Posted by Thomas Wells at 4/24/2005 6:46:00 AM CST
Well it's 11 days until I return home and our first full day at FOB Iskandariyah. The FOB is located on the grounds of a hydroelectric power plant built by the Soviet Union some 25 years ago, and by the looks of it you can tell. I went to bed late last night and slept right through several 155mm artillery rounds being fired by our artillery at about 2:30 this morning. I heard them but I was so tired I didn't even bother to get up, plus I actually thought I was dreaming when I heard them. I've become accustomed to all the loud noises -- incoming or outgoing. After only 5 hours of sleep, again, I got up and got a bit to eat because something told me it was going to be a long day.
We linked up with Lt. Kenneth Anthony from Tupelo, who teaches at Tupelo Middle School. I had the honor of speaking before his class about photography some two years earlier. So it was kind of neat to run into him here and not a school where he's in his element. So around 7 we loaded up and headed south to get a ride through Al-Musayyib and then a scenic tour and back to the FOB for lunch. Once in al-Musayyib our plans got a little sidetracked when the chief of police showed up and wanted to talk to us. Then we did a walk around the downtown area. I must admit it was one of the cleanest cities I've been to yet. It was still very dirty by our standards but they were picking up garbage and other debris as well sweeping the curbs. After our tour of downtown Lt Anthony wanted to take us out to show us some of the places his soldiers had discovered weapons and other things since getting to Iraq.
He elected not to go down San Juan road because it's the most IED-laden road in Iraq right now and one that almost killed him a just a few weeks earlier when he approached an IED on foot and it exploded. The blast knocked him off his feet and into a nearby ditch. So he elected to take us down a side road named "No Name Road." After traveling down the road for a few minutes over the radio came call that Alpha Company had been hit by an IED on San Juan Road and needed help. So at this point I'm thinking -- what a great call by the lieutenant. Not to put us on San Juan. The entire convoy turned around and my driver, Sgt. George Robertson of Hattiesburg, had just handed me his video camera when the call in. After watching the first two Humvees turn around we did also, in order to stay in formation and also to keep a moderate distance from each other just in case an IED went off.
With Sgt Robertson's i-Pod playing "Eve of Destruction" we turned around and fell into line, the No. 3 out of 4 Humvees. With me filming from the back seat, Sgt. Robertson floored it in an attempt to catch up to the lead two Humvees and also get up to fast rate of speed in order to reduce our chances of being hit by an IED. Within a few hundred yards our Humvee was getting up to speed when the rear end of the Humvee lifted off the ground and landed again as if we hit a very large speed bump or even a huge pothole. The only problem was the truck didn't make that jarring sound it does when the suspension hits something hard like a pothole. And then I heard it just about half a second later I heard it and I knew what it was but deep down but I wasn't going to say anything.
But our turret gunner, Sgt. Brian Herring of Bay St. Louis, answered my fears when he started screaming, "We've been hit, and we've been hit." A damn IED just went off.
The radio immediately started crackling with activity from us and Alpha Company who we were headed to help and were just 10 minutes away, but now we had our problems. The lead truck, which had both Jennifer and the Lt. Anthony, had no idea what was happening behind them. The dust and debris blocked their view. It wasn't until the lead truck got turned around fully and came racing down the road did the lieutenant know we were all OK.
As the Humvee was being lifted into the air I didn't try to brace myself, instead my photojournalism intincts kicked in and I secured my cameras first, then myself. Once back on the ground I picked up my camera and started shooting. The IED went off about 100 feet to our rear and about 15 feet in front of the No. 4 Humvee. The blast which we later found out would have killed all of us in both trucks had it been placed right was 5 to 10 152-mm artillery shells. One on the largest kind of shell made by any military. Lucky for us the insurgents placed it inside a thick concrete culvert, which also had two very heavy steel pipes running through it. This caused most of the blast to be directed away from the road but a good portion of it still went straight up. Had these shells just been buried on the side of the ride I would not be here to type this diary. It would have ripped the road and our Humvee's apart like a tin can. Anyone familiar with artillery shells of that size knows what they can do and almost 10 of them at one place set off at one time. SCARY!!!!!!
