News From Iraq Our Media Won't Tell You
These are real accounts from the front. I left the spelling errors and typos intentionally:
“Rcrx21” a Soldier from MD, submitted 2-22-05:
“My experience taught me alot about being an American, and also about being an
American Soldier. As an aviation maintenace unit we dont expect casualties ("in the rear
with the gear", as i used to say when I was a grunt.) I did learn that sometimes we took
for granted that the civilian side of the world, since Vietnam, had not a good outlook on
Soldiers. But I did learn of nothing but support back here.”
“deegalaxy21” an Airman from NY, submitted 1-29-05:
“I respect my fellow marines and army soldiers compatriots for sacrificing
themselves in the line of fire; i especially want to have the young ones understand how
noble the cause is… Even though i have a rear support job i got a chance to talk to
soldiers and marines coming off the C-130 cargo planes for rest and recooperation and
even met an Iraqi linguinst who lives in Detroit,MI whose father escaped the saddam
regime in 1991 before the ground war ended via Jordan with his three little children(him
one of them)and his wife because he knew of the impending doom for bieng anti-saddam
in the town he lived in once the war was over… The Iraqi american told me that we as
Americans will never understand the magnitude of us freeing the country in words. His
eyes welled up when we talked about the human destruction saddam left behind to
include the discovery of 270 mass graves.”
“heatherb” a Soldier from OK, submitted 9-6-04:
“You cannot tell me that we are not doing the right thing when you watch little
kids run, literally run from their one room mud hut a mile away from the road come
running as your convoy is passing just to wave, not to beg for food or water, just to wave.
Or to be a woman and invited to sit amoung the Iraqi men and share their Chai with them
and listen as they share their stories of the days when their country was oppressed. To
have shared such time with the people of tha t country and to have learned about their
culture and that they are such a powerful proud people. And to know that I was apart of
liberating that, makes me proud to have gone over there to give those kids that run up to
us all those times the chance to never have tell the stories that the men sharing tea told,
but listen to them as I did. We are doing the right thing regardless of the disillusion of our
politicians. Be proud of what you've done. I am.”6
“navysuby3” a Sailor from AZ, submitted 9-5-04:
“I truly had a great time learning from each branch of service and our coalition
brothers. But I learned more form the average Iraqi, and learned that what we were doing
was just.”
3) Positive Reactions from the Iraqis: Creating a connection a
world away“huckleberry” a Soldier from MO, submitted 1-17-05:
“In March of 2003 my unit, the 203rd Engineer Battalion (ECB)(HVY) Houn
Dawgs, was activated, in May 2003 my unit was deployed to Iraq. During that time I
worked as both a Medic and for five months I had the unique opportunity of working side
by side with Iraqis (Arabs and Kurds) doing my civillian job... Software Developer. I
helped get the wheels in motion with my database counterpart for a national school
database and website (which now have yet to be realized). I'm proud of the work that our
Battalion had done all over Iraq in construction missions and surveying schools for
Rebuilding and Refurbishment. I'm also very proud to have met my software
development counterparts in the North and in Baghdad.”
“madmedic” a Soldier from CA, submitted 9-17-04:
“One thing that i'm sure no one will ever hear about is the first Iraqi baseball
game. It was nothing more than a bunch of kids that we had worked with for over two
months. they had gotten cleats, and uniforms from us, and for the most part loved playing
the game. We had all sorts of people show up for the game. Most all of the police, a large
number of kids, and even proment members of the city council. It was like watching any
kids play baseball back home. There were many errors, and a lot of swings that shouldn't
have been taken, but still this was the first time these kids could even think about playing
organized sports. We built everything for them, and we teach them. soon we'll hand it
over to Iraqi coaches, and mabey even try to get more than two teams playing.”
“blackrabbit” a Soldier from OR, submitted 8-29-04:
“Of a meeting with Iraqi leaders: It is hard to apologize for a nation; we had
abandoned the Iraqi people at the end of the Gulf War. We made a promise to help the
people rise up and take their country from Sudam; we broke that promise at the cost of
untold thousands of Iraqi lives. These men did not hold me responsible, instead they
wanted to say thank you for coming back (better late than never).
The meeting ended with the normal hand shakes, a meaningful handshake in Iraq
ends with your hand on your heart. This was the first time I felt like I needed to follow
that custom. This was such meaningful contact.”
“forresterfound” a Soldier from NY, submitted 1-20-05:
“I dealt with many Iraqis, and I fell in love with their humility, and their
willingness to give. An Iraqi will give you his food, even though he has nothing. I was learning Arabic, and enjoying trading with the friends that I made in An Najaf. I
remember that an Iraqi friend of mine at a power plant made a phone call to his little girl and wife so that they could talk to "a real American soldier." This was one side of my experience in Iraq.”
“CaseyCuller” a Soldier from NC, submitted 1-11-05:
“We worked a lot in this town on the outskirts of Fallujah, it was called Nasir-Wel-Al-
Salam (excuse the spelling) We would go there 4-6 times a week and sometimes spend
all day in the streets with the locals. There were many kids that loved to hang out with us.
Some were good, some were bad, one kid actually pointed out a IED one day, we
thanked him and gave him tons of candy. He probably saved someones life that day. We
loved to give the kids candy and pens.”
“This is a picture of me and the family of a girl I "adopted." She is in the yellow shirt, the
rest are her siblings. I gave her almost all my candy and pens. I thought she was so
adorable. I gave her Scooby-Doo doll my wife had sent to me for my birthday even. If I could have adopted her and brought her home I would have. To give her something better”
I think that last one says it all.
