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Description
Five Salvadoran army soldiers from the Ramón Belloso Battalion keep guard at an outpost outside of Perquín, the heart of guerrilla territory. They are all holding M16 assault rifles of U.S. origin. The guerrillas occupied the town of Perquín in October 1982 but in the first couple of weeks of February 1983, Colonel Miguel Antonio Mendez, commander of the Belloso Battalion, recaptured it. The guerrillas assaulted the Belloso command post in Perquín on February 23 forcing Mendez and his battalion to retreat from Perquín. The Belloso Battalion formed in 1982 with assistance from the United States. It was one of the most aggressive military units during the Civil War. Its soldiers trained at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina. The batallion nicknamed the "Gringo Battalion." Cinco soldados del ejército salvadoreño y miembros del batallón Ramón Belloso guardan un puesto de avanzada en las afueras de Perquín, el corazón del territorio de la guerrilla. Todos sostienen fusiles M16 de origen estadounidense. Los guerrilleros ocuparon la ciudad de Perquín en octubre de 1982, pero en las primeras semanas de febrero de 1983, el coronel Miguel Antonio Méndez, comandante del batallón Ramón Belloso, la recapturaron. Los guerrilleros asaltaron este puesto de mando en Perquín el 23 de febrero, obligando a Méndez y al batallón a retirarse de Perquín. El batallón Ramón Belloso fue formado en 1982 con la asistencia de los Estados Unidos. Fue una de las unidades militares más agresivas durante la Guerra Civil y sus hombres entrenados en Ft. Bragg, Carolina del Norte. El batallón ue apodado el "batallón gringo".
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