'The Straight Scoop' A Seabee’s Firsthand Account of Life in Al Kut, Iraq - Part 2

Defend America ^ | Senior Chief Art Messer

[Spruce]

Part Two
'The Straight Scoop'
A Seabee's Firsthand Account of Life in Al Kut, Iraq
Senior Chief Art Messer, a Navy Seabee serving with 22 Naval Construction Regiment (Forward) Task Force Charlie in southern Iraq, shared his perspective on post-war life in Iraq in a series of letters he sent this spring to American Legion Post 45. With Messer’s permission, DefendAmerica now shares his views with you. Dear American Legion. Things as usual are going very well. Of course we have the now and again problems but they are subsiding. We have been in Al Kut on the Tigris River for the last two weeks. Prior to that we spent the majority of the War near An Nasiriyah on the Euphrates River. Up here we're doing humanitarian and base infrastructure work. One of the neat jobs were doing is fixing up a 1912 British cemetery. You see, there was this huge battle here during British colonization. It used to be British custom to bury their war dead on the battle field. All the British troops that lost their lives were buried at this cemetery. If any of you out there are history buffs, I would like to find out more about the story if you have more info. To make a long story short, the Saddam regime let the cemetery go. It's grown over with weeds and trash was being dumped there. So the British government wanted us to fix it up since this cemetery is in the Task Force Tarawa Area of Operations. Task Force Charlie is in direct support of Task Force Tarawa and soon to be back in support of First Marine Division also. Our convoy to Al Kut was quite interesting. Over the roads that the seabees of Task Force Charlie repaired and resurfaced, we came up through South Central Iraq. There were small farms everywhere along with hundreds and hundreds of camels. As we approached Baghdad the sand and desolation faded into farmland, grass, river bottom swamps and date farms. I love dates by the way, however; I don't think they are in season this time of year. I will ask a farmer before I get back. After moving out of our camp below the Euphrates, we moved up to a place on the Euphrates River that is pretty much a seabee-built giant truck stop and bridge park. This place is where the logistical convoy trains stop for fuel, rest, and repairs while hauling stuff north and storage area for maybe Johnson Bridge assemblies. The seabees are putting bridges over all the key river crossings in Southern Iraq. This Truck Stop Davisville is named for the World War II seabee base in Davisville, Rhode Island. Just like a truck stop back home it has everything. A place to get fuel, a place where you can eat, of course you sleep on your truck and just like back home all the truckers have weapons and there is an occasional sniper about lurking near the freeway. Oh yeah, if you want a hot shower you can get it there too. After stopping for the night at Davisville Truck Stop/Bridge Park we moved on towards Al Kut, moving through the town of An Numaniyah. Our camp on the Euphrates is right on the river so we can use water purification units to get water. When we passed through An Numaniyah there were crowds lining the streets cheering and waving and throwing flowers saying "God Bless America!", "God Bless U.S. Troops!" and "America We Love You!" They were also calling Saddam a few things and one was "Saddam is a Dog!"	I have since found out the worst thing you can call a Middle Eastern person is a dog! The second worst thing you can do to insult them is make fun of their mustache. So when I talk to Iraqis I avoid discussing dogs and mustaches! You have to commend these Iraqi people. They are a very proud people, who love their country dearly. Despite all the years of poverty and repression that the Saddam regime put them through, they still hold their head high and their spirit is remains un-broken. True to Babylonian style. I truly hope for a long and lasting peace for these people. Passing through Al Kut there were more interesting things. Iraqis selling cigarettes and whiskey. A lot of us wanted to liberate the Iraqis of their wares but were under orders not to buy from them. Hundreds and Hundreds of kids lined the roads asking us for candy and MRE's (Pre packaged Meals Ready to Eat that replaced the old "C Rats"). These kids were not starving though they just took a liking to G.I. food and the candy we always throw out. Just being kids I guess. I saw a boy about 9 or 10 years old in a green field of Milo on the outskirts of a village near Al Kut. He was herding cattle and those cattle were minding him well and he kept a very good eye on those cows, too. Everyone in the convoy was impressed! We happened to be stopped by the field the boy was grazing his cattle in. I made eye contact with him and he watched me. I was standing with my hand near my pocket. Right as everyone was loaded up on the convoy and getting ready to pull out, I reached in my pocket and pulled out an unopened bag of Skittles and kind of pitched out to where he could see them. Of course he had eagle eyes on them and after we pulled away he finally left those cows to pick up that bag of candy! I guess I'm just a softy. I took a picture of him as we pulled away and he gave me the victory sign. As we pulled out of site, he was staring at that candy and he put it in his pocket without opening it. We figured he was going to share it with his brothers and sisters or he was supposed to ask his parents prior to eating any. We stopped again later and I had to go digging through my pack to find some of my Charms candy to give to some more kids. Like I say, I'm a big fluff! Task Force Tarawa captured 3 Surface to Air (SAM) Rocket Launchers intact. A Marine removed the cap from one of the missile launch tubes and there was a live missile in there! I took a picture of it. The launchers were French built, tires made in Russia, spare parts made in Germany and new parts lying inside manufactured by Siemens Corp of Norway or somewhere like that. Task Force Tarawa also captured numerous Anti Aircraft Artillery (AAA/Triple A) pieces intact and in good working order. Of course I took pictures; I hope you will be able to see them soon. This is all I have for now. Take Care and I will write more soon. All is well here. Senior Chief Art Messer U. S. Navy Seabees " With Compassion for Others, We Build We Fight, for Peace with Freedom!" 22nd Naval Construction Regiment (Forward) Task Force "FOR GOD AND COUNTRY!"