After the explosion we started hearing Lt Anthony calling out to his No. 3 and No. 4 trucks to make sure he had all his men. When it was clear that we were all OK, Lt. Anthony and several other of the 155th infantry unit headed up to site which was some 1,000 feet ahead to make sure the road was clear of any more IEDs before we moved anyone anywhere. This is when Lt Anthony found the device they called to set off the IED and it was still ringing, which told him two things. One, they could still be in the area and two, they could be trying to set off another device with them standing right on top of it. Neither of which sounded real good to me. So they set out immediately searching nearby houses for the ones responsible. After several hours of searching and questioning those who lived close by Lt. Anthony found out the IED was placed two days earlier by a group of five men. But the Iraqi was scared to say anything because of what might happen to him. Needless to say the lieutenant wasn't to happy. We found out later on that day that we were one of three convoys to be hit on Saturday, and to think I thought I was special -- my first and hopefully last encounter with an IED.
Our three-hour mission turned into a all day event and on our ride back home to the FOB a song came into my head and I sang it all the way back -- the theme to "Gilligan's Island" ..especially the "three-hour tour: part was quite fitting.
Posted by Jennifer Farish at 4/20/2005 2:41:00 PM CST
Goodness! It has been awhile since our last posts! It has been a very hectic few weeks, but both of us are really enjoying the chance to spend some time with our troops. We just wish we were able to see each one of them and pass along all of the great messages we have gotten from people at home.
It has been a very good stay here at FOB Lima. For the first time, we were able to meet with some of the newly elected government officials and get their take on the progress and problems here. All of them are very hospitable and are always offering us food and drinks. Customs and traditions are very strong here, and in some ways I think there are things that Americans could learn from this culture.
Family is still very important here, and tribes and villages work together to take care of each other. One of the translators told me that if an child is orphaned, neighbors will take the child in. In the same sense, neighbors remain friends forever. For instance, the translator I talked to still has close ties to the community in Iraq that he grew up in even though he has lived in America for more than ten years.
I wish that there was more of that sense of community in America, a sense of pride and closeness. Too many times I think we get caught up in our own jobs and lives and forget to be mindful of the people around us.
I have gotten a few questions on the living conditions and food here, and would like to offer my limited opinion. Each FOB that we have been to is different. We have stayed in tents with Army cots and "trailers" with beds. Of course the trailers are nicer, but from what I have seen the soldiers do a lot to make wherever they live as close to home as it can be. There are televisions, DVD players and computers everywhere you turn. Some of the tents remind me a lot of dorm life during college — a small refrigerator, television and other small conveniences. I won't say the conditions are ideal, but I can say the troops do their best to make the most of the situation.
As for the food, it is pretty much like eating school cafeteria food every meal, every day. It is not terrible, but at the same time, it is definitely not great. The major problem I've heard discussed is that the menus rotate through the same meals pretty frequently, so it is easy to get tired of things like spaghetti, baked chicken, rice, mashed potatoes (which I eat every meal). There are cokes, Gatorade and water available in the mess halls, and all of them have a dessert bar with pies and cakes and cookies. It does not compare to home cooking, but in my opinion, it could be worse. Even so, I am craving a Wendy's hamburger and fries.
It is strange the things you look forward in going home. Things like driving a car, going to Wal-Mart (which I usually can't stand to do), eating fast food, even the simplest of things like using a real bathroom instead of a portajohn.
Spirits here at Lima are good despite the recent IED attacks. The soldiers were understandably shaken, but at the same time the guys that I talked to today were eager to get back to work. Almost everyone here is just focused on doing their job to the best of their ability and returning home as quickly as possible.
I can say that letters and pictures mean so much to these soldiers. I have been shown many photos of children and have seen the smile of soldiers who just received a letter from home. Though the mail is incredibly slow, it means so much to them to have that connection with home.
Posted by Thomas Wells at 4/20/2005 11:23:00 AM CST
sorry it's been so long since my last post...but it's been kinda busy. I'm getting used to moving so much. Man I'm becoming a pro at it at all this moving!
We're now FOB Lima for a few days and it's fun and depressing here. It's been fun beacuse we're doing things we haven't done anywhere else, like watching the training of the Iraqi army, going on a medical mission to aid the Iraqi people, meeting with the Iraqi leadership here at Karbala. But on the other hand it's been depressing also. A convoy we were supposed to be on hit an IED and injured all five in the Humvee, and then the driver of the tow truck hit one on the way to pick up the hummer! The covoys here are the only thing I worry about, you never know if a car parked next to you is the one or if the car that is not pulling over is going to ram you with an IED. I wish the superiors would give the troops a little more authority in defending themselves and truly letting them ownn the road as they keep them telling them inorder to keep our guys safe!!! It's been two years since the war ended; the Iraqis know when they see an American convoy coming to pull over and STOP. I just hope it doesn't take some of our troops getting killed to get a wake-up call.
