WITH THE 1ST MARINE DWISION IN DESERT SHIELD AND DESERT STORM            61


tance of getting quickly through the minefields. He discussed the situation again
with General Myatt and repeated his request for permission to establish a breach.
Myatt in turn conferred with General Boomer and, as the sun set, Colonel Fuiks
finally got approval for the 3d Battalion to send in a small force. Myatt limited
its role to securing the bunkers and identifying and marking lanes through the
minefield. Colonel Fulks moved the rest of 3d Battalion, 12th Marines, to
Battery B's position to support infiltration of the task force that evening.
   At 1800, combat engineers began clearing lanes for the movement of Task
Force Grizzly. Within a short time, they cleared the lane in front of the 3d
Battalion, marked it with chemical lights, and notified Colonel Fulks that they
had it ready. By 2100 Task Force Grizzly started to take up formation for the
march only to halt as the forward element dealt with the surrender of 58 Iraqi
soldiers. Two hours later, the task force moved through the minefield and started
on its long march to its blocking position.
   On the right flank of the division, Task Force Taro continued its march into
Kuwait. The move north proceeded without incident until 0305, when PFC
Adam T. Hoage, 2d Battalion, 3d Marines, dismounted from a transport truck.
One of his grenades caught on the vehicle and the safety pin came out. Knowing
what happened and the hopelessness of his situation, PFC Hoage stepped away
from his group. The resulting explosion killed him and wounded another
Marine. While corpsmen worked to evacuate the two Marines, at 0320, the rest
of 3d Battalion, 3d Marines, arrived at the battalion objective referred to as
 Batfie Position Casino,'  an enemy bunker complex. They found the area
honeycombed with bunkers arranged in a well-integrated defensive position.
Colonel Admire considered it a formidable position, yet the Iraqis abandoned it
without a fight. The 3d Battalion confirmed the absence of enemy units in the
area, so Colonel Admire decided to continue moving the remainder of Task
Force Taro to the intermediate objective, though it meant moving the 2d
Battalion during daylight. By 1350, the first phase of the march concluded with
the arrival of the task force headquarters accompanied by a detachment of
combat engineers, an M60A3 tank equipped with a track-width mine plow, and
tw0 MK-154 mine clearing line charges (MCLC). Once he had Task Force Taro
consolidated at Casino, Colonel Admire moved the 1st Battalion, 12th Marines,
to a nearby site. By 1740 three batteries of M198 howitzers took up position
ready to cover the final portion of Taro's march.
   At 1745, with Task Force Taro in place and set to conduct breaching
operations, General Myatt conferred with Colonel Admire. He informed Admire
that a B-52 strike was scheduled to hit Iraqi positions along the second obstacle
belt at 2400 that evening. Colonel Admire said the strike would be over long
before the task force reached its blocking position. However, he expressed
increasing concern about the delay imposed by the Presidential order prohibiting
any ground attack prior to the expiration of the final diplomatic initiative with
Iraq. Admire reiterated to General Myatt that he needed six hours to move from
Casino to the final objective. That meant the task force had to depart sometime
between 2200 and midnight. General Myatt understood, but he could do nothing
at the moment beyond advising General Boomer of the timetable. Meanwhile,