Posted on 01/23/2005 11:49:51 AM PST by LadyDoc
Where danger is all around
They started arriving in this dark and deadly part of the world a year ago. Young and old. Men and women. Plumbers, police officers and prison guards.
The Virginia National Guardsmen from the 276th Engineer Battalion left their families. They left their jobs. They left their homes to help rebuild and protect Iraq, a country struggling with a robust insurgency. They found and destroyed roadside bombs. They protected other U.S. troops from suicide car bombers. They gave children school supplies and soccer balls.
Meanwhile, insurgents persistently attacked the Virginia engineers with rockets, mortars and improvised explosive devices. Two Virginians will not be with the troops when they return home next month. Both 20 years old, the men died in a suicide bombing in their mess tent on Dec. 21. Four of their comrades were wounded in the explosion. Their unit has received more than 25 Purple Hearts from other attacks.
Dean Hoffmeyer and I spent five weeks with these Virginians in Iraq. We experienced some of what they live with daily. We shared their joy. We shared their darkest moments. Our respect for them deepened. And now that we are home, we miss them terribly.
(Excerpt) Read more at timesdispatch.com ...
Neat slideshow, can't post the pictures directly due to it being a flash.
http://media.gatewayva.com/photos/rtd/special/Mosul/slideshow/index.htm
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