"BOB'S" LETTERS HOME - 1 April, 2004
Happy April Fool� Day. It� the fool on OP talking from Iraq.
Today� been a good day on OP. No one got killed. Black Hawk and Apache both found unexploded IEDs. Despite the obvious -- someone put them out there -- it� good someone found them before they detonated on coalition forces.
And, today, my patrol went into the British cemetery and I got some cool pictures.
Plus, I�l give the final report on what happened with the five guys who were killed yesterday.
Black Hawk was tasked with route recons out in Kaldiyah this morning and all went as planned. They found several caches of 122mm & 155mm IEDs set in the ground but not ready to detonate and they called EOD to take care of them. The Cobra commander sent out his trucks and men for security while Black Hawk continued the search using mine detectors and checking by line of vision. While Apache 6, Cpt. M, was out on patrol with his tank he saw another IED with wires sticking out the ground. All went well with that IED search.
Some of the funny and just plain odd things that we see daily will crack you up. Stuff like Iraqis in Man Dresses (they look like dresses anyway) riding bicycles. As an American over here, it just doesn� fit.
Today I watched two women picking up wood and packing it in these large linen sacks. It looked like a heavy load each was carrying.
Not long ago I saw two Joes jogging. They turned into the parking lot, and one pointed to Habaniyah and asked, �s that the town?�I had to laugh at his pointing out the obvious: yes, buildings occupied by Iraqi civilians means it� a town. They continued running north towards OP7 until some celebratory firing was heard and they turned right around and started back. For us the firing was nothing new. But I have reason to believe the Joes were from Fallujah, and Fallujah right now has a bunch of scared soldiers.
I went to the British cemetery because I� heard of Cpt. S and other guys running into the cemetery. I� driven by many times on patrol and wanted to see what it was like. H and I did a roll around to OP7 position and I drove a different route on the way back. I stopped in at an old motor pool area adjacent to the cemetery. First I looked at some old radio trucks with Russian and British equipment (the whole area out here is littered with that sort of stuff). I replaced my camera batteries and started checking the headstones, many had been pushed over and the faces eroded. Most had inscribed the person� job title, rank, service and date of departure: soldiers from �er Majesties Army� �ir Force� as well as civilians. Most were inside the main wall and god only knows why others were outside. At the back wall there was an area of carved cement listing the buried during 1939-1945, of course the time when Europe was at war with Germany. It was weird to be there but it made me proud of the area� history.
I learned yesterday that the vehicle hit with the IED was an M113 light armored track, basically an aluminum can on a track. The largest almost intact piece was the rear ramp. The engine block was the next biggest intact part but so small that the recovery crew didn� need the M88 to lift anything. It was announced over the radio there was about 500 lbs of explosives set in the site. That much would have disabled an M1 Abrahms tank.
I watched a �ecret�video of an IED strike against an Apache tank in Kaldiyah (I believe that tank has been at 101st Maintenance for the longest time). Actually, the Army has lost only one tank in this conflict and it was hit with a rare missile type and the Marines couldn� drag it to a safe area. Since they couldn� recover it, they destroyed it.
The memorial service is on Saturday but I�l be on OP8. That� about all I have to write except that, at the post meeting Sgt. H said he� try to send me on leave.
For now, I love you. Let me know what� going on at home.
Love �ob�
"Bob's" Letters Home from Habiniyah (near Ramadi and Fallujah)