Wood, an active LTC from 2 BCT, 3ID. COL Cardon, the 4th BCT commander also sent CPT Michael McKinnon to assume command of Alpha Company 184th. The 184th Regiment was later awarded the U.S. Army's Valorous Unit Award for their actions in Al-Dora. The 184th lost 18 soldiers in their 12 months in Al Dora. COL Cardon sent CPT Dave Anderson along with his armor company (Charlie Co, 4-64 AR) to take responsibility of the Arab Jabour sector. Both LTC Wood and CPT McKinnon would be killed by IEDs several months after arriving. Charlie 4-64 suffered several KIAs including 1SG Alan Gifford. CPT Anderson and many of his soldiers were wounded in action in their fight to contain al-Qa'ida fighters and Iraqi Sunni insurgents. Charlie Company 4-64 moved from FOB Falcon to establish and occupy OP Thorn in the heart of Arab Jabour. There they fought daily battles for several months against direct and indirect Sunni insurgent attacks. The tank company held OP Thorn until relieved by the 2/506 IN, 101st Airborne in January 2006. The 506th was accompanied by Bravo Company 1-35th Armor out of 2nd BCT, 1 Armored Division in Baumholder, Germany from April–November 2006. The 506th could not cover the entire sector and it again fell into the hands of al-Qa'ida fighters. In 2009 the Battalion was awarded the U.S. Army's Valorous Unit award for its actions in al-Dora. It became an al-Qaeda stronghold as affiliated foreign Islamic fighters entered the country after 2004. United States soldiers once called it "the most dangerous place in Iraq" until they were driven out. By May 2007, Dora was receiving mainstream media attention as a hornet's nest of sectarian violence. Christians were seen as 'soft targets' who would either pay or leave Dora rather than retaliate. By 2010, Dora had become a predominantly Sunni neighbourhood with Assyrians being reduced to small enclaves. Further attacks in late 2010 forced even more families, including both Assyrians and Mandaeans, to flee to safer areas in- and outside Iraq. See also Assyrians in Iraq Hay Al-Sihah References Dora 1950s establishments in Iraq Assyrian communities in Iraq Christianity in Baghdad