“The
fact that we were deploying didn’t hit me until
the night before I reported to the company to
get on the plane to fly out. Two weeks before
leaving I felt like I was going a 1000 miles a
minute. I lived in a townhouse in Clarksville,
TN and I had to close everything out before I
departed to include my cable and telephone
services and make arrangements to close out my
rent. I was glad that my parents were able to
come down from Virginia and do all the final
closeouts for me; otherwise I would have been in
a world of hurt! Paying a year’s worth of rent
on an empty townhouse, for example, was not
something I was looking forward to doing.
“I think I woke up about 2:30 am the day
I departed the United States heading for Kuwait.
I reorganized and packed a few more items into
my oversized bags and actually had to force some
of the stuff in there. All the extra stuff that
wouldn’t fit, I left in a laundry basket for my
parents to take home to VA with them and to use
it as a “please send me” basket. Periodically
over the course of the deployment I’d ask them
to send more underwear or more deodorant and
they would take those items from the basket of
goodies that I had already purchased and get
them in the mail for me. I also left some last
minute notes and directions for my parents to do
the final closeout. It was a strange feeling
leaving the place I had known as home for the
past year or so. I felt very lonely and remember
feeling sad even.
“That morning I locked
up the house and drove off to my local storage
unit where I left a few more of my personal
belongings. On the way there I used my cell
phone to make my final State-side calls for the
next year. I called my sister Lauren who was at
the time in her senior year at West Point. I
called my sister Kirsten who was a plebe at West
Point. I think I woke both of them up in there
sleep. At least I know I woke Lauren up and
perhaps I never got a hold of Kirsten to say
goodbye, but asked Lauren to tell her for me.
Finally, I called my parents and told them that
I loved them too and said goodbye to my brother
Dennis who was also at home. With that, I opened
my storage unit, removed the battery from my
cell phone and stored it away where I wouldn’t
see it for the next 12 months.
-Allison
Rowe
“I was in
the palace when the mortars were falling last
week. I was literally simultaneously e-mailing
back and forth to the US during the "attack." I
was telling friends about it before it was
reported.
“Unfortunately, CNN blew the
whole thing way out of proportion. The mortars
all landed in an empty parking lot. No one was
hurt. No one was killed. No one was quivering
with fear in a bomb shelter. Nor did anything
burn as reported by CNN, although CNN showed
stock footage of a burning Iraqi personnel
carrier while reporting about the "barrage." It
also wasn't a barrage. A barrage is usually
dozens upon dozens of shells.
“Why do
they have to make everything look even worse
than it is?
-John
Galt
“There is
no kind of job satisfaction then when a child
hands you a bundle of flowers and thanks you
freeing his country. Nothing I have done in my
life outside of the Army can compare to having
that kind of impact on someone’s life. Not
politics and not business. So, I guess it is
worth the sacrifice and pain.
-Fred
Wellman
“All night long there were
huge bursts of gunfire going into the air and
tracers going every direction. It seems it
happens every night as celebration shooting. We
were not sure if it was good guys or bad guys
that night because it was Saddam’s birthday. As
it turns out it is hard to tell the difference
between a good bullet and a bad bullet so we
just put on our flak vests and hoped they were
all poorly aimed bullets either way. We all sat
outside on the ramp watching on the hoods of our
vehicles. It looked like the Fourth of July in
PTC. I was waiting for people to start “oohing”
and “ahhing.”
-Fred
Wellman
“In the
center of Saddam’s palace is a huge
200-foot-diameter rotunda, supporting the weight
of the largest chandelier I have ever seen. At
least thirty feet tall and over sixty feet in
diameter, his chandelier must weigh in excess of
a ton. Around the base of the rotunda are
massive granite pillars supporting weight of the
heavy roof. The palace is two levels, each about
sixty feet floor to ceiling. The floor is inlaid
dark wood (walnut, maybe?) and granite, and the
off-shoots on the bottom floor are banquet
rooms, dance floors, meeting rooms, a theater,
and the master bedroom. The second floor few
have seen, but are equally as large with
numerous rooms above the rooms below. On the
outside, large buttresses support the exterior
walls and each has walkways connecting the
entire second floor. Once you peer inside,
though, you have to be impressed with the gold,
most of all – toilets, gold; faucets, gold;
doorknobs, gold; intricate molding in and around
the doors, gold; emblems all over the house,
gold; connecting structures of the chandeliers,
gold; Arabic writing on the walls, gold; stairs,
gold; chairs, gold; any other place any human
being could potentially put gold, gold.
