Fallujah

Fallujah is a major terrorist city. It is such a big deal to terrorists because it is a a trade headquarters. It is in between Baghdad and other major cities so it is like a place to rest when moving around.

Final Roll Call

Final Roll Call is a military tradition for slain personal. It happens at the person memorial service at the military base. The person who normally does roll call will walk up on a platform at the base and then they will call the roll for the dead soldier. For example the roll call officer will walk up and then call Person then wait then call Private People Person.

Purple Heart

In the book many soldiers are wounded/killed. These are called casulties. When someone says we had 5 casulties people normally think that 5 people died, but 5 casulties means that 5 people were injured/killed. In the US military if you are wounded or killed you will recieve a purple heart medal.

Iraqi Freedom

Operation Iraqi Freedom started as a political movement to get Saddam Hussein out of power in Iraq. There were also rumors that Iraqi had weapons of mass destruction. The US sent troops in and quickly took Iraq. Although the capture was easy the war would not be.

Every Little Decision

In the book every little decision counts. Do you turn left or right? What normally might be a simple choice could turn fatal right away. Not everyone follows the rules of engagement, one of the rules is to not fire or take a Red Crescent van (Red Crescent is like the USA's Red Cross; the vans are also used as ambulances). In the book there is one part were a Red Crescent van starts bolting forward toward the Humvees. What are the soldiers supposed to do, shoot or let it keep going because it could be an emergency? Marla is on the turret and decides to start open firing even though she is not supposed to. She made the right choice, it turned out the van was full of insurgents and they had RPG's and AK's. I think they were going to hop out and then the van would crash into the Humvees, but Marla gunned the driver down and saved all their lives. Every thing can mean life or death.

Codewords

There are many military terms used in Sunrise over Fallujah. Here are some good to know terms:

AK-47: The first true automatic assault rifle. It is made in Russia and is one of the terrorists favorite weapons.

Al-Qaeda: An international terrorist organization whose goals are to get rid of foreign influences in Islamic countries and establish a world order based on strict, fundamentalist Islamic laws. Al-Qaeda was founded in 1989 by Osama bin Laden.

Detonator: A device used to trigger an explosive

Fedayeen: A group of guerrilla fighters loyal to Saddam Hussein.

Final Roll Call: A military ritual in the memorial services for slain personnel.

HMMWV: A hybrid vehicle, outfitted for a number of different military purposes, with a top speed of 80 mph; commonly called a Humvee.

IED: An improvised Explosive Device.

Insurgents: People fighting in armed revolt against a civil, military, or political authority.

Kevlar: A dense material that resists penetration by bullets and can be woven into many forms. US troops wear Kevlar vests with ceramic front plates inserted into specially designed pockets. The US military helmet is also made of Kevlar.

KIA: Killed In Action.

M-16: The standard infantry rifle of the US Army.

Medevac: The abbreviation for medical evacuation, the process by which wounded soldiers are quickly moved by helicopters or ground vehicles to hospital centers.

Molle: Moduler Lightweight Load carrying Equipment. A Molle vest has special webbing and loops that can hold personal armor and upon which other equipment can be fastened.

POW: Prisoner Of War.

Red Crescent: Middle Eastern equivalent of the Red Cross. A white flag with a red crescent moon on it denotes an organization or vehicle that's on an errand of mercy and, according to international treaties, should be immune to attack.

ROE: Rules Of Engagement are established by US military authorities and define when and what kind of force US soldiers can engage in.

RPG: The Rocket Propelled Grenade is a shoulder-fired weapon with an effective range of up to 500 yards. It is favored by Iraqi insurgents because of its light weight.

SAW: Squad Automatic Weapon; a light- or medium-size machine gun.

Up-Armored: The additional armor added as needed to vehicles in the field.

WIA: Wounded In Action.

WMD: Weapons of Mass Destruction.

These terms were taken from the back of Sunrise Over Fallujah.

Hoodlums

What do you call a group of sneaky Special-ops soldiers that sneak out into the night? Well Marla calls them Hoodlums. Later on in the book Birdys squad goes to meet a group of soldiers. The soldiers that they meet are the so called "Hoodlums". The first thing that the Special-ops soldiers say when they meet Birdy squad is "Did you bring beer?" Then Birdys squad enters the vans to go to base and they travel at breackneck speeds. When they get to the base they learn that the "Hoodlums" kidnapped children from a local tribe so they could negotiate. What the tribe does not know is that the Speacil-ops guys did the kidnapping not terrorists like they were told.