United States Marine Michael Zacchea and CNBC editor Ted Kemp will speak at New Canaan Library about their recently released book, The Ragged Edge: A US Marine’s Account of Leading the Iraqi Army Fifth Battalion. Join the Library in welcoming them on Thursday, April 13 at 6:30 p.m. in the Adrian Lamb Room. Please register online at newcanaanlibrary.org. Copies of The Ragged Edge will be available for purchase, courtesy of Elm Street Books.
Deployed to Iraq in March 2004 after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, US Marine Michael Zacchea’s team mission was to build, train, and lead in combat the first Iraqi Army battalion trained by the US military. Quickly, he realized he was faced with a nearly impossible task. Zacchea had little time and fewer resources to transform his troops—mostly poor, uneducated farmers—into a cohesive rifle battalion that would fight a new insurgency erupting across Iraq. The battalion he trained went on to fight bravely at the Battle of Fallujah against the forces that would eventually form ISIS. This compelling account details the struggles faced by Zacchea and his team.