SHERRY G HEIM, click
here to update your pages on AuthorsDen!
Blogs by SHERRY G 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.
