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The Temps of War:
Blue-Collar Workers
Ship Out for Iraq
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ^
| Thursday, February 5, 2004
| RUSSELL GOLD
Posted on 02/05/2004 6:25:14 AM PST by presidio9
Edited on 04/22/2004 11:51:02 PM PDT by Jim Robinson.
[history]
HOUSTON -- In a shuttered J.C. Penney store here, more than 500 job recruits sat at long tables and leafed through packets of information. John Watson, a staffing supervisor for Halliburton Co., welcomed them with a somber introduction.
"I'd like to start out by saying we've already had three deaths on this contract so far," he told the workers, who had signed up to support the U.S. military in Iraq. "If you're getting any pressure from home, if you have any doubt in your mind ... now is the time to tell us. We'll shake hands and get you a plane ticket home."
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: civiliancontractors; halliburton; iraq; rebuildingiraq
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1
posted on
02/05/2004 6:25:18 AM PST
by
presidio9
To: presidio9
I remember a group of us thinking about going to Kuwait as part of the recovering. A good friend snapped us back to reality.
2
posted on
02/05/2004 6:31:29 AM PST
by
Sacajaweau
(God Bless Our Troops!!)
To: presidio9
Willing workers for willing employers...
3
posted on
02/05/2004 6:32:38 AM PST
by
Mamzelle
To: Allegra
Ping!
To: presidio9
Read later.
To: presidio9
In a related story Halliburton has said that it's bill to the Defense Department for the 62,000 new employees mentioned in this story and recently sent to Kuwait in support of the U.S. effort was due to an accounting error related to obsolete software.
To: Eagle Eye
How you doing EE?
7
posted on
02/05/2004 9:52:46 AM PST
by
jwalsh07
To: Sacajaweau; humblegunner; Flyer
I remember a group of us thinking about going to Kuwait as part of the recovering. A good friend snapped us back to reality. My good friends helped me pack.
8
posted on
02/05/2004 9:59:04 AM PST
by
Allegra
(Houston Area Texans - In Absentia)
To: presidio9
They make a lot more than the soldiers, that's for sure.
To: Allegra; Sacajaweau; humblegunner
My good friends helped me pack. And confiscated her avocado tree and sent her to the airport.
10
posted on
02/05/2004 10:05:07 AM PST
by
Flyer
(Don't help elect a Democrat!)
To: presidio9
Well, not all of us doing this crazy thang are blue-collar workers.
The majority of them are, though.
11
posted on
02/05/2004 10:06:30 AM PST
by
Allegra
(Houston Area Texans - In Absentia)
To: Allegra
I admire what you are doing over there, but is the entire country really dry, or are you just complaining that the beer is piss-warm?
12
posted on
02/05/2004 10:49:56 AM PST
by
presidio9
(protectionism is a false god)
To: presidio9
but is the entire country really dry, or are you just complaining that the beer is piss-warm? I could answer that question, but then I'd have to shoot you.
:-)
13
posted on
02/05/2004 11:49:28 AM PST
by
Allegra
(Houston Area Texans - In Absentia)
To: Allegra
Well anyway, keep your head down, and your chin up (if such a thing is possible).
14
posted on
02/05/2004 12:22:24 PM PST
by
presidio9
(protectionism is a false god)
To: presidio9
Well anyway, keep your head down, and your chin up (if such a thing is possible). I just tried that and now my neck hurts.
15
posted on
02/05/2004 12:41:13 PM PST
by
Allegra
(Houston Area Texans - In Absentia)
To: Allegra
Always remember: Pain is the body's way of telling us its getting better (whatever that means...).
16
posted on
02/05/2004 12:44:20 PM PST
by
presidio9
(protectionism is a false god)
To: presidio9
BTTT
17
posted on
02/05/2004 2:28:28 PM PST
by
spodefly
(This is my tagline. There are many like it, but this one is mine.)
To: jwalsh07; Ragtime Cowgirl; Allegra; Squantos
Thanks for the ping.
All's well so far. Been in theater nearly a year...only about 6 more months to go. Got to admit that 7-12's are wearing me out, I'm tired. Tired of brown. Tired of dirt. Tired of needing guntrucks to go anywhere. Tired of a 30 mile trip taking 3-7 days due to convoy scheduling. Tired of sleeping in rodent infested tents, and metal containers that make a redneck singlewide seem luxurious and spacious. Tired of portajohns and needing to carry TP in my pocket all the time 'just in case'. Tired of no supplies. Tired of third world labor and third world goods. Tired of 35 lbs of body armor whenever going out the gate. Tired of IED's, mortars, small arms fire, and being suspicious of everyone who's not obviously American.
But when that direct deposit hits tomorrow, I'll be a happy camper again. (cha-CHING!)
Can you tell that I've not had a beer in a long, long time? Or that I need my R&R is a very very bad way?
I've met hundreds of great men and women in uniform. The best. Christmas with the 82nd. Convoys with the Razorbacks and their 5 ton gun trucks. Interactions with troops from the 10th, 101st, 3ACR, 4ID, SEALs, USMC, SeaBees, Aussies, Brits, Croats, Azjerbijanis, Georgians, Canadians, Ghurkas, and more. Officers, enlisteds, and NCO's.
Bangladeshis, Indians, Fillipinos, Iraqis, Turks, Jordanians, Syrians, South Africans, and many others.
Had some close calls and some interesting flights.
Seen mysterious men that come in from the shadows and leave out on choppers, then return and go back to the shadows.
And in the mean time, I miss the hell out of a decent pizza, an Uncle Henry's breakfast, Arturos Fuentes Dominican cigars, and Jameson Irish Whisky.
And a special someone back home.
Hey, you asked!
18
posted on
02/05/2004 11:21:12 PM PST
by
Eagle Eye
( Saddam-Who's your Bagh-Daddy now?)
To: Eagle Eye
LMAO......Sun screen son ....sun screen..............:o)
Thanks for taking yer turn in the barrel EE . Hang in there friend ! We're rooting for ya !.......
Stay Safe !
19
posted on
02/06/2004 12:16:40 AM PST
by
Squantos
(Salmon...the other pink meat !)
To: Eagle Eye; tomakaze
Hey, you asked!I'm going to remember that! (^:
Thanks for sharing the firsthand account, EE.
Last week, Washington Times was even pushing the 'poor and jobless on the homefront civilians as useful idiots in the clutches of evil, deceitful corporations' angle. ACK!
We have a new Freeper civilian worker in Iraq this week, tomakaze, to fix equipment (so 5-ton trucks and such don't break down on Hwy 1).
He asks that journeyman electricians contact him if they're interested in working in (beautiful, downtown) Iraq.
20
posted on
02/06/2004 5:12:22 AM PST
by
Ragtime Cowgirl
("What we have begun, we will finish." ~ President Bush, 2/05/04)
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