American Valor Quarterly Issue 10 - Summer 2013 | Page 15

Paul Ray Smith Award
For distinguished service in the United States military during Operation Iraqi Freedom

First Lieutenant Elliot Ackerman
United States Marine Corps
On the night of Nov. 10, 2004, after a day leading his men through a series of running gunfights to secure a building
complex in Fallujah, Marine Second Lt. Elliot Ackerman got his next orders: Seize a foothold for the company deeper
in the city. For five more days, Ackerman and his platoon from the 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, would fight
to the core of insurgent-controlled Fallujah, moving from one location to another while battling jihadists making a
bloody last stand, hell bent to take some Marines with them.
On this night, however, the unit spotted a distant three-story building that looked to be a promising place to fight
from the next day. Later finding the building partially demolished, Ackerman decided to press on. The unit camped
about 100 yards away in what they called the “candy store,” a warren of four or five convenience stores under one roof.
By dawn on Nov. 11, insurgents started milling around the street, unaware of the Marines’ presence.
The insurgents soon found out.
“We were able to get a jump on significant groups trying to cross the street,” Ackerman recalled. “The marksmen from the platoon were having a
field day. “Obviously it didn’t take too long for the insurgents to realize where we were and at that point they started to slowly encroach and
surround us.” The intensity of fire on the unit continued to escalate, he said: “It was getting pretty hairy.”
Ackerman divided his platoon into three squads. One was stationed on the main floor where it exchanged fire with the attackers, while the other
two remained in the basement where they rested and refueled. At midday, the fight took a turn. A platoon sergeant collapsed after a bullet pierced
his helmet, grazing his scalp. A machine gunner took a bullet in the leg that nicked his femoral artery, causing heavy bleeding.
Still under heavy fire, Ackerman called for medical help, but the first evacuation team was turned back when one of its armored track vehicles was
hit by a rocket-propelled grenade. The next push, by a mobile assault platoon of heavily armed Humvees, successfully removed the wounded.
An hour later, Ackerman got new orders. Move out, his commander said. More Marines were pushing through and Ackerman’s unit was to link
up with them and move deeper into the city. Since insurgents were positioned outside the front door, Ackerman ordered plastic explosives stacked
against the back wall. When detonated, the blast created an opening and the platoon left the building to join their fellow forces.
A quarter-mile deeper into the city, the Marines were channeled into narrow streets. Corps tanks were blasting left and right as insurgents fired from
rooftops. The noise was deafening, but through the din came a new command: Go firm! Go firm! In other words, the Marines were to hold their
positions.
“My radio operator and I just went barreling into this house,” Ackerman said, and the rest of his platoon followed. But there were insurgents on
the roof. As the platoon fought to clear the house, another order to move again came as commanders wanted to reposition their tanks. “So we had
to basically move up to another street and into another house, which was a pretty hairy fight to get into there,” he said.
By the end of the day, Ackerman’s platoon of 46 was down to 21 Marines who could fight effectively, a testament to the heavy fighting. The next
day they resumed the fight to capture Fallujah, a mission accomplished a few days later.
Ackerman was awarded a Silver Star, the third highest award for valor. His Marine Corps commendation said he left safety several times to pull
wounded comrades to shelter, and “rushed through a gauntlet of deadly enemy fire” to direct rescue vehi