Francis Piccoli

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Francis Piccoli is a U.S. Marine Corps Major and Public Affairs Officer attached to the I Marine Expeditionary Force serving in Iraq, and serves as a spokesman for the unit, most notably during battles throughout Fallujah in 2004.

[edit] Personal life

Born in 1963, Piccoli lives in Woodbridge, Virginia where his children attend a Catholic school.

In March of 2005 he reported to the Chicago Tribune that he no longer takes the Eucharist when he attends Mass, since he feels there is no room in his heart for forgiveness, a necessary trait to receive Communion in the Catholic tradition. "There's so much hatred in my heart," Piccoli was quoted as stating, though he added "I'll work at it, it's easier once you get out of a certain environment".

[edit] Media reports

In October of 2004, he went on record stating that "The I Marine Expeditionary Force is prepared to do anything that the Iraqi interim government asks us to do", following an announcement by interim leader Iyad Allawi that they were looking at attempts to pacify Fallujah and Ramadi which had proved troublesome for US forces in the past.

In November of 2004, the Washington Post quoted Piccoli as stating that a house-to-house sweep of the city had turned up 3 Iraqi hostages, whose identities were never revealed. He later spoke to BBC correspondents and stated that Operation Phantom Fury was proceeding well, and that Iraqi insurgents in Fallujah were now limited to a strip of the city bordering the east-west motorway running down the centre of the city. He also told the journalists that the US forces intended to move against that position later that day.

During Operation Dawn, he went on record stating that "This is all going to come down to that young man, that 19, 20 year old corporal, lance corporal whether he's a soldier or a marine, leading his particular fire team or his squad through the city, house by house, block by block, room by room."