“Rcrx21” a Soldier from MD, submitted 2-22-05:
“My experience taught me alot about being an American, and also about being an
American Soldier. As an aviation maintenace unit we dont expect casualties ("in the rear
with the gear", as i used to say when I was a grunt.) I did learn that sometimes we took
for granted that the civilian side of the world, since Vietnam, had not a good outlook on
Soldiers. But I did learn of nothing but support back here.”
“deegalaxy21” an Airman from NY, submitted 1-29-05:
“I respect my fellow marines and army soldiers compatriots for sacrificing
themselves in the line of fire; i especially want to have the young ones understand how
noble the cause is… Even though i have a rear support job i got a chance to talk to
soldiers and marines coming off the C-130 cargo planes for rest and recooperation and
even met an Iraqi linguinst who lives in Detroit,MI whose father escaped the saddam
regime in 1991 before the ground war ended via Jordan with his three little children(him
one of them)and his wife because he knew of the impending doom for bieng anti-saddam
in the town he lived in once the war was over… The Iraqi american told me that we as
Americans will never understand the magnitude of us freeing the country in words. His
eyes welled up when we talked about the human destruction saddam left behind to
include the discovery of 270 mass graves.”
“heatherb” a Soldier from OK, submitted 9-6-04:
“You cannot tell me that we are not doing the right thing when you watch little
kids run, literally run from their one room mud hut a mile away from the road come
running as your convoy is passing just to wave, not to beg for food or water, just to wave.
Or to be a woman and invited to sit amoung the Iraqi men and share their Chai with them
and listen as they share their stories of the days when their country was oppressed. To
have shared such time with the people of tha t country and to have learned about their
culture and that they are such a powerful proud people. And to know that I was apart of
liberating that, makes me proud to have gone over there to give those kids that run up to
us all those times the chance to never have tell the stories that the men sharing tea told,
but listen to them as I did. We are doing the right thing regardless of the disillusion of our
politicians. Be proud of what you've done. I am.”6
“navysuby3” a Sailor from AZ, submitted 9-5-04:
“I truly had a great time learning from each branch of service and our coalition
brothers. But I learned more form the average Iraqi, and learned that what we were doing
was just.”
3) Positive Reactions from the Iraqis: Creating a connection a
world away“huckleberry” a Soldier from MO, submitted 1-17-05:
“In March of 2003 my unit, the 203rd Engineer Battalion (ECB)(HVY) Houn
Dawgs, was activated, in May 2003 my unit was deployed to Iraq. During that time I
worked as both a Medic and for five months I had the unique opportunity of working side
by side with Iraqis (Arabs and Kurds) doing my civillian job... Software Developer. I
helped get the wheels in motion with my database counterpart for a national school
database and website (which now have yet to be realized). I'm proud of the work that our
Battalion had done all over Iraq in construction missions and surveying schools for
Rebuilding and Refurbishment. I'm also very proud to have met my software
development counterparts in the North and in Baghdad.”
“madmedic” a Soldier from CA, submitted 9-17-04:
“One thing that i'm sure no one will ever hear about is the first Iraqi baseball
game. It was nothing more than a bunch of kids that we had worked with for over two
months. they had gotten cleats, and uniforms from us, and for the most part loved playing
the game. We had all sorts of people show up for the game. Most all of the police, a large
number of kids, and even proment members of the city council. It was like watching any
kids play baseball back home. There were many errors, and a lot of swings that shouldn't
have been taken, but still this was the first time these kids could even think about playing
organized sports. We built everything for them, and we teach them. soon we'll hand it
over to Iraqi coaches, and mabey even try to get more than two teams playing.”
“blackrabbit” a Soldier from OR, submitted 8-29-04:
“Of a meeting with Iraqi leaders: It is hard to apologize for a nation; we had
abandoned the Iraqi people at the end of the Gulf War. We made a promise to help the
people rise up and take their country from Sudam; we broke that promise at the cost of
untold thousands of Iraqi lives. These men did not hold me responsible, instead they
wanted to say thank you for coming back (better late than never).
The meeting ended with the normal hand shakes, a meaningful handshake in Iraq
ends with your hand on your heart. This was the first time I felt like I needed to follow
that custom. This was such meaningful contact.”
“forresterfound” a Soldier from NY, submitted 1-20-05:
“I dealt with many Iraqis, and I fell in love with their humility, and their
willingness to give. An Iraqi will give you his food, even though he has nothing. I was learning Arabic, and enjoying trading with the friends that I made in An Najaf. I
remember that an Iraqi friend of mine at a power plant made a phone call to his little girl and wife so that they could talk to "a real American soldier." This was one side of my experience in Iraq.”
“CaseyCuller” a Soldier from NC, submitted 1-11-05:
“We worked a lot in this town on the outskirts of Fallujah, it was called Nasir-Wel-Al-
Salam (excuse the spelling) We would go there 4-6 times a week and sometimes spend
all day in the streets with the locals. There were many kids that loved to hang out with us.
Some were good, some were bad, one kid actually pointed out a IED one day, we
thanked him and gave him tons of candy. He probably saved someones life that day. We
loved to give the kids candy and pens.”
“This is a picture of me and the family of a girl I "adopted." She is in the yellow shirt, the
rest are her siblings. I gave her almost all my candy and pens. I thought she was so
adorable. I gave her Scooby-Doo doll my wife had sent to me for my birthday even. If I could have adopted her and brought her home I would have. To give her something better”
I think that last one says it all.
posted by Marc at
10:11 PM
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