Keep Moving or Die

"Keep Moving or Die; Task Force Tarawa at An-Nasiriyah"
(expected publishing date December 2006)

"Keep Moving or Die" is the battle study of the vicious 9-day Marine action at An-Nasiriyah in March 2003. With a grant from the USMC Historical Foundation, Andrew has combed through the official documents and archives, interviewed the Marine participants both in person and by phone in meetings ranging from Camp Lejeune to Quantico to Camp Pendleton to Camp Butler and Camp Hansen, Okinawa.

The scope of the book ranges from the strategic rationale for the Allied forces (finally delegated to Task Force Tarawa) to capture the important city of An-Nasiriyah to the command and control structure that planned the attack. The role of the poorly-led and ill-fated Army's 507th Maintenance Unit (of Jessica Lynch infamy) in the midst of the battle is also discussed, along with Andrew's interviews with all the important Marine participants ranging from the commanding general to the young Marines on the ground. In the interests of accuracy, all four of the Marine (3 infantry, 1 artillery) battalion commanders participated in the writing of this book, as did the senior levels of the MEB. The story of this historic action is told exactly and accurately, without the sensationalism or hysteria of recent books on the subject.

"Keep Moving or Die: Task Force Tarawa at An-Nasiriyah" is a unique, very readable, and tightly woven collection of the stories of the Marines who fought and won the ugliest, yet most important battle of Operation Iraqi Freedom.