To: Lausanne; From: Camp N.J., Kuwait

The Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) ^ | 16 March 2003 | By Tom Charlier

[Maigrey]

To: Lausanne; From: Camp N.J., Kuwait
By Tom Charlier
charlier@gomemphis.com
March 16, 2003

Hunkered down in his tent as a sandstorm roiled the Kuwaiti desert,
Staff Sgt. David Battaly remained ever the educator while tapping the keys
of his laptop.

"From Camp New Jersey, Kuwait....

"Looks like this storm is going to last all night. Dust storms are weird.
During the day you can't see hardly anything in front of you,
but if you look straight up you can see blue sky - weird."

For Battaly, 40, a music teacher at Lausanne Collegiate School in East
Memphis, the words weren't part of any ordinary keepsake journal. They
had an intended audience of students, colleagues and friends some
6,000 miles away.

Through a series of E-mails that began a month ago, Battaly has kept
his Lausanne "family" abreast of matters ranging from smallpox
vaccinations to military logistics to the spitting accuracy of camels.

"The desert is funny. About the time you get used to where the
sand dunes and sink holes are, a storm comes along and changes
the entire thing."

Since late December, Battaly (pronounced BAT-a-lee), a reservist attached
to the 3rd Brigade of the Army's 101st Infantry division (air assault), has
been stationed in northern Kuwait, only a 20-minute drive from the Iraq
border.

His photos and E-mails - except for the more personal messages intended
for family members and close friends - have been posted on Lausanne's
Web site, www.lausanneschool.com/

The electronic correspondence offers compelling glimpses of what could be
a front-line area if war with Iraq breaks out.

"Every day the shelling of the Artillery gets closer to the border. At first we
thought it was just the American artillery batteries practicing out in the open
desert. However, we now know that the American and Iraqi artillery have
been adjusting their fires closer to the border every day."

As Battaly describes it, his daily routine begins about 3 a.m. and includes
trips to the border, where he escorts laborers through a gate and checks
their papers. He also gives insight into what he might be doing if and when
fighting begins.

"We fly in mass by the 100's to the target on helicopters. As many as
16 soldiers in a helicopter at a time, usually at night. The helicopters lands
quickly and we run into fighting positions. Then we take whatever the
objective is quickly before the other guys even know we are on the ground.
That's Air Assault."

In addition to describing meals, the desert climate, interactions with Kuwaitis
and various events, Battaly relates incidents like one in which a group of
British soldiers near his camp briefly ventured across the border, only to find
Iraqi soldiers running toward them trying to surrender.

"The Brits' had to turn coat and run to keep from starting an international
incident. I guess the Iraqi soldiers will just have to wait and surrender some
other day."

Battaly and his wife, Esther, have two children at Lausanne - David, a
sixth-grader, and Alexia, who is in the eighth grade.

Lausanne headmaster George B. Elder said Battaly's messages have been
followed closely by parents and faculty, who, in turn, read them to students.
"It's meant so much to the people who read them, both as an inspirational
message from Kuwait and as a lesson of how ordinary people deal with war."

The headmaster noted the E-mails reflect Battaly's deep patriotism. "The kids
are all very moved by this," Elder said. "He's our hero."

Third-grader Audrey Wilcox, 9, is among the students who helped gather letters
and other items to be sent to Battaly and Marine Capt. Brent Hyland, who is the
son of Lausanne academic dean Keife Hyland and is also stationed in Kuwait.
She said her teachers have related the ordeals Battaly faces. "They said it's
really sandy, and he doesn't get to shower much."

Shawn Van Scoik, the mother of three Lausanne students and executive vice
president of the Lausanne Parent Association, calls the Battaly E-mails "very
interesting" and useful. "He's a very good writer and puts the kids in
touch with what he's doing over there."

"I miss my family SO much it hurts. . . . I truly miss my Lausanne family
as well. I lie awake so many nights thinking about you, my teaching friends,
students, and all others."

- Tom Charlier: 529-2572

[Maigrey]

I thought that those of us without contact (yet) with our families would like to read about someone on the front lines.

[Maigrey]

From the Lausanne School's Web Site



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Sand Everywhere, and I have to guard it from those starving wretches!

I thought I would also include some of the pictures since the link I included didn't work (for some reason)