Back from Iraq

Corporal David Kasher found the children of Iraq to be very receptive to American soldiers. Here’s something you don’t hear very often — Corporal David Kasher had a great time serving in Iraq.

“I’m glad I went,” Kasher told a packed Fossil Ridge Public Library auditorium recently. “I didn’t think it was too bad. I actually had a great time out there.”

The Braidwood native and Reed-Custer High School graduate served in the Middle East from Sept. 14, 2004 until April 2005, as U.S. Marine infantry, scoping out roadside bombs, manning turrets on Humvees rolling across the desert and helping train the Iraqi Army and National Guard.

Kasher signed up for the military Oct. 30, 2001, little more than a month after the terrorist attacks of 9/11. But there was a hang-up, he said, the word “army” in front of the ranger. So, like a regular “jarhead,” he enlisted in the United States Marines.

Enlistment led him out of Braidwood and into San Diego, Calif., where he marched through 13 weeks of training.

“It was fun,” Kasher said. “It really wasn’t too bad because I wanted to be there and I was in good physical shape. It’s all a state of mind.”

“And then you have the Crucible,” Kasher said. “Minimal sleep, a couple hours a night, two-and-a-half meals for the two days. 54 hours. It’s a lot of team building exercises that make sure you can lead.

“At the end, you hump and go up the Reaper. It’s a mountain. It’s a big hill mountain and you march up that.”

Under the shining sun, Kasher carried 40 to 50 pounds of gear a day — a helmet, flack jacket, backpack stuffed with gear to last two days (food, ammo, etc.), blanket, sleeping bag, and a backpacked water jug with hose straw poking through the front.

American troops raced across Iraq’s rolling desert in Humvees, cutting down (but not out) the long hauls, or humps, through the desert.

“We walked from Al Mahmudiyah to Al Latifiyah. It was a 26-kilometer hump. We humped from one state to the next and that would wear on you a bit,” Kasher said.

When Kasher arrived in Iraq, it wasn’t all sand and desert — there was sand, lots of sand, yes, but there were also groves of palm trees and swimming pools in Baghdad.

It was hot in the day, but not burning hot. At night, a deathly chill claimed the country.

“I don’t know how hot it was, but it was the second coldest I’ve ever been in my life,” Kasher said, adding that he wrapped himself in flak, army issue blankets and all the gear he could scramble together — yet still felt undeniably cold.

Possibly the grossest surprise was the plague of houseflies that stormed the area in 2004-2005, earning its fair share of television coverage.

Kasher described the plague as “biblical,” so large and plentiful the insects could cover military humvees like crawling sheets of black.

Don’t believe what CNN tells you — Iraq isn’t that bad. It’s no bombed-out war zone.

“They don’t portray what’s going on there; they’re always looking at the negative,” Kasher said. “I’ve never seen an article where they’re talking about how the power is back on and the water system is up and how the children are responding to us. The media doesn’t want to portray it the way it is. The media is trying to get better ratings and I don’t stand for that.”

The media doesn’t convey the change he sees in society as Saddam Hussein’s torturous earmarks slowly wither away from the Iraqi people.

“The people are changing, they’re starting to understand how things are going on,” Kasher said. “They’re getting more liberal with their opinions, voicing them. They’re having a stronger sense of community.”

“They would say Saddam killed my brother or whatever else — damage was done. That’s why it’s going to take some time for them to take control of their own country. There’s been generations of them knowing Saddam and how he treated his people.”

Hussein’s former people have suffered such a terrible history, he said, they identify more with tribes and families than a federal government.

“It was hard because of the language barrier,” he said, adding paid interpreters helped guide the Iraqi army into form. “For the most part, keep them close and watch you’re back, because you don’t know what they’re up to.”

Iraqi army officials were mainly volunteers off the streets of Iraq, looking for a job.

While danger wasn’t immediate, Kasher braved it a few times — an improvised explosive device rocked the Humvee in front of him in his first few weeks in Iraq.

“We were going through late at night — I saw a flash and heard an explosion,” he said.

It flipped over the truck in front of him and sent a “golf-ball sized” shred of shrapnel into the gunners arm.

“Until then, (Iraq service) was like playing cowboy,” Kasher said. “All it did was make me sort of realize where I was at.”

The second time, an improvised explosive device merely cracked the Hummer’s windshield.

“The insurgents don’t know what they’re doing when they’re making these things,” Kasher said. “They buried it too deep or two shallow, so we got lucky.”