“When I
got to bivouac site I had a strange feeling.
This was almost the exact spot I bivouacked back
in 1991. That time it was my furthest most
advance. This time it was Day One – just the
beginning.
-Chris
Gehler
“The jump was an
incredible experience for our paratroopers.
Introducing a force like this has habitually
been risky in the history of airborne operations
and this mission was no different. As we leapt
from the aircraft on that pitch black dark night
we, no doubt, knew we were entering somewhat of
an abyss -- just knowing once those feet left
the platform that our lives would change for an
extended period of time.
“The plan to
attack Kirkuk was done in 15 minutes on the hood
of a Hummvee. Basically it went like this,
“Battle Company leads, Able breaks left, Chosen
breaks left.” And that’s how we
attacked.
-Dom Caraccilo
“On the 13th of
December, my conversation with Mandi was cut a
bit short. It began when unnamed people like Mr.
Smith and Mr. Jones with social security numbers
of 111-11-1111 and 222-22-2222 began showing up
at my desk wanting a flight to Tikrit. We
eventually planned to launch the Operational
Reserve Chinooks (2 CH-47s on standby,
releasable only by MG Miller himself, whose sole
purpose in life was to pick up HVT #1 – Saddam
Hussein). The crews of Hooker 45 and 51 from
A/5-159 got alerted and I then began to put the
pieces of the puzzle together. The final picture
looked like an Ace of Spades.
-Paul
Colbert
“Although
I was not surprised, I was humbled by the fact
that a man with no right hand drove standard
better than I could. I had learned early on
during my time in Iraq that its people are
intelligent and resourceful. I saw the evening’s
events as another step toward progress in Iraq,
a blending of resources and talents to
accomplish a common goal. But more importantly,
I saw an Iraqi, overcoming the scars left by
years of tyranny, taking the driver’s seat
toward his own destiny.
-Anne
Trenolene
“Sorry
to vent in this way, but sometimes you just
gotta let it go, and you're the one who happened
to mash the pressure bleed valve....
“So,
did we (800th MP Brigade and subordinate units)
torture people on behalf of the nation or in
pursuit of some grand intelligence plan?
Absolutely not. Never. Wouldn’t do it for
anybody. And you can’t make
me.
"Detainees were abused at Abu Ghraib
in the isolation wing on the night shift
sometime in late October or early November. None
of the parties involved reported it to their
chain of command. As you can imagine there is a
lot more to this story.
-Mike
Sheridan
“This is
a 20 ton piece of medical equipment, which is
used for the elimination of tumors in the brain.
There are only 201 of these machines in the
world. It has 201 focal points that radiate
radiation onto a singular point. Now this
radiation is produced by Cobalt 60 isotope. They
call the isotope a “seed” which is no bigger
than the point of a ball point pen. This seed is
so “HOT” (radioactive) that if you took one
“seed” and put it in a room as big as a gym and
filled it with people they would all be dead
within 15 minutes. This Cobalt 60 isotope has a
half life of 5 years. Saddam purchased 15 years
worth of “seeds” and he made his last payment
two weeks before the war started. The coalition
only found out about this machine a month ago
when LTC Parish received a phone call from an
Iraqi doctor now also was a Neurosurgeon. The
day of the war he had the doors of the
facilities welded shut. Makes you wonder just
how many more welded doors are out there? This
area has already been searched by this team I am
going with. They found “Yellow Cake,” cesium and
uranium.
“Now we have many fears about
this facility and the “seeds.” First is going to
be getting there safely. It is in the “Sunni
Triangle” (Fallujah). Then there is the problem
of not knowing which building it is in, within
this huge Medical Complex. Then the even bigger
problem is this place “Hot” (radioactive)? Then
the even bigger problem: are the “seeds” still
in the machine and the replacement stored
safely? If they are not then God help us. This
stuff would make one great Dirty Bomb, nuclear
material wrapped around an explosive; this stuff
could kill a lot of people. If it is not there
then where?
-Rick
Clay
"Saddam
kept bananas as a luxury and the general
population wasn't allowed to have them. So after
the liberation, they were everywhere! A fruit
not grown in Iraq, it was also a strong symbol
of commmerce flowing - green bananas were coming
in and on every street corner!"
