BOSTON -- Thousands of soldiers and Marines moved into the heart of Fallujah Tuesday as the major U.S. offensive raged on for a second day.
NewsCenter 5's Amalia Barreda reported that artillery and air strikes pounded insurgent targets, while troops went door-to-door to look for terrorists and their weapons. It's all part of a major offensive to gain control of the insurgent stronghold.
Armored units have crossed through the city's center -- a major milestone -- but one that has come with a high price. At least 16 Americans have been killed in the past two days, about half of them in the Fallujah offensive.
President George W. Bush said that his prayers are with U.S. forces in harm's way. Those forces also carry the prayers of many local families, whose loved ones are engaged in battles.
Lance Corp. Michael Goggin, 19, called his parents from Iraq last week and told them that his unit was going to Fallujah.
"You are scared every day. It just heightens it when it goes into an area like Fallujah. It is just a hotbed. I mean, even today I think the count is up to about 12 or 15 kids that have been killed over there," Goggin's father, Robert Goggin, said. "You have to take it an hour at a time, a day at a time and hope for the best and pray.
Army Pvt. Ron Hess has seen plenty of frontline fighting. The 24-year-old Scituate, Mass., native almost made it on the cover of
Time magazine. His mother said that his orders to go to Fallujah were changed at the last minute because he continues to be needed d in Baghdad.
"I am nervous. I am worried. I am always worried about him. I am worried about every one over there," Hess' mother, Kathy Hess, said. "I can't sleep. I want him home."
Both families said that they keep the TV on for every development and battle to keep calm when the phone rings.
"The phone rings late at night, and you don't know who is in the other end. Even when a van is pulling up in front of the house or you see a van or you hear a van, you pray that they are not coming to knock on the door with bad news for you," Robert Goggin said.
He said that his son's tour of duty is scheduled to end in January. Kathy Hess said that her son's tour started last January, and he was just told that it would be extended.
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Amalia Barreda Reports On Families
