[txradioguy]

Good morning everyone. As always, thank you for your incredible support of all of us over here. Prayers this morning for 547th Maintence Co, D.C. Nat'l Guard. Two of their guys were hurt on Sunday by an I.E.D. (improvised explosive device) that wrecked their 5-ton truck. (The blast blew it completely on it's side) Also hurt was a soldier from 1st AD. I was in a 3 vehicle convoy that cam up on their truck just after it had been hit and was still taking small arms fire. We deployed and secured the truck and treated the wounded and got them back to our base so they could be flown to a hospital. One guy I talked to said it was the second blast he'd survived in 19 days!

Radu - Thank you for that card. It was an extremely pleasant surprise.

[Fawnn]

Prayers this morning for 547th Maintence Co, D.C. Nat'l Guard ... 1st AD....

Prayers lifted!

Thank you so much for your service to our country! God bless you and keep you (and those who work with you) safe....

[txradioguy]

Thought everyone here might like to have first dibbs at my new story before I send it to Ft. Riley.



New Bridge Joins Separated Communities In Baghdad

Project was a joint effort between U.S. Army and Iraqi Civilians


Spc. John S. Wollaston





BAGHDAD IRAQ – For nearly 20 years, the people of the Ghazalyia and al-Shu’lah districts of Baghdad had pleaded for a new bridge to connect their neighborhoods. Instead, all they received from the regime of Saddam Hussein was silence and a foul smelling 30-foot wide river of raw sewage to keep the districts separated.

But that’s all changed now.

Exactly one month after the ground breaking, a ribbon cutting for the new Hamza Bridge was held with nearly 200 local residents and several local officials on hand to participate in the ceremony.

Through the joint effort of engineers from the 3rd Brigade, 1st Armored Division’s Bravo Company 70th Engineers (Combat) and local Iraqi contractors, the districts that were separated for so long have, quite literally, been bridged.

“The people have been very happy about this project from the start.” According to 1st Lieutenant John Prettyman, the platoon leader for Bravo Company’s 3rd platoon and also the project coordinator for the bridge. “When we told them we were building a bridge for them, the people offered us food, security anything we needed. They’ve been really supportive.”

The bridge itself is a four-lane affair with sidewalks on either side to allow pedestrians as well as traffic to cross in both directions. Drainage pipe was laid into the foundation to re-direct some of the sewage that formed a barrier river between the two areas. A little over 400,000 cubic meters of sewage was removed to allow the bridge to be completed. As an offshoot of the bridge project, a sewage pump station is being rebuilt to drain the remainder of the harmful liquid from the trench.

Not only will this bridge bring two formerly hard to access sections of Baghdad together, there’s economic and traffic flow issues that are improved with the opening of the new bridge. At its north end is the al-Shu’lah market area, which will benefit from increased access. “Before we started this project, traffic was completely at a standstill by noon.” According to 1st Lt. Prettyman. He estimates that with the opening of the bridge, traffic congestion has been reduced by between 34 to 45%.


Even more amazing that the bridge itself, was the cooperation between the Army and local Iraqi contractors who worked together side by side to get the project done. Very little hands on building of the bridge were done by the engineers. The labor and materials came from the Iraqi people. “We provided as much support as we could.” Prettyman said. “The rest was done by the locals.”
The success of the partnership in building the Hamza Bridge bodes well for future joint projects in the area. “We’re not going to stop here.” 1st Lt. Prettyman says with a smile. “This is just the first step.”

[Kathy in Alaska]

Prayers are most definitely on the way for the 547th Maintenance Co, D.C. Nat'l Guard, and also for the soldier from the 1st AD. Thanks, John, for sharing and allowing us the chance to get in some special prayers for you guys. God bless you all good, and more prayers for your daily success in your jobs and your safety.

Thanks for your service.

[beachn4fun]

thanks for keeping us updated. Love getting news from the front lines....so to speak.

Prayers everyday for all our military and our allies. Even the Iraqi people when I have time. God bless you all and keep you safe.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Posted by our own txradioguy on the ground in Baghdad!

Posted by txradioguy to Kathy in Alaska; All On News/Activism ^ 08/27/2003 7:54 AM AKDT #135 of 143

Good morning everyone. As always, thank you for your incredible support of all of us over here. Prayers this morning for 547th Maintence Co, D.C. Nat'l Guard. Two of their guys were hurt on Sunday by an I.E.D. (improvised explosive device) that wrecked their 5-ton truck. (The blast blew it completely on it's side) Also hurt was a soldier from 1st AD. I was in a 3 vehicle convoy that cam up on their truck just after it had been hit and was still taking small arms fire. We deployed and secured the truck and treated the wounded and got them back to our base so they could be flown to a hospital. One guy I talked to said it was the second blast he'd survived in 19 days!

Radu - Thank you for that card. It was an extremely pleasant surprise.

[StarCMC]

Will be praying for you all specifically! Thanks for giving me the privilege!