by Jim Lacey
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Product Description
Over time the impression has grown that the 2003 invasion of Iraq met with little resistance and that, with few exceptions, the Iraqi army simply melted away. As this book clearly shows, nothing could be further from the truth. In its drive to capture Baghdad, the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Division was in nearly constant combat for twenty-one days. While Americans were watching Saddam's statue being torn down on TV, a brigade of the 3rd ID was on the verge of being overrun by Iraqi Republican Guard units trying to escape north. Told to hold two bridges in his sector, a brigade commander had to blow up one of them because he did not have the combat power to hold it. The company commander holding the other bridge was so hard pressed that he called on the artillery to fire their final protective fires a command made only when a unit is in mortal danger and one that had not been given since Vietnam. Every one of the division's armored vehicles was hit by rockets some taking more than a dozen hits and the fighting was so fierce at times that entire battalions ran out of ammunition. Nevertheless, when the fighting was finally over, the 3rd ID had destroyed two Iraqi Regular Army divisions and three divisions of the much vaunted Republican Guard. Takedown tells the little-known story of what happened to the 3rd ID during its struggle to win Baghdad, a campaign that some call one of the most vicious in American military history. To offer this firsthand account, Jim Lacey, a former Time magazine reporter embedded with the 1st Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division, draws on extensive interviews that he conducted with the American soldiers involved as well as access to personal papers and war memoirs. This story is also enriched through his extensive use of interview transcripts of senior Iraqi army officers along with their personal written recollections. From the Kuwaiti border to the streets of Baghdad, these dramatic eyewitness descriptions of what went on give readers an accurate look at the brutal engagements in which the division fought for its life. In making use of such a wealth of primary source material, Lacey has succeeded in writing a fast paced narrative of the conflict, backed up by verifiable facts, that shows how modern wars are really fought.
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Average Customer Review:
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
 Excellent tactical overview of OIF I, 2007-07-15
The only thing preventing me from giving Jim Lacey's Take Down a perfect 5-star rating is the frequency of small errors, typos and misidentifications of units and facts that eventually detract from what is a superb tactical account of the division's bold masterstroke to topple Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq. Although it sounds like a nitnoid criticsm of the book, and many of the errors aren't noticed unless you are an experienced army Soldier or were there, I wish more diligence had been paid by the author and editors in putting together the final product.
That said- this is the definitive tactical account at the division level of OIF I and the assault on Baghdad. There are several books that take the battalion and company view of the Marne Division's tremendous success in March and April, 2003 such as Jason Conroy's "Heavy Metal," and David Zucchino's "Thunder Run," and while both are outstanding, they provide a limited perspective of the company/battalion and battalion/brigade fight involving 1-64 AR and the 2nd "Spartan" Brigade under Col. David Perkins. Lacey's "Take Down" the first to focus on the 3rd ID and all three maneuver brigades (Raiders, Spartans, Sledgehammer) and their leaders and Soldiers as they made the march up from Kuwait.
The people of this book are a who's who of heroes and leaders. In addition to the commanding general and his brigade commanders, Lt. Col. Ernst "Rock" Marcone, who commanded 3-69 AR is a central character. Although I didn't know him personally, I arrived as a new lieutenant to the tank company in 3-37 AR he had left command of at Fort Riley several months before in the mid-90's. The Deathstalker tankers still spoke about him in reverent tones and told many stories of "ol' Captain Marcone," so I found myself fascinated with his personal accounting of the various battles his battalion fought in Iraq.
Then, there is Lt. Col. Jeffrey Sanderson- commander of 2-69 AR- Speed and Power! His men truly loved him, as I came to discover while serving with many of them as the 3rd brigade, 3rd ID deputy operations officer in OIF III in 2005. Guys like "Snake" and "Paul" and "Pancho" all talked about "Pappy Sanderson" like a father figure and how he always led from the front, and I deeply regretted that I had not the chance to serve under such a fine combat leader. You get that sense about him in this book, as some of the stories told to me by his subordinate officers came to life in important detail here.
You get all of the Marne Division's finest in this book, which is concise, to the point, and an extremely fast read. It also dispels the silly myth once and for all that capturing Baghdad was a simple task, and that the roads leading to that tremendous accomplishment were easy. Those men and women of the Marne Division fought and bled giving better than what they got one hundredfold. Individual stories of heroism such as Congressional Medal of Honor winner Sgt. 1st Class Paul Smith, Staff Sgt. Dillard Johnson of 3-7 CAV, the Hibner twins and Sgt. 1st Class Hector Camacho among others are part of the narrative.
There will undoubtedly be more books and movies told of this amazing operation, but this is an excellent starting point, and for anyone wanting to know the tactical details of how one mechanized division toppled an entire regime, this is the best account of it.
Again- content-wise I give it a 5/5, but the mistakes and misidentifications were enough to take it down just a bit.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
Fantastic , 2007-06-19
I read this book in a single sitting. At critical moments in the battle the author really makes you feel as if you are watching events right over the shoulders of the troops doing the fighting. At the same time I was impressed at the scope of the book and loved reading the Iraqi side of the fight.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
GREAT BATTLE NARRATIVE, 2007-02-28
This is easily the most interesting account of the invasion of Iraq yet written and it covers not only the American perspective on the fighting, but also the Iraqi's viewpoint (based on interviews with Iraqi generals). Virtually every other history I have read has totally overlooks the contribution the 3rd Infantry Division made to the fight and until now they were in danger of being the forgotten piece of the war. This is a bit surprising since the 3rd ID did most of the fighting on the march up - far surpassing the amount of contact the Marines faced (though their performance was also spectacular).
No matter what you may think of the right or wrong of our involvement in Iraq or what has happened since the invasion, there is no doubt that the actual assault from Kuwait to Baghdad was brilliantly executed and deserves to be recorded as one of the greatest military operations in American history. Takedown tell this story in magnificent fashion and captures this often harrowing fight in incredible detail. I walked away from it with a new respect for the American soldier and our Army.... A great read that I recommend to all!
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
Superb, 2007-02-27
An utterly fascinating account of the invasion of Iraq!!! I got an advanced copy of this book and finished it in a single day. I had already read a number of books about the invasion of Iraq and thought I had a clear understanding of what happened. I was wrong. Takedown was full of insights and told a story I had never heard before. What the 3rd Infantry Division accomplished was simply incredible and I am surprised that this has remained such an untold story for so long. If you have an interest in military history or current events, then this book is a must read.
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