I've been down most of the major highways here from Tampa to Miami and there are always a few Iraqi drivers who just refuse to stop and the soldiers are just not sure how to deal with beacuse they are being given new rules of engagment on what seems like a daily basis. I know it's not that often but it should be this simple. "If you feel threatened and the driver will not stop, stop him, protect youself and your convoy!" Plain and simple but I also know it's not that simple either. It's a very fragile peace here right now, any misstep could set off a firestorm but at some point the Iraqi people are going to have to take some responiblity for their actions as well. You can't always blame us! They've been told over and over and over....they act like kids sometimes by not wanting to listen and them complain when the troops defend themselves and their convoy. I'm on the side of the troops, I've been there and I know what's it like on a daily basis. I feel the tension in Humvee and hear the radio traffiic as well as listen to the commander yell at his turret man and hear him scream at the Iraqis as we pass by.
So far I've heard different rules of engagement for each FOB and at some they've changing twice since we've been there. Most of the rules don't include shooting at all. Some even won't let you throw anything at vehicles to get the driver's attention, like say a water bottle or even an expended peice of brass from a .50 cal machine gun!!!!
I'm sorry but this is only putting our troops in harm's way. The Iraqi drivers have already figured this out because they're like a kid right now, they're just seeing how far they push before we push back....and to be honest we haven't pushed back, yet!!! I'm in the Hummer on almost a daily basis just like they are and to be honest you really don't know until it's too late, and the soldiers are doing too much second-guessing and that's how you get people hurt. I know it will get worked out in the end but let's don't get somebody killed to fix it!
Posted by Thomas Wells at 4/11/2005 2:02:00 PM CST
Well after spending four days in Najaf and getting to see some of the city I have to say this place is huge. It's a lot like Memphis only dirtier, and I thought Baghdad was bad. The only really impressive thing here for me is the cemetery -- almost 5 square miles. The largest cemetery in the world. I've been to Arlington National Cemetery and I thought that was big but this thing was enormous. It's alot like cemeteries in New Orleans except they don't use marble and iron here. It's mud and tile, but it's still pretty. All the graves have large above ground entry points. This is cemetery is the place to be buried if your a Muslim.
My dad who owns a funeral home and cemetery in Batesville would be amazed at the sites here. They will actually tie a casket onto the hood of a car and drive you to be buried. It looks really strange to me to see a car with a casket on top......
I will leave you with one piece of humor today.....
Yesterday (Sunday) I was walking back to my "can" when I heard gunshots outside the walls of FOB Hotel. So me being the experienced photograher that I am (with no camera on me at the time) I stopped where I was, outside the mess hall. To listen for alarm before I wasted all my remaining energy running for body armor! I looked up to see all these gaurdsmen coming running out of the mess hall with napkins hanging all over them. One soldier was still eating his Hot Wing and throwing his rifle over his shoulder....As they got just about about half way to me the alarm sounded and a voice came over the loud speaker, "Attention all men, the shooting is from a wedding party passing by outside the walls...stand down..I say again stand down."
Some of the soldiers seemed glad while other were kinda wanting a fight but it sure was funny to watch grown men break for the door like school kids on the last day of school.....
Posted by Thomas Wells at 4/8/2005 5:27:00 PM CST
It's day 7 with the 155th and we made it out of FOB Kalsu and arrived at FOB Hotel in Najaf yesterday afternoon. We took a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter from Kalsu. The ride was great, nothing like back home. We were 80 feet off the deck and hauling. It's a lot like cropdusting, only you have door gunners. Now if we only had some deer or turkeys to shoot at.
This FOB is much different than Kalsu was. They would ask "Where have you been" and we responded "Kalsu" they would almost say, "Bet that was fun."
They don't have to wear body armor ,which is great. It's a great relief to leave that 40 pounds in the "can" (one room trailer) where I sleep.
They have volleyball courts and other activties to do when they're not on duty or out patroling and doing other jobs.
The food is pretty good, but I'm getting tired of seeing chicken and rice on the menu everyday. I'm not kidding. It's on every menu except breakfast.
For the most part it's pretty good.....long days, shorter nights....although one of the officers did invite Jennifer and I to their cookout two cans down. They were grilling steaks and stuff. Smelled good, but we'd already ate and we were on deadline. Man, dealines can sure ruin a good thing.
Posted by Thomas Wells at 4/5/2005 2:32:00 PM CST
We visited a nearby primary school Monday that the soldiers here have kind of adopted. They have absolutely nothing here -- no money, no running water, no sewer -- not anything. The kids are the same everywhere; they like asking questions even if they don't speak the lanuage.
