He is almost certain they were hurt fighting the Americans, but he lets them go.

"I know in my heart they were there for a reason, that we probably shot them in battle, but they need help," he says.

He and the rest of the marines are in an dilemma, caught between war and peace as they observe a halt to offensive operations in Fallujah.

They take mortar rounds and are ambushed by insurgents, but are forbidden to advance into the city while negotiations are underway between a delegation of the US-installed Governing Council and Fallujah representatives.

They are asked to manage the flow of refugees from the trouble spot and assist the flow of humanitarian supplies into town.

"We know a lot of people are hurting inside the city, but a lot of the relief is going to the other side," Denial said.

The marines are asked to be peacekeepers and fighters all at once. The mission is nothing like what they expected.

Before they arrived in Iraq in March, the 1st Battalion, 5th Marineshad trained intensively for peace-keeping duties.

Twenty-five Marines from the battalion were sent to Arabic language school for a month, and went through extensive seminars and training drills on cultural sensitivity.

"A lot of the talk was about shifting marines from knocking down doors, kicking ass and taking names," said Captain Chris Chown.

But all the talk of hearts and minds has been suspended since the marines launched Operation Vigorous Resolve on April 5.

There is no more telling barometer of how much the mission has changed than the saga of facial hair.

The battalion's commander, Lieutenant Colonel Brennan Byrne, ordered his men to grow mustaches before they arrived in Al-Anbar province in March.

The mustaches were supposed to deliver the message that the marines respected Arab culture.

"We were coming with our mustaches, to show them we were willing to adapt to their culture," Chown said.

There would be more foot patrols and interaction with people than under the US Army. The marines had 540 million dollars to spend on reconstruction in Anbar.

But after the March 31 killing of four US contractors in Fallujah, everything was put on hold. Byrne told his men to shave off their mustaches.

"It will take a while for things to wind down and get back to the mustache phase," Chown said.

The battalion was told to pull out of Qarna, Zaina and Abu Ghraib -- towns east of Fallujah -- where they had been carrying out goodwill missions, meeting with tribal leaders and discussing long-term projects there.

They stormed Fallujah but are now waiting the results of the ceasefire talks and find themselves securing their positions and tending to the humanitarian emergencies that arise.

In the past three days, marines have escorted a pregnant woman in labour to hospital in the middle of the night and they have checked homes to make sure families have enough food and water.

But the attacks do not stop, which haunts them.

A rocket thudded Saturday into Lance Corporal Angel Quinles' humvee and nearly killed him. After being treated, he fired off a Javelin missile at snipers firing on his platoon.

"I'm supposed to be dead right now. I was practically hugging that rocket. There must have been a wall of God protecting me," Quinles said.

"I'm glad I destroyed them but it's not going to make me feel any better. I saw my life flash before my eyes."

WAR.WIRE