[Spruce]

Part one can be found here

[taxcontrol]

Did you guys catch this part:

".... The launchers were French built, tires made in Russia, spare parts made in Germany and new parts lying inside ....."

Nice to know who your "friends" are.

[Prof Engineer]

ping

[Wright is right!]

"".... The launchers were French built, tires made in Russia, spare parts made in Germany..."

Yuppers, The Big Three that lined up against us. Of course, no one in the media finds this the least bit interesting.

Michael

[getgoing]

thank you for posting, enjoyed reading his interaction with the kids. As for Russia, France & Germany...they suck.

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Thank you, Spruce.

When we passed through An Numaniyah there were crowds lining the streets cheering and waving and throwing flowers saying "God Bless America!", "God Bless U.S. Troops!" and "America We Love You!" They were also calling Saddam a few things and one was "Saddam is a Dog!"

'Better than Rita Cosby source', ping!

If you want on or off my pro-Coalition/anti-wanker ping list, just ping.

[Robert A Cook PE]

Right ...

Funny.

Weren't these were the countries that were most strongly protesting the US a few months ago?

Now why would they be protesting the removal of a brutal dictator who is BUYING THEIR WEAPONS????????????

/outrage sarcasm

[SAMWolf]

Bump

[Alamo-Girl]

Bump!

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Remember when Ollie North, as an embed for FN, was making a point of holding up various weapons from caches they found (w/ help from the Iraqis) on the way to Tikrit just after the fall of Baghdad - weapons labeled France, Jordan, Syria...etc.? Our troops found Chinese missiles, and Russian nightvision goggles, etc., etc., etc.

Iraq was packed with weapons by our enemies for the Iraqi people to use against us. The vast majority said NO to Saddam and yes to the US.

Case closed.

[ChewedGum]

The launchers were French built, tires made in Russia, spare parts made in Germany and new parts lying inside manufactured by Siemens Corp of Norway or somewhere like that.

Keep this in mind, people!

Gum

[TEXOKIE]

Thanks for the ping!

[Jen]

Bumping for truth!

[quietolong]

Bump

[yoe]

May God bless and keep you safe Senior Chief Art Messer, and many thanks for a wonderful letter and an honest look at the 'front'.

[HISSKGB]

What a strange twist. We now rely on the military sending word back home to boost our moral because of the damage done by TV news. What an impressive military!

[PhilDragoo]

The launchers were French built, tires made in Russia, spare parts made in Germany and new parts lying inside manufactured by Siemens* Corp of Norway** or somewhere like that.

**Siemens AS, the largest unit in the Norwegian group of companies, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the German concern, Siemens AG,

*Siemens AG
Wittelsbacherplatz 2
D-80333 Munich
Federal Republic of Germany

[Grampa Dave]

Pinging a great report by a great Sea Bee.

[Grampa Dave]

That picture is a great pictorial summary of this thread.

[windchime]

BTT