Following the announcement of President George W. Bush and Saddam Hussein's dismissal, the United States declared their intervention against Saddam's Iraq, in hope to liberate Iraq from the tyranny of dictator Saddam Hussein …
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A year later
Baghdad, Iraq
In there, a man came to the old Al-Shaab Stadium. Al-Shaab Stadium used to be the execution ground of Saddam when Saddam wanted to execute someone opposing him. In there, the White Eagle existed, too.
"Tadeusz! Mamy tam pracę! Nasi amerykańscy przyjaciele czekają na nas!" (Tadeusz! We have a job there! Our American friends are waiting for us!)
They were the Poles.
They wore the badge of the Home Army, a symbol of Polish resistance during the World War II against Nazi and Soviet invaders. In honor to them, the Home Army's symbol has become their symbol, too. The GROM!
Of course this is not the official badge since their official badge features a flying eagle. But it is symbolic and fantastic.
Tadeusz Marcinowski, 25 years old
There had a soldier, his name was Tadeusz. Tadeusz was incredibly influent in English, since Poland was the only non-English speaking country to participate alongside the United States, United Kingdom and Australia. Poland's reason to join was simple: to confirm they are a stun ally of the United States and the West.
The Poles had always been remembered for their bravery throughout history in whole Western world. For the Americans, who else forget the story of Tadeusz Kościuszko and Casimir Pulaski, two Polish heroes in the American Revolution. For the Britons, the Poles also formed a large diaspora community there. The story of how the Poles repelled the Turks, fought against repeated invasions from Germany, Sweden and Russia, occupying Moscow to even defying Prussia before, made them a great people.
Tadeusz Marcinowski, whom his mom named him after legend Tadeusz K., also kept a book about the United States and Polish community. He kept reading even when he walked out until he faced up his counterpart from the U.S.
Even when he had a book, this could not change the fact he was a real and talented warrior, standing strong. Of course, he was quite shorter, mostly looked like a dwarf because he only had 1.64m, but he was a fearsome member of the GROM. He raised his arm to his head:
"Tadeusz Marcinowski, reported!"
"Well done. David C. Kang, United States Armed Forces SEAL sniper."
Kang was of Korean origin. Tadeusz, for most part, remembered the Koreans from the TV, especially during the 1990s. He always felt sympathetic to Korea and Koreans, notably following the Korean War; and he had his reasons to do such thing. He understood what the Russians and the Chinese did the Korea, because he saw the same thing in Poland.
Kang was a specific sniper of the SEALs. He had killed 20 insurgents when he just first landed to Iraq for two months, and had provided a great amount of military respect. C. Kang himself was also born in a traditional military family, dated back from Goguryeo era before they emigrated to the U.S. at 1951. His brother was also a cadet in West Point.
"Nice to see young Kang."
"No problem, too. Myself Korean American, I always hear about the Poles in history. They are extremely brave and courageous people. Now, the GROM proves it right again."
"Kang, it is an honor for me. I have heard about Koreans as a kid, my friend is also a Korean."
"As we can say, the Poles always have a tradition, and so are the Koreans."
They both spent time to walk over and over, seeing the situation in Iraq as temporary stabilized. However, increasing insurgents, both Sunni and Shiite radicals, caused concerns. Iranian regime had used Iraqi instability to arm their Shiite allies, and since Iraq is a majority Shiite country, it's not good. Other side, Al-Qaeda tried to regain its foothold also encouraged Sunni fanatics to do the same.
Of course, the allies were ready to face them. And they had their jobs to do!
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Tadeusz arrived to Fallujah with his fellow Polish-American warriors had guaranteed the safety there, but it could not judge out that security there had declined seriously. Because of increasing terrible conditions, they could be assaulted anytime. Kang, on the other side, stayed in Baghdad.
Tadeusz received order from the new arrival, Michał Basch, over the threat from the Al-Qaeda. Basch, whom himself is of German descent through his grandmother, showed his German strength in spite of wearing Polish military uniform.
"Uważaj! Tutaj chodzą nieznani ludzie. Musieli się zakryć. Lokalizacja 3-0-5 w Faludży, rozumiesz?" (Look out! Here we have some unknown people walking. They must have covering themselves. Location 3-0-5 in Fallujah, got it?)
"Okay!"
Tadeusz was a serious person, but he never stops being comedian. He used to study comedy entertainment prior to going to the military. He sometimes mocked other in a very, very Polish way, and each of us could not stop laughing. The Poles are also very funny people too, and we had no reason to regret it at all.
There were some Kurdish girls assisted us as part of special force Peshmerga, an official army of regional Kurdistan in Iraq, outside the jundis. Along them all, both respected the Kurds more than those Iraqi jundis, because of high professionalism among Kurds.
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Here we go! In Fallujah, Tadeusz watched a while until he reported to the American counterparts. Soon after, they requested the Polish GROM, or full name is Jednostka Wojskowa GROM im. Cichociemnych Spadochroniarzy Armii Krajowej. GROM in Polish mean Grupa Reagowania Operacyjno-Manewrowego (Group Operational Maneuvering Response).
As I claimed before, the GROM is widely acclaimed for their incredible response against Islamic terrorism and their troops are among the most elite in Europe. This gave them an extreme reputation and thus, when Poland joined the war, we often relied on the GROM.
Tadeusz, a GROM soldier, was no exception.
"Cel jest w środku. Otocz je w dwóch rogach. Główny skład uderzy z dachu." (Target is inside. Surround them in two corner. The main squad will hit from the roof.)
The GROM soldiers quickly entered inside and they took down any insurgents inside by their deadly silent firing. Within five minutes, all areas had been secured and it was just the time for the U.S. Marines to occupy the rest of the mysterious building. The Poles stormed other buildings and they received zero casualties. All targets they needed had been done fairly well. A perfect 10 if I wanted.
Tadeusz, of course, played a minimal role, but being a GROM member, he had to identify and to help clarify the targets before the whole team could enter. Tadeusz did very well, and further bolstered the reputation of the Poles in the conflict.
Well, the U.S. has always been considered as reckless based on the overwhelming advantages. The Poles showed another side, they could do anything even being overwhelmed. Totally opposite side of course.
The Poles didn't forget to mention the Vietnam War, when Poland was under the communists, the way the Vietcong fought remained a relevant lesson. This also explained their brilliant of course.
Tadeusz Marcinowski himself had a friend who is a Vietnamese immigrant to Poland, as their family settled in the country at 1960s. He knew the Vietnam War by his late father, and this lesson gave the Poles significant knowledge to speak the Americans about how to win the people instead of trying to damage. Both agreed that the Vietcong was unable to defeat the U.S. militarily due to inferiority; but the loss of South Vietnam remains a tragedy for many American veterans because they underestimated the anger of Vietnamese population. The Poles
Tadeusz's friend was also in service at Iraq, too, but in a different brigade. I hoped to see him sooner or later. And it was an amazing experience in Fallujah, though I watched it from far away.
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Tadeusz Marcinowski resigned from the army in 2008, and he is now working as a comedian. He has a daughter, too, who moved to Nagoya, Japan with her mother due to job condition. His wife and his daughter continued to contact with him but his daughter is even more funnier, she loves anime to a level she tagged herself similar to Nogizaka Haruka. Oh my …
I will always love them … I like Tadeusz, he is very simple yet amazing.