"As the Marines breached the compounds gate, the insurgents sprang a “Chechen Ambush”, in which they hoped to wound the initial Marines and then kill the corpsman and other Marines who rushed to their aid. Lance Cpl. Erick Hodges was immediately hit by a hail of bullets, killing him instantly. Navy Corpsman Alonso Rogero was hit in the stomach while Lance Cpl. Ryan Sunnerville was hit in the leg. Hopping on one leg L/Cpl. Sunnerville pushed forward under a barrage of hand grenades, engaging the insurgents with his M-16 at a range of less than 20 yards.
PFC Christopher Aldesperger rushed forward, engaging a concealed machine gun position while he helped Rogero and Sunnerville to the only cover available, the stairwell to the roof. Once secure in the relative safety of the rooftop, Aldesperger single-handedly held off insurgents storming the stairway. With blood streaming down his shrapnel peppered face, he watching in silent rage while insurgents peppered the lifeless body of L/Cpl. Hodges with bullets, including two head shots. When one insurgent rushed forward to grab Hodges weapon, Aldesperger dropped him with one round.
Unable to engage the machine gun position under his feet which was pinning down the Marines, PFC Aldesperger, using the 40 mm M-203 grenade launcher, blasted a hole in the floor through which he could return fire on the MG position. The insurgents half-heartedly returned fire and fled, allowing the Marines outside the courtyard to stage an assault. Four insurgents attempted to flee into the courtyard. PFC Aldesperger dropped each with a single shot. They joined 11 other dead insurgents inside the building, all killed by PFC Aldesperger’s M-16 fire through the improvised hole he had made in the floor.
The building had in fact been a central command and control post and Col. Patrick Malay, 3/5’s battalion commander, estimated that if it had not been subdued quickly, primarily due to PFC. Aldesperger’s actions, it may have thrown off the entire Fallujah timetable.
Once L/Cpl Hodges body had been recovered, the buildings walls were breached by an LVPT7 amphibious assault vehicle. PFC Aldesperger insisted on being the first in to ensure the only hajis left inside were dead.
At a company formation on Thanksgiving weekend, PFC Aldesperger was meritoriously promoted to Lance Corporal for his actions on the Marine Corps Birthday.
LC 0311 crunchie I.M.H.He was also nominated for the Medal of Honor.
Less than two weeks later L/Cpl. Aldesperger was killed in a sudden fusillade of bullets as he approached a house. Hit by multiple rounds in his body armor, the impact had spun him around, exposing his unprotected side. A single round had penetrated to his heart.
In April 2007 Lance Corporal Christopher Aldesperger’s family were presented a posthumous Navy Cross for his heroic actions of November 10, 2004 in Fallujah."
Requiescat In Pace, Marine
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