With Mom's Help, Soldier Takes Hands-On Approach to Conflict

Washingtonpost.com ^ | August 2, 2007

[securityMama]

The reaction was immediate when Army 1st Sgt. Bruce L. Reges strode into the classroom in the Baghdad suburb of Baqubah, in the volatile Diyala province.

At 6-foot-5 and wearing full body armor, Reges, 57, looked fearsome to the schoolchildren. Outside, two Stryker armored vehicles blocked the street. A heavily armed security detail was checking out the roof and other classrooms.

Click link and read the entire article.

[securityMama]

What a difference this soldier & his mother make!

[Mind-numbed Robot]

He is 57 and his wife is 25. Go, Reges, Go.

[Albion Wilde]

Here is a link to the Peace Through Puppets web site run by the Sergeant's mother, with information about how people can contribute and donate, and how soldiers can request puppet donations.

[Old Sarge]

Wow!

[maine-iac7]

This could work everywhere - I'm going to ask my grandson - Airborne Task Force in remote valley overlooking a village in Afghanistan if they might be helpful there...

the biggest weapon we have is to be able to change the hearts and then the minds will follow - and they will trust us and in a better life, and turn on the terrorists...it's happening...we can help.

also, winter is coming up in Afghanistan. It gets bad and the villagers are dirt poor, reduced to primitive living by the Taliban and al Queda.

The troops themselves, for example, have no running water - the nearest is 45 minutes away - very long and dangerous minutes.

Warm hats and mittens would be a great boon for the troops to give the children...and warm, wool socks and helmet liners for the troops...

I just picked up some of those little packets of hand warmers, body warmers and toe warmers to send. The troops in those areas are exposed to the weather most of the time, and even at night, they are not in 'barracks' - they are pretty open to the elements and it is getting cold...

My grandson's Platoon will be in "The Valley of Fire" (see link) for 15 months! Imagine "roughing it" on a camping trip in winter in rugged mountains, far from hot meals, showers, running water...then stretch it out to 15 months and add being shot at daily and listening to mortars coming in at night.

I don't think we can begin to imagine what that's like. And yet, I hear no complaints - only pride in what they are doing and disgust and disappointment in the DimRats back home.

We need to send boxes, boxes ans more boxes.

They greatly appreciate food as the MRE's are tiresome after a few months! They LOVE tuna, power bars with peanut butter, (I even send jars of peanut butter with crackers) dried fruit and nuts, gum, (made with sugar NOT High Fructose Corn Syrup or Aspartame etc...) I found a plastic tub of strawberry preserves today to send.

They really like to get wet wipes for hygiene (no running water, remember) and tooth paste, and zip lock baggies to keep things in - the sand DUST is super fine and gets into everything even worse than sand.

..

http://www.centcom.mil/sites/uscentcom2/FrontPage%20Stories/Battle%20Company%20Makes%20Presence%20Known.aspx">

and in the next link, you can enlarge the photo to see the village below.

...

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=46677?

...

[securityMama]

Thanks for all the information. My daughter sent this article to me and I was amazed at what good can come of such a little thing. I will forward your information to all my email friends. God bless our troops - they are wonderful people.

[brityank]

One colonel "dressed down" a lieutenant colonel when he spotted the subordinate using a finger puppet to play with a child, Reges said. A few days later, the lieutenant colonel was involved in a house search.

"He told me he wished he had some puppets because the four kids in the house were terrified when our guys went through," Reges recalled. "I gave him a set of new ones, and he stuck them in his cargo pocket. He wasn't going to get caught short again."

Why are there so many flaming morons in the upper ranks? Scrambled eggs on their bills addled their brains?

[GlennBeck08]

That’s what I was going to post!! :)

[jazusamo]

What a great idea and story, thanks for posting.

[Shelayne]

Thanks for the PING!

What a great idea! You can get finger puppets very inexpensively. I know IKEA sells cute sets for $6.95, and there are sets with animals and families. I bought a set for my little nephew. They are a lot less bulky than hand puppets and they could fit quite a few of them in their cargo pockets.

I am going to remember that for the next care package that goes to Iraq. :^)

[Girlene]

What a great idea and a great article! Thanks for the ping, brityank.

[ASOC]

Maybe, just maybe, the good COL was thinking the man should have been searching the house for items that can kill soldiers and not playing with the kids.

Just maybe.

[brityank]

Just maybe ...

it proves either 1) you didn’t read and understand the story, and/or 2) you’ve never been in the Military, or if so never out of the country.

LtCol’s do not search houses, they monitor the enlisted members doing that.

The house search referred to occurred at a different time than the dressing down.

So yeah, I can *prove* it!

[ASOC]

Actually, I did read the story.

Actually I did serve 22 years in the Military, and (gasp) overseas even. Even carried a real live weapon and everything.

LtCols DO search homes (See - M Yon photo Galley) and even lead from the front. The same COL, it would seem, is also smart enough to praise in public and correct in private (tho maybe not private enough).

As a SNCO I fully understood (still do FTM) that not paying attention to the mission - ie playing with kids - can get people killed.

Puppets for medics, super idea. Puppets for Civil action teams - good-o, it IS their job for the hearts and minds thing.

Puppets for door kickers? Not such a good idea.

Just maybe.

Being civil on the board, good idea, using Freep mail if you take umbrage with a post to sort out differences, maybe better.

Just maybe.