I was an infantryman in a outpost on the east side of Sadr city. There was only a few platoons at this place at a time. I was on guard that morning and all of the sudden there was a mass migration of all males leaving the area. It was so surreal. Most of them were just clearing out because they knew shit was about to go down and they didn't want to be around for it when it did. But seeing thousands of people just walk from their neighborhoods was crazy.