WITH THE 1ST MARINE DWISION IN DESERT SHIELD AND DESERT STORM            39


                                                             Photograph by author
All that remained of the LA V-AT after the engagement at OP 4.

   Soon after Company C arrived at its new location it was attacked by about
20 enemy vehicles. The assault got nowhere. Losing 11 vehicles to 11 TOW
missiles, and then subjected to air bombardment, the survivors turned back and
disappeared into the smoke surrounding OP 6. That concluded the engagement,
and by dawn, only destroyed Iraqi vehicles surrounded the police station.
Company C took no casualties during the four-hour fight.
   Companies A and B also survived their engagements without loss. Myers
ordered Company D to withdraw following the destruction of the LAV-25, and
continued the fight with Company A, commanded by Captain Michael A. Shupp.
Still holding to his original plan of having Company A attack the enemy, Myers
directed Company A to move toward OP 4. The company's first mission,
however, was to search the area for any possible survivors from the two
destroyed LAVs and then reestablish Company D's position. Neither of these
tasks was going to be easy. The night was very dark and the limited extent of
the Iraqi attack was only dimly understood at the time, thus the movement of
any vehicle across the desert was suspicious and threatened with immediate air
or ground attack.
   The concern was not misplaced. Between 2300 on 29 January and 0300 the
following morning, Company B reported five sightings of possible enemy
vehicles, even though at the time it was located 25 kilometers to the south of OP
4. Captain Eddie S. Ray, commanding Company B, had even gone so far as to
target artillery against one of the sightings. Yet, all reports turned out to be
either Company D withdrawing from OP 4 or Company A maneuvering. It took
almost two hours for Company A to reach Company D's former position and
establish a screenline.
   At 0411 fighting around the police station flared up again. Initially, enemy
activity consisted of nothing more than artillery fired in the general direction of
Company A's position. It did nOt interrupt the search for survivors and firing
ceased after 10 minutes. Meanwhile, one of Captain Shupp's sections found the
destroyed LAV-25. The driver was still alive but his condition was initially