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."
By the end of that early January week, four of every five recruits would be packing to leave for a one-year stint in Iraq. There, in the largest mobilization of civilians to work in a war zone in U.S. history, they drive trucks, deliver mail, install air conditioners, serve food and cut hair.
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They also give vaccinations to children, build bridges, start companies from scratch, update Iraqi scientists on recent advances, mediate disputes, comfort the wounded, protect our troops.
One such volunteer civilian ~ a Veteran, as many are, who chose to serve again...to help the younger troops, and to make the world safer for his son:
It is nice to see nice comments for once otherwise we get caught up in all the negative press. I have spent three of the last four years, as a civilian contract security officer, in the middle east providing security for military bases. I was there when the last Iraqi war started and put up with several scud attacks a day for ten days until our guys located and destroyed the launchers. Now, in a few weeks, I will be going to Iraq on another security contract and will have to put up with the same terrorists activity as the soldiers and marines already there. people have told me that I am just doing it for money (the pay is pretty good). But that is not exactly true. I fought three combat tours in Vietnam and never gave up on my country. Now I can still serve my country by working over there providing security for bases so that the soldiers can be free to do their jobs and maybe a soldier won´t have to go to Iraq because guys like me are over there. Thank you very much for appreciating what those kids are doing over there, you will never realize how important that can be.
My son is twelve years old and I hope he never has to fight in a war. But if that should come to pass I hope that he does his duty and serves honorably and never brings shame to his family, hisself or his uniform. In fact when I got to Vietnam for my first tour in the infantry, before my first combat operation I said that prayer:
Dear God, please hear this prayer, I know I am not a religous person and I have never talked to you before But I pray that you watch over me and help me to get home safely and all in one piece. God whatever happens I pray that I do my job well and not bring shame to my family, myself or my uniform. Amen
I served three tours the first one with the 1st Infanty Division (Big Red One). The second as a machine gunner on a helicopter down in the Mekong Delta with the 114th Assault Helicopter Company (Knights of the Air). My last tour was as a platoon sergeant with the 1/50 th Inf (mechanized) along the coast of South Vietnam.
I have earned 33 awards and decorations, including the Silver Star, two Bronze Stars, 16 Air Medals and the Vietnamese Gallantry Cross. So I guess God answered my prayers.
I know you may not be interested in all this, but I thought I would pass it on. And if my son should choose the military I hope that he serves with honor and comes home unhurt, whole and mentally sound.
Please pray for Scott, currently working in Iraq, as well as EE, tomakaze, and the rest of our courageous civilian support workers voluntarily serving in harm's way today.
And thank you to all who share the good news with others, especially our troops, who often only hear the same mainstream "news" our fellow-Americans are being fed on the homefront.