As part of the group that investigated improvised explosives, Kasher’s squadron ran across a bomb shaped like dog.

“It was an IED that was a cutout of a dog made out of wood. Two mortar rounds above it were rigged to explode,” he explained.

Throughout his tenure, Kasher faced live fire as many times as he “can count on two hands.”

“The biggest thing is stay calm, remember where you’re at, where everyone else is at and where your enemy is at,” Kasher said.

“It’s all thinking as far as knowing what your next move is. Before that time, we had our immediate action drills and they’d remind us what we’d do in every single situation.

“When I got ambushed from a palm grove, it was one of those things where we laid out, spread some fire, turned into the ambush, dismounted and went towards the enemy.”

Despite the instances where insurgents shot at him or his buddies, Kasher insists Iraq is not entirely a war zone and that insurgents are not fighting a holy war, merely a tribal war.

Kasher said most of the insurgents march through the Syrian border, a desert border the size of Texas.

Iraq’s tribal community contributes to the insurgency and some Iraqis have insurgent relatives or friends living in Syria, Kasher said.

Military presence in Iraq will probably continue for many years, because like with the Korean War and rebuilding of Japan, troop presence is vital to success.

“It’s a great military spot to have marines there anyway because it gives us a presence in the Middle East,” Kasher said. “If something were to happen, we could react faster. I do believe people will be in Iraq for awhile. For safety, just to make sure democracy does work.”

Since he has come home to the states, Kasher said it’s been an easy adjustment process — no sleep loss or post-traumatic-stress disorder of the sort veterans of other wars suffered.

Just mementos of the awareness Kasher earned by tramping through the dusty streets of Iraq.

“I sometimes catch myself if there’s a car riding low (on the expressway) — I wonder what’s in the back,” he said.

As far as the welcome home, Kasher sometimes gets a free meal from the local restaurants and bar patrons tend to buy him drinks.

Anything to accommodate the local boy that flew to Iraq, trained foreign troops and scoured the road-side searching for hope and explosives shaped like house pets.

"Don’t believe what CNN tells you — Iraq isn’t that bad. It’s no bombed-out war zone.

The mainstream news, Kasher said, failed."

Semper Fi Marine!

Throughout his tenure, Kasher faced live fire as many times as he “can count on two hands.”

“The biggest thing is stay calm, remember where you’re at, where everyone else is at and where your enemy is at,” Kasher said.

Good Advice...

2 posted on 09/26/2005 7:12:57 AM PDT by 2banana (My common ground with terrorists - They want to die for Islam, and we want to kill them.)

It was an IED that was a cutout of a dog made out of wood.

Hmm. That artistic work really bombed!

At least they didn't put Mohammed in a jar of urine.

Media Misinformation and Rebuilding Iraq
Don’t believe what CNN tells you — Iraq isn’t that bad. It’s no bombed-out war zone.

The mainstream news, Kasher said, failed.

I wonder what he thinks CNN stands for -- Klinton News Network, Communist News Network, or maybe it is the Comedy of Mis-information Network (CMN)...

Need to get more people to hear the thoughts of returning service personnel...

I am impressed with the level of maturity, responsibility and awareness military service creates in these young people. Corporal David Kasher demonstrates it well. It's tough duty over there, but those that return are better citizens than those who have not served. God bless them and the USA.

“When I got ambushed from a palm grove, it was one of those things where we laid out, spread some fire, turned into the ambush, dismounted and went towards the enemy.”

I'm always impressed by how professional our soldiers and Marines are. It must be a shock for a gaggle of terrorists to find their ambush turned on them. If the ambush isn't executed perfectly (which must almost always be the case) then our guys unfold a play with great teamwork that would make NFL franchises jealous.

I love reading these stories!

I tel Ya'll...this Devil Dog could be THE 21st Century Audie Murphy..except that I don't think Pvt. Murphy was USMC.

Corporal David Kasher found the children of Iraq to be very receptive to American soldiers. Here’s something you don’t hear very often — Corporal David Kasher had a great time serving in Iraq.
And, he really wants to go back.
“I’m glad I went,” Kasher told a packed Fossil Ridge Public Library auditorium recently. “I didn’t think it was too bad. I actually had a great time out there.”

Holy cow ping!! What an awesome hero is he!!! I don't have my ping list at work - TOnk, yould you mind??

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