| Essay offers
a soldier's view of serving in Iraq
By Major John J. McBrearty 07/07/2004
This is the one in a collection of essays by Major John J. McBrearty,
a former Ardmore resident now living in California who is currenlty serving in
Iraq. 2 May 04
It
is already the second day of May, 2004, where is the time going?
Our
convoy just rolled up, excitement fills the air. CPT Sanchez, my Logistics Officer
(S4) jumped up and grabbed his digital camera, he yells; "they're here, they're
here". I jumped up, too. We ran
to greet the five-ton truck, which was driven by SSG Kaneaster (Logistics NCO)
and CPT Moreland (Assistant S3 Operations Officer). The truck was filled with
parcels and mail for our soldiers. I yelled, "This is just like the old stage
coach days, the stage coach is here! The stage coach is here!" We all laughed
and took pictures of the soldiers unloading their truck.
It
was like Christmas. CPT Moreland went on to describe how our Chief Warrant Officer
(CW2) Esquibel worked his magic and got his hands on many repair parts our unit.
That is a big deal around here, re-supply and repair parts. Water for example;
this place runs on water. We are fortunate to be in the agricultural area where
we can utilize canals off of the Euphrates River. However, that water has flowed
all the way through Iraq from Syria and by the time it reaches us, it is hardly
potable. We have a reverse osmosis water treatment unit here to clean our water.
Without that, we have no water and in 130 degree temperatures, you wouldn't last
too long without it. So these machines need to be serviced and parts need to be
replaced, and that is why I mention the importance of our Chief and his abilities
to get his hands on parts. He is an extremely valuable asset to us here.
Two
Blackhawk helicopters just took off from our LZ (landing zone), probably a med-i-vac
(medical evacuation). Those sounds are fairly common around here. Gunfire is also
a common sound effect, particularly at night. I have told my wife Lynette that
the setting here resembles that of the M*A*S*H television show or even some of
the camps seen in movies like "The Green Berets" or "The Dirty
Dozen". It is amazing how similar "The Green Berets" movie is to
how we live and operate. There are many similarities; tents, command posts, towers
with guards, fence line, concertina wire, booby traps, local nationals working
in the wire (in camp) by day, and killing Americans by night, soldiers going on
patrols, check points, etc.
The
last 24-36 hours have rendered no bloodshed from our camp or our area of responsibility
(AOR), for that we are grateful. The mood today is joyous, particularly in light
of receiving the mail run. Today I think everyone got something. Also, today is
Sunday and that might also have something to do with our light mood.
The
temperature is heating up, hitting 100 degrees regularly. Weather in Iraq is based
on extremes. When it is hot, it gets real hot, up to 120-130 and even 140 degrees!
When the wind blows, the high velocity literally knocks down tents and when it
rains, it is a monsoon. The Iraqi people amaze me as they have weathered these
storms for some 6-7,000 years. In fact, we are located several hours drive north
of the City of Ur, which is said to be one of the oldest cities, if not the oldest
city on the planet and the birthplace of the Prophet Abraham.
As
I mentioned earlier, today is Sunday and I have a big adventure planned for this
afternoon. At 1600 (4pm), the Chapel has Catholic Mass. The catch-22 here is that
there aren't any Priests here or anywhere near here. Our camp has one Protestant
Chaplain and he is not comfortable doing a Catholic type of service for us and
has asked me to help out as a Lay Leader, several times. The Chaplain broke his
tooth and has to be med-i-vaced out to get it pulled, leaving no one back here
for Mass. He asked me to help out with a non-Eucharist Mass. I don't have a choice
now, if I don't, the Catholic soldiers will have no worship this week. In this
environment where death and mortality are a common denominator, soldiers tend
to do a lot of soul searching and many find their faith.
Today
I received several wonderful e-mails from my wife that contained recent pictures
of our children; John Jr. age 2 years and 9 months, and Kristina, age 19. This
also really lifted my spirits today.
Another
way that I combat boredom, combat stress, etc., is by staying busy. I get up at
0600-0630 or so, mission pending, and often work until 2200 or 2300 (10-11 pm)
in the evening. Much of my down time (if there is any such animal), I spend reading
and writing. I also have been studying Iraqi culture and started an Arabic language
class. Of course if we have a night mission or an attack on our camp, any kind
of schedule goes out the window!
Two
days ago I had a most rewarding experience; I went to the local village and met
the local Sheikh, or Tribal Leader. I visited a school that we are reconstructing
for the village. The villagers were most appreciative of our assistance and fed
us a feast. It reminded me of Thanksgiving. It is customary for them to feed the
senior guest first; they made me feel extremely welcome. A large part of our mission
here is to assist the local communities with re-building. This school is a good
example of that.
Some 97 percent
of the Iraqi people practice the religion of Islam. Similar to Christianity's
divide between Catholics and Protestants, Islam is also divided. For over a thousand
years, two factions of Islam have had bitter struggles, the Sunni Muslims and
the Shia Moslems. We are most fortunate to be here in the central/southern region
where the populace is mostly made up of Shias, vice Sunnis. The Shias were quite
oppressed during the Saddam Hussein reign and are more receptive to American intervention.
The third large group of people in Iraq is the Kurds and they are mostly Shia
Arabs and live primarily in the north.
Well,
there you have it. This is a glimpse into my present day world. Not all of my
correspondences will be this lengthy, but today I felt motivated to write in this
manner. Fortunately, the words flowed. Yes, you can get writers block, even in
Iraq.
I have been approached by
schools in the States who want to correspond with the front lines and that is
also keeping me busy. Yesterday I started building a slide show presentation of
our travels. That will be a work in progress for quite some time. I am also starting
a charity drive for the local village people in which friends and relatives from
the States send clothing and assistance here. Even simple things like; tooth brush/paste,
soap, pens and paper, and children's shoes and clothes are a luxury for many of
these people.
Until next time,
Major
John J. McBrearty, U.S.A. Battalion Executive Officer 1st Battalion 185th Armor
Regiment Central /Southern Region, Iraq.
From:
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1725&dept_id=45406&newsid=12249412&PAG=461&rfi=9 | |