The following slideshow features images our of our intern Fred in Iraq during 2004 and 2005. Fred served as a rifleman in the 5th Marines during the invasion of Iraq and the Second Battle of Fallujah; the images were captured by a professional photographer as well as other Marines and Iraqi soldiers, who used a disposable camera.
Fred moves to a staging area in Camp Baharia, near Fallujah, Iraq, the day before Operation Phantom Fury. The photo was snapped by Max Becherer, a photojournalist who was freelancing for Time Magazine.Fred sports an Iraqi soldier’s AK-47 (traded with his M-16 for the photo) in a defensive position outside the city of Saqlawiyah, just north of Fallujah, Iraq.After exiting the Marines in 2006, Fred poses with his dress blues uniform in the home of Gregory Rund. A Littleton, Colo. native, Rund was killed in action during the Second Battle of Fallujah in Dec. 2004.Left to Right- Lcpl. Ross Smith (KIA), Lcpl. Joe Sawyer, Lcpl. Richard Ryba and Lcpl. Fred Lambert. The four Marines enjoy beers in the Bangor Airport during a layover in their flight from Iraq in Spring 2005. Smith would be killed in 2006 during his third tour to the region.Marines from Fred’s squad pose for a traditional unit photo. In hours they would begin the assault of Fallujah under cover of darkness.Fred performs pull-ups — the mainstay Marine exercise — on a makeshift bar in Camp Baharia, near Fallujah, Iraq.Fred and Lcpl. David Portillodelao before the assault on Fallujah, Nov. 2004.Left to Right- Lcpl. Chris Sipe, Lcpl. Mike Seimbruzch and Lcpl. Fred Lambert.
The body-shaped target with C4 explosives strapped on was a tool the Marines used to breach heavy and locked doors in Fallujah homes.Fred was 18 years old when he joined the Marines; this was his photo from recruit training, taken July 2002.Marines from Fred’s squad take a break in the midst of an afternoon clearing houses; Fred is pictured at the top of the stairs. The photo was taken by a Marine sergeant working for Stars and Stripes.In the months before the assault on Fallujah, Marines watched the highway north of the city (to prevent the planting of roadside bombs) via a series of outposts. Here Fred stands outside of Outpost 1 in Oct. 2004.Fred shivers inside a Fallujah bunker in early 2005. The city was uncharacteristically docile after the assault in Fall 2004, and bunker posts — as well as daily patrols — were staples in the lives of Marine infantrymen during that period.