TAPS
RIP SSgt Bayow and Sgt Torres
Posted on 03/06/2005 9:24:19 AM PST by Radix
A Letter From Iraq:
(Timothy Lawton of Bridgewater is currently serving with the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Division in Iraq. He will be writing occasional pieces for The Enterprise.)
I want to thank The Enterprise for allowing me this opportunity to communicate from Iraq. Let me say how fortunate I feel to be an American citizen now that I've spent some time in both Kuwait and Iraq. I feel doubly blessed to be able to lead a platoon of brave and courageous men from Bravo Company of the U.S. Army's 2nd Battalion, Seventh Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division.
My Brigade flew from Fort Stewart in Savannah, Ga., to Kuwait on Friday, Jan. 8. Our mission in Iraq was and is to replace American troops presently stationed there and to help secure the country so the Iraqi people could exercise their right to vote.
We camped in Kuwait for two weeks until shortly before the Iraqi national elections, which were held Jan. 30. We left Kuwait and convoyed north along Highway One through Baghdad and Tikrit to our ultimate destination, which was Forward Operating Base (FOB) Summerall. Our main Area of Operations for the next year will be the city Bayji on the Tigris River.
The convoy up to Bayji from Kuwait took three days. We didn't drive our Bradley Fighting Vehicles ourselves. They were placed onto trailers operated by a Turkish trucking company. My crew members and I rode inside the vehicles so we could provide the necessary security during the trip to and through Iraq.
Some members of my platoon rode inside open-air HMMWVs (Humvee) to provide additional convoy security. Most of my men got sick because of the extreme cold at night. Not one of them complained.
Our convoy had to stop several times to refuel along Highway One. During our first stop, my gunner, Sgt. Jefferson Jimenez and I received some chocolate-chip muffins from a military support company. Sgt. Jimenez gave some of the muffins to our Turkish truck drivers. They loved us after that.
Every evening during our trip to northern Iraq we'd stop to refuel. Our Turkish truck drivers would cook their food on the back of the trailers, and make their tea. I was reluctant to try their food. It was some type of rice and meat put in a pita. I wasn't reluctant to try the food because the food was bad, but because I had heard many stories of guys trying foreign food and their stomachs not being able to handle the new cuisine.
But their tea was very good. It was very sweet, but maybe that was all the sugar they put into it. The dinner time always turned into a tailgate party. The Turks would play their music on their radios, and the dancing would commence.
The best way I can describe the music would be to relate it to the Disney movie "Aladdin." I wish I could describe the sound better. I just don't have the ear for it.
Not to sound too "American," but it was "Arab" music. None of us danced along with them either. Guys holding hands and hugging while dancing didn't appeal to the American soldiers present. Not one of the Turks spoke a lick of English and obviously none of us spoke Turk. However, we understood one another nonetheless. It's amazing how people find ways of communicating.
It's funny when people don't understand each other, especially Americans. We talk in louder voices, as if they'll understand us then. When that didn't work, we transitioned to hand gestures and smiles. We probably never got the right message across, but we had some laughs nonetheless.
My first impressions of Iraq were not that favorable. I was taken aback by the extreme poverty I saw. There is something about little children running through mud and trash with bare feet that doesn't sit right with me.
We finally arrived at FOB Summerall in Bayji, a few days before the national elections. My company didn't partake in the security for the elections because we had just arrived and didn't know the sector at all.
In Bayji, only a few hundred people voted. But there were no major incidents to report, which is always a positive.
My platoon immediately started to settle in to what will be our "home" for the next year. I was able to find some pieces of wood to build a nightstand and a desk for myself. My education from West Point didn't prepare me for this, but I thought it was pretty ingenious. My mom and dad would be proud.
My platoon has been patrolling in and around Bayji every day since. We've also had to raid homes where intelligence tells us insurgents who are planning attacks against us and the Iraqi Army can be found, and where possible weapon caches are.
The reality of war hit our platoon on Friday, Feb. 4. During one of our patrols, our platoon was driving in HMMWVs, and we were hit by an improvised explosive device (IED).
Two of my men, Staff Sgt. Steven G. Bayow, 42, and Sgt. Daniel Torres, 23, were killed and several others were wounded.
Steven and Daniel were sons. They were husbands. They were fathers. They were brothers. They were my brothers. We're all American soldiers. Please remember Steven and Daniel and the others who have given their lives.
http://enterprise.southofboston.com/articles/2005/03/06/news/news/news04.txt
Ping.
Please ping others for me if you find of interest.
Chances are quite likely that this Trooper knows some certain others of my acquaintance.
Hmmm! That doesn't surprise me at all! LOL!!!
Two of my men, Staff Sgt. Steven G. Bayow, 42, and Sgt. Daniel Torres, 23, were killed and several others were wounded.
God bless the families of these warriors. Thank you SSG Bayow and Sgt. Torres for your sacrifice.
Ping
Ping
Thanks for posting this.
RIP SSgt Bayow and Sgt Torres
I knew SGT Torres. Only when I new him he was PFC Torres. We served together in B CO and I honestly don't know what to say. He was a good man.
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