COLUMN: Return to war poses challenges
Hello family and friends,
First of all, I need to put to rest any misconceptions you have that Iraq is hot right now. It is cold, especially when the sun is down. The cold weather gear is pulled out and worn, the body is cacooned in the sleeping bag at night, and hot chocolate and Ramen noodles are foods of choice to warm the insides. It is ironic that I finally live in a room with air conditioning when I don’t need it. It is very pleasant in the late mornings and afternoons when the sun warms through the chill. Despite the flu shots we received four weeks ago, most soldiers have a cough.
While I was away, the building I live in was hit with an RPG, not much damage – just some broken windows. Also an Improvised Explosive Device (IED), a bomb made of explosives packed in a soda can, was thrown at the north gate. It didn’t explode and the soldiers caught the men who threw it. Because of these incidents and the other bombs throughout the country, the army erected 12-foot high concrete barricades around the perimeter of the complex. I now feel like I live inside a box with the top open to the sky.
The night I returned to Ba’qubah I was welcomed with a mortar round that fell in the residential housing close to the building. The Iraqi Police and an Army Quick Response Force searched the area for the attackers but didn’t find anyone. Thankfully, it has been quiet since.
It’s interesting, but I worried more about attacks on soldiers when I was in America. Maybe because it’s in the daily news and I was looking for names of friends. Here in Iraq the news isn’t as omnipresent and the risks can be managed. My greatest anxiety is roadside IEDs. While I was gone, a Civil Affairs captain I knew was killed and another soldier I had played soccer with in Ba’qubah lost his arm in a roadside explosion. Those are the first casualties I’ve known personally. Nice guys trying to get the job done and go home. That’s what we all want.
The highlight since I’ve returned is a soccer game on an asphalt parking lot with the boys who hang out at the back gate trying to sell us anything and everything. It was a slow Friday at the gate and the kids wanted to borrow my soccer ball to play in the street. One of them suggested coming in the compound and playing. I wasn’t sure how the officers would feel about 10 street kids running around the parking lot, but decided to let the kids in and chance the lecture. The boys came into the complex unsure of what would happen and with wonder that they were let into the fortress they have stood so long on the outside of. Their amazement quickly left when the soccer match began. For a splendid hour, the kids left the hard life of the streets and were lost in the happiness of soccer – laughing and running. The only downside was a few of the adult Iraqi workers, who came and played, took the game much too seriously – worrying about points and winning. We promised the kids we’d play again next Friday.
Still no solid date on when I’m coming home. That’s the hardest part of being here. Until then, I’ll keep the faith.
God Speed,
Chris
Christopher Keeley is a graduate student at USU and was working as a staff assistant in Extension Conference Services when he was called to active duty. He is from Hyrum, Utah, and is a member of the Utah National Guard specializing in counterintelligence and is a Korean linguist.