The students don't have any books, so every student takes his turn at the board to do the work in front of the entire class.
The kids loved seeing real Americans dressed in civilian clothes....well, as civilian as body armor, kevlar helmets, radios, cameras and other assorted items hanging off of us. Come to think of it, we didn't look civilian at all but they thought we did.
They are just like kids everywhere. They loved having their picture taken. After each one I would let them see the photo on the camera's monitor. And it didn't matter if they were in it or not, they all wanted to see it.
One man offered me $200 for one of my cameras which was very funny because he didn't own a computer to pull the pictures off with, and plus my wife would have "KILLED" me....
The best offer I had was 2 million dinar which sounds good until you find out a million dinar equals about $700. They love all the technology, they just can't afford it or power it.....
Posted by Thomas Wells at 4/3/2005 10:06:00 PM CST
Well we finally linked up with the 155th BCT at Camp Stryker.....for what we thought was going to be a direct ride from BIAP (Baghdad International Airport). But in reality it turned into a another layover at Camp Victory on the other side of the the BIAP as they waited for another group to show up so they could escort them back to their FOB Kalsu just South of Baghdad. So we got a really good meal at the DEFAB there and enjoyed the bazaar with all the Iraqi shops as well the the Military PX on base. Where I picked up a few last-minute items I need to make my stay a little more comfortable. When you're in Iraq we've learned you measure it in degrees of comfort.....It's never fully comfortable.
But before I joined the rest of the unit at the PX and bazar, my Humvee driver Spec. Daniell Bolton from Olive Branch offered to take me to see Saddam's Water Palace and the "Hunting Lodge" located on the camp nearby. So after a short drive we made a hard right hand turn and there it was.....a HUGE building, larger that some manufacturing facilities in Northeast Mississippi. If I had to guess on the square footage (and I'm a pretty good guesser) I would have to say it would approach 30,000-40,000 square feet....two to three stories tall with a lake surrounding it. Of course the entire building was made of marble and iron works.
But as we approached the front entrance I noticed this long, 200-foot arched marble and concrete bridge that you had to use to get to the front door with this strange looking metal system sticking up from it. I just figured he hadn't completed work on the building, but that wasn't it. It was a temporary bridge put in place by the engineers because the bridge was taken out by air strikes. So if you were in the house when the strikes came you were trapped like a rat.
After reaching the other side of the complex we approached the back side of the lake. There's a building much smaller than the main house but still two stories tall with for huge marble columns in front. While it was only probably a quarter mile away from the main house.....it was used as Saddam's "Hunting Lodge." I found it very ironic that parked in front of Saddam's
was sign that read "42nd Military Police"....how funny that a U.S. MP unit now uses that lodge for its headquarters!!!
It was apparent that the Iraq craftsmen who built these homes are very talented and it was just a shame they wasted their talents on these buildings which no one in the country could see or use. Maybe that will change.
They're too pretty not to turn into some kind of government building ...only time will tell
Posted by Thomas Wells at 3/31/2005 2:12:00 PM CST
Well it's day 1 in Baghdad and so far we've had a great American breakfast...got accredited at the Convention Center where we are staying at the present time and took very long nap. Well at least I got some sleep. Jennifer doesn't sleep very long; I guess she's not as high maintenance. I need my beauty sleep! As the day wore on we started to get excited again about linking up with the 155th Combat Unit and were already talking about repacking the bags for the sixth time. We start to work on stories and photos for Friday's paper.
We are using the International Press Room at the Convention Center in order to file that days stories and photos when Jennifer rushes up and tells me we have big problem. Our flight has been cancelled, so it doesn't seem like we'll be leaving "The Terminal" any time soon.
Which is pretty frustrating because we promised the readers this coverage, but like anything else, so much for best made plans. This one was out of our control. It's not like we missed our flight out of Memphis or anything! So now we have to wait one more day and hope we can get out of here and link up with the troops.
So, until then all we can do is get more sleep. By my count, we're still some 30 hours behind the sleep curve and that's giving us hours we didn't get. So until we get out of the terminal ....
Posted by Jennifer Farish at 3/30/2005 11:56:00 AM CST
050330 Baghdad
Thomas and I have arrived in Baghdad. It is 7:30 p.m. here, and we are going to catch a few hours of sleep before catching the armored bus to the Green Zone where we will spend the night before meeting up with the 155th tomorrow.
It's been an eventful trip so far. Unlike the soldiers who convoy into Iraq, we were able to catch a plane to Baghdad along with 49 civilian contractors and workers. For us, the day started about 5 a.m. when we packed up, checked out of the hotel and caught a bus to the U.S. military airport in Kuwait City. After tagging our luggage in a large gravel parking lot, they used a dog to check all of our bags (suitcases and carry-on luggage) for weapons and ammunition.
