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Blogs by Sherry Gail Heim
Positive Report From Iraq
9/2/2005 9:44:17 PM
This is a message from my friend’s former minister, Rick
Koch, who is serving as a chaplain in Kirkuk, Iraq.
Sorry that I cannot post the photos here in my blog.
My personal thank you to all who helped with this
project.
Hi everyone,
Finally, a batch of "Operation Provide
School Supplies" pictures just came in. I'm sending
four to you and they're all self-explanatory. The four
pics represent just a small portion of the tens of
thousands of school
supply packets handed out to
kids in our Area of Operation. You will notice that
you see no American soldiers in the pictures. That's
good, because
we've always wanted to put an Iraqi
face on the program. American soldiers are present,
but off providing necessary security, etc. Please
forward
these pictures on to anyone you know who
has supported our program. As well, many thanks to
those of you who were able to support this program
and to all of you who support us over here.
We
(my troops and American forces in general) are doing
exceedingly well over here in accomplishing our
missions. I tell you this because I know you
aren't
hearing this back home. We watch the same news you do
and are generally sick of it. The news reports only
the war part of our mission (the bombs and violence,
etc.) and it is true - that part is there.
The consequence of this, it seems to us, is to create
a bad perception to the American people that this is
all that's going on here and thus has put us and the
Iraqi soldiers in more danger. When members of
congress proposed an "end date" last month, we could
feel the push back from the terrorists. Of course we
squashed them, but our own people back home gave them
hope. The
only ones reporting EVERYTHING (the huge
good and of course the slice of bad) going on over
here are our Armed Forces reporters. All the other
news agencies seem to be holed up in a hotel in
Baghdad and are reporting the news from their
balconies. Proof in the pudding is that recruitment at
home (where the news is
shown) is a bit down, but
most of our enlisted soldiers here are signing back up
again. Oh well, same thing happened during the Civil
War.
The Iraqi people in general are amazing.
Most of them are real patriots. We are making huge
strides training up their Army as of late. We are
creating for them something they never had before - a
strong NCO corps. I saw one Iraqi NCO the other day
stand next to his wife and hold up his baby and
proclaim that he joined up to give his family a
brighter future. They are signing up to serve their
country in droves and what's more, they are willing to
go to great sacrifices to win and are fast learners.
The vast majority have good relations with U.S.
troops, smile easily, and show extraordinary
compassion to us when they discover something bad has
happened to one of our soldiers or one of our families
back home. I don't think the American people are being
told about how committed these people are. My unit
works with extremely brave truck drivers and
interpreters every day. I have pictures of some of
these folks, but can never send them out for
fear
they might be identified. We've had some of
our local friends assassinated by thugs and it hurts
just as badly as if we lost one of our own. The
amazing thing is that when word gets out, ten more
show up to take that person's place.
Some
perspective on the subject would be that the
terrorists we fight are indeed dangerous, have some
means of supply and access to fairly modern weapons,
etc. Our area is no different than any other in that
we get about a dozen significant actions a day from
these clowns. In reality, however, they are but a tiny
portion of what this country is all about. The numbers
of bad guys in our area are maybe around 1,200. The
general law abiding population around here is well
over a million. Sooner or later, the Iraqi people are
going to smother them. We have helped develop a
religious unity council here made up of Muslims,
Christians, and some other small sects and their
leaders have come forth on television now to public
ally denounce terrorism and violence (just imagine
what a
huge act of bravery that is from those
clerics). Such programs are taking place all over
Iraq. Each week we see more support from these people,
so hopefully we're turning an important corner. To be
sure, there will be more acts of desperate violence.
Ramadan is coming up
in October and they love to do
stuff to us then, but this year there will be many
more worshipers on our side during Ramadan as
well.
News from the Gulf Coast has touched all
of us here and we pray they will be able to recover
quickly I've run into a few soldiers and Air Force
personnel from that region and so far they have all
been able to account for
their families, but have
no idea how property fared through the
ordeal.
Well, I've got about sixty more days
left in country before heading home. I will go from
summer, to fall (Ft. Lewis, WA), to winter all in
about ten days or so depending on how fast they
process us out. Days here have cooled down to the low
100s and believe it or not; it is actually a relief –
unless one stands out in it all afternoon. By the end
of this month we might see
our first 24-hour period
that doesn't break 100.
Thanks again for all
your support with Op Crayon and/or with all your
thoughts and prayers. It has meant a lot.
Much
love and blessings,
Rick
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More Blogs by Sherry Gail Heim
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• Haiku Error Messages - Saturday, July 08, 2006
• Look To Mexico As A Model On Immigration Policy - Sunday, May 21, 2006
• We Are Ultimately Responsible - Thursday, May 04, 2006
• Dude, where's my Civil War? - Wednesday, May 03, 2006
• Easter Traditions - Sunday, April 16, 2006
• I Was Once A Sailor - Friday, March 17, 2006
• Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Love and Hate - Wednesday, December 28, 2005
• It's Time to Pin a Few Medals ... - Sunday, December 18, 2005
• An inspiring message - Monday, December 05, 2005
• Ben Stein's Last Column - Saturday, October 08, 2005
• In Katrina I Didnt See Racism, I Saw Brotherhood - Thursday, September 22, 2005
• What's really behind the chaos in New Orleans? - Tuesday, September 20, 2005
• It was not the Federal Government's Responsibility - Monday, September 05, 2005
• Positive Report From Iraq - Friday, September 02, 2005
• Survival:Ultimately Our Own Responsibility - Friday, September 02, 2005
• Europe, Thy Name Is Cowardice - Sunday, August 07, 2005
• Getting Grandma - Sunday, August 07, 2005
• The Terrorists Motivation: Islam - Wednesday, July 27, 2005
• Peace If Possible, War If Necessary - Sunday, July 24, 2005
• Terrorism's Root Causes - Sunday, July 17, 2005
• A Shreveport Judge's Report on Iraq - Saturday, July 16, 2005
• The Last Full Measure - Wednesday, June 15, 2005
• Accept Yourself - Monday, May 09, 2005
• Finally They Have Come Home - Sunday, May 08, 2005
• Political Correctness and Incompetence - Sunday, March 20, 2005
• Three Letters - Friday, March 11, 2005
• The Iraqi Elections - Sunday, January 30, 2005
• Sites to Support U.S. Troops and Vets - Saturday, January 29, 2005
• Inaugural - Tuesday, January 18, 2005
• A Carrot, An Egg, And a Cup of Coffee - Saturday, January 15, 2005
• Supplies needed in Iraq - Friday, December 10, 2004
• Out of the Loop, Thankfully - Sunday, November 14, 2004
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