- Bonnie
Carroll
“We learned more
about faith, love, and service to G-d from a
Muslim and Christian while we were in Iraq than
we had for years serving in America. We learned
that in the service of our Creat-r, a Jew, a
Christian, and a Muslim, are all G-d’s
creatures, capable of doing great things
together, capable of changing the world, one
bathroom at a time, one classroom at a time, one
school at a time. When we left Iraq, we knew
that we were privileged to do a ministry that
very few are privileged to do. We knew that
being an UMT, an army chaplain and a chaplain
assistant, allowed us not to just minister to
our soldiers, but together with our soldiers,
minister to an oppressed people, a great and
wonderful people, a people who had much to teach
us about the ways of G-d.
-Rabbi Carlos
Huerta
“Approximately 10 minutes outside the
gate, we encountered what appeared to be some
sort of construction activity. The road was
barricaded with barrels (55 gal drums perhaps).
We saw apparent workers sweeping the road behind
the barricade. Traffic was detoured to the right
on some small side street that was very
congested with traffic. There was a large
automobile transport truck parked on the side of
the road that further narrowed the street
causing additional traffic congestion. This
scene was very suspicious to us all as the first
2 vehicles of our convoy turned onto the detour
street and were stopped by the congestion.
Moments after stopping, automatic weapons fire
rang out.
“It was a very surreal
experience for me. I honestly wasn't sure what
the noise was for a moment. All I knew was that
it was very loud and it was to my left. It was
so loud (with my window up) that I reacted with
a sort of defensive flinch. I don't recall
turning my head to look to my left. I believe
this is because I had realized what the noise
was an instant later while viewing the bullet
ridden SUV in front of me.
-Jeff
Qunell
“The kids
were harder to control. I had a lot of kids
begin to start hanging around my vehicle; we
were giving them Skittles and M&Ms from our
MRE packets. They asked my name and I told them,
“Michael.” They began chanting, “Michael Bush,
Michael Bush, Michael Bush…” It was kind of
funny and all the Marines got a kick out of
it.
-Michael
Hanes
“When the war started
last year the Iraqi government went door to door
to take sons and husbands to fight. Qusay’s
mother lied and said that he was already south
waiting to fight the Americans when he was
really hiding downstairs. No wonder that their
Army didn’t put up a fight, no one felt in their
hearts the will to go and win. Qusay tells me
now that he knew that the Americans were going
to take Baghdad and apprehend Saddam. Qusay’s
uncle, a Colonel in the Iraqi Army, fled Iraq
five years ago and now lives in Germany. He was
fearful that Saddam would kill him or his family
at any given time. Saddam was able to stay in
power by killing those around him who were a
threat to him and his regime. One police station
commander from Sadr City, LTC Sadoon, was
imprisoned for 5 years during Saddam’s regime
and feared for his life every day. The coalition
forces gave him back his badge, a police station
and police officers last October. His station is
in one of the roughest areas in Sadr City and I
wish him and his policemen well.
-Bob
Ohl
“At the
reconnaissance site was a local family.
Actually, there were 3 families that were living
together. They were obviously poor, living in an
abandoned Army bunker complex left over from the
1980s/90s. Between the three families, they had
14 children, most of which were not wearing
shoes even when it was around 40-45 degrees.
They kept clear of the soldiers for the first
several days, but after a while, the children
became more courageous, as well as one of the
fathers. We (1st BN and a few of the advisors)
gave them some of the food we had when they came
out. We also gave the children some knitted
caps, which Dave Baer had received in the mail
from an Ellen Harpin (her group, The Ships
Project, ellens12@yahoo.com, is voluntarily
making and sending knitted stockings and caps to
soldiers in Iraq from their spot in Florida). It
was really heartwarming and heartbreaking all at
the same time. It was also good to put things in
perspective, again. Sometimes it's too easy to
think about Iraqi citizens based solely on the
explosions and RPG attacks we read/hear about in
the news every day.
-Michael
Sapp
“The
Poles are in the process of assuming control of
our sector as the Marines go home. My unit is
staying for now, but we are not sure what our
ultimate fate will be. When the Poles see my
nametag, they start talking to me in Polish, but
my limited vocabulary allows me only to say
hello.
“There was some initial concern
about communication between the Poles and the
Iraqis, but one visit to the Ministry of Water
Resources in Baghdad proved otherwise. The
Polish officer that was with us started talking
to the American advisor in Polish (it turns out
their mothers were from the same hometown in
Poland), then he stalked talking with a Czech
engineer and then with the Iraqi head of the
Ministry who went to school in Poland. All the
while, another American officer, also of Polish
descent, and I sat dumbfounded not understanding
anything that was said!
.gif)