We were then taken to a holding area to wait several hours for our flight to Baghdad. Along the way, we met people from all over the world — the Philippines, South Africa, Australia, and Great Britain. We also ran into several people from the South. George Wideman, a middle school teacher in New Hope, talked to us for awhile at the holding area. He was activated and deployed last week and was also waiting to be transported to Iraq.
We also met a KBR finance guy named Howard Lee who spent a good portion of his childhood in Brookhaven (where Thomas worked for five years.) He is not much older than I am, and has been in Iraq for 22 months. He quickly befriended Thomas and me, sitting with us through the various travels and showing us the ropes to help us keep up with all we were expected to do.
At the holding area, we met up with two of our embed coordinators — Maj. Joseph Edstrom and Capt. David Tippet — who gave us our papers to get back out of Iraq at the end of the month and drew us maps of all the places we needed to go during our journey through Baghdad. Both were more than helpful, and made us feel both at home and appreciated.
Next, we were taken to the C-130 named "The Rock." (Picture "Band of Brothers" when they are parachuting into France — that is somewhat similar to the plane we flew on, only there were four rows of parachute seats running the length of the plane.) Even now. that flight seems surreal, like we were extras in a movie. I'm sure it will be some time before all of this fully sinks in. The plane is very loud, so the mood was quiet on the plane, with most of the 51 passengers sleeping (or trying to sleep). The plane was VERY crowded, and those seat are definitely not made for comfort.
About an hour and a half later, we arrived in Baghdad. Because of security, the plane made a combat landing, meaning as we approached the airport, the plane made a TIGHT spiral, finishing with a tight high G turn descending rapidly onto the runway. It felt a lot like a very tall roller coaster drop without the slow climb uphill. My ears hurt a bit from the rapid change in pressure, but I have to admit the landing was pretty fun!
We were taken from Baghdad International Airport (BIAP) to nearby Camp Stryker where we will wait until late tonight for the armored bus. We will be spending the night in the Green Zone and will get press credentials between 9 a.m. and noon tomorrow. Then, we expect to be flown by helicopter to the 155th headquarters. We are eager to meet up with our troops and overwhelmed by the kindness and patience of all of the military people who have had to deal with us "first-timers."
Posted by Thomas Wells at 3/28/2005 1:19:00 PM CST
We're not in Kansas anymore....After surviving eating bad chicken on the flight from Memphis to Amsterdam. We arrived in Kuwait at 11 p.m. on Sunday, March 27....not bad for leaving Memphis on Saturday the 26 at 7:30 p.m. But neverless we made to our hotel (which has brand new Nissan Armada as a giveaway prize sitting out front) in one piece but very, very tired and my body has no idea what is going on. I'm eating dinner and my body is expecting breakfast and so far my body is letting me know I'm wrong!
I woke up this morning (Monday 28th) to the sound of a pair AH-64 Blackhawks approaching the beach. All I could think about was that scene out of "Blackhawk Down" as the Blackhawks approach the beach in Somalia before it all went bad. But then my mind switched to this is what I'm about to do and the excitement rose! As the Blackhawks disappeared over the roof of the hotel I scanned the horizon and what do I see but what appears to be a U.S. Navy Destroyer just a few miles off the coast, within plain site of my beachfront hotel window.
Wow those things are big...They don't have ships like that running around Bay Springs Lake pulling skiers!!!!
So far this place is incredibly beautiful and clean! Most people in the hotel are either vacationing Europeans or civilian contrators working for KBR. As for the compound it's a fortress with a view.
My biggest surprise was how western it is here. Half the TV programs are U.S. I'm getting to watch the NCAA basketball games, PGA golf and even The Daily Show with Jon Stewart...which is GREAT. The only downside is I was up until 4 a.m. watching Kentucky get beat.
The food is interesting to say the least. They have Dairy Queens, Starbucks and other fast-food chain stores and they are expensive....You can get a hamburger or any other American dish like chicken strips or items like....Tandoori Style roasted vegetables and pakora platter, which I have no idea what it is. Ginna Parsons, our food editor, might like sampling some of this food but not me.
Although, Ginna there is one of the main courses I might have to try it's Emerald Chicken, Prawn Curry, Bangkok Fish, Yam Nua and Massaman accompanied by Phad Thai, Mixed vegetables and steamed rice....but I'll think I'll save that one for exit trip...give me something to look foward to.....
