, assault man, 3rd Plt.

In total MNF to took six insurgents into custody, found multiple weapons caches and recovered three hostages without firing a single shot or taking any casualties.

“I felt that we truly helped the Iraqi people today,” said Wielder. “It was a great birthday present for the Marines' birthday.”

Assembling in the dead of night, the Marines of “Suicide Charlie” prepare to provide the wake up call of a lifetime for a handful of known insurgents. They mount their vehicles and head towards the small town on the banks of the Euphrates River and as the sun rises the Marines knock on the insurgents door in a way that only Marines can.

With a bang on the door, the Marines entered houses with such speed that the insurgents didn’t have time to react to the early morning visitors. At the completion of this early morning visit, the Marines leave with five insurgents detained and weapons that could have been used to kill coalition forces or innocent Iraqi civilians.

The Marines of 1st Platoon, C Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, conducted simultaneous cordon and knocks on three houses’ to capture insurgents.

They entered through the front door of the first house and began clearing the each room, said Sgt. Tobey J. Owens, squad leader, 1st Squad.

The Marines had cleared most of the house when they entered a small room in the rear. They discovered a man crouching along the wall with a loaded weapon pointed at them, stated Cpl. Travis M. Ball, team leader, 1st Squad.

“We were on top of the man so quickly he did not have time to react,” said Owens. “I kicked him as Ball tackled him to the floor so he would not have the opportunity to shoot at us.”

The squad captured the armed insurgent, Kais Atal Mutatharer, who had worked with the U.S. Army as a translator in the Al Qaim area.

“The quick actions of the Marines enabled us to gather intelligence out of him,” said Capt. Chris DeAntoni, company commander. “They had every justification to shoot this guy, but they had the discipline not to and we’ll be able to use this guy to get bigger fish.”

Then they entered the house next door and discovered four insurgents along with three women and a baby. The Marines quickly separated the males and moved the females outside of the house, according to Cpl. Brandon L. Soetaert, team leader, 1st Squad.

The Marines also provided medical care to a known terrorist facilitator after entering the house. The man had gone into shock as the Marines entered the house, stated Soetaert, 20, from Kansas City, Mo.

Inside the two houses the Marines found loaded weapons, ammunition, anti-coalition propaganda, falsified documents, identification papers and tools for making vehicle borne improvised explosive devices, Owens added.

The Marines also visited an insurgent house in the northern section of the town. Scaling the wall they surrounded the perimeter of the house and gained entry only to discover that the informant and given the Marines incorrect information, but the insurgents house was actually across the street, according to Cpl. Timothy A. Collier, team leader, 1st Squad.

The head of the household showed the Marines which house the insurgent lived in and the Marines searched the house. According to an Iraqi woman inside of the house the insurgent had left earlier that morning, said Collier, a 24 year-old native of Akron, Ohio.

As the sun rose across the Iraqi sky, the Marines left the small town on the riverbank of the Euphrates and returned to their base with five terrorists captured.