Posted on 08/31/2005 6:25:38 PM PDT by saquin
FOB WARRIOR, Iraq— Children at one Kirkuk orphanage now have a playground full of new equipment, thanks to the efforts of the headquarters company of the 116th Brigade Combat Team’s Task Force 2-116 Armor who installed a custom-built playground set August 19.
While doing an assessment of a Kirkuk orphanage back in March, the unit noticed run-down playground equipment that was inadequate for the number of children. One metalworker in the group, Sgt. Fenton Doyle, decided to use his talent to build new equipment.
“Sgt. Doyle spent his spare time gathering and welding scrap metal constructing several toys for the children of the orphanage,” said Capt. Corey Dahlquist, a TF 2-116 personnel officer.
Doyle used old rims and half-shafts from HMMWV’s to build two spring toys. He next built a slide to replace the broken one at the orphanage and a 6’ swing and swing set using old mud flaps for seats.
He also built a set of monkey bars using scrap steel and half-shafts.
“The soldiers of headquarters company painted all of these items and assisted in the delivery and installation of the toys,” said Dahlquist. “The local children in the neighborhood all wanted a chance to try out the new equipment while the soldiers were there installing it. Many of them couldn’t wait for it to be installed but just jumped right on.”
Helping assess and meet the needs of the community is part of the 116th BCT’s mission while deployed in north central Iraq. The unit’s mission also includes assisting Iraq’s new government, supporting economic development, facilitating communications and improving security and stability in the region.
The 116th BCT is comprised of headquarters and staff sections, two armor battalions, a mechanized infantry battalion, a support battalion, a field artillery battalion, an engineer battalion, and various intelligence, signal, and specialized units. The 116th BCT is one of several Army National Guard units deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom III.
Soldiers from Task Force 2-116 Armor’s headquarters company watch Iraqi children dangle from their new monkey bars after their installation August 19 at the orphanage in Kirkuk. Sgt. Doyle constructed the set from scrap metal and other unit soldiers painted them.
Children jump on two new spring toys before their installation August 19 at the orphanage in Kirkuk. Sgt. Doyle constructed these from old HMMWV parts during his spare time and other unit soldiers painted them
Soldiers from Task Force 2-116 Armor’s headquarters company swing Iraqi children after installing their new swing set August 19 at the orphanage in Kirkuk. Sgt. Doyle constructed the set from scrap metal and mud flaps and other unit soldiers painted them.
(Sorry about the DVIDS watermarks on the pics. It was either post a tiny pic with no watermark or a bigger pic with a watermark.)
These are our guys! If this doesn't make you proud to be an American then you are beyond hope.
...or unworthy of the title "AMERICAN".
Awesome!!
Whenever You next hear from him, please let him know that we FReepers give him & his unit a biiiiiiiigggg...
"Hoo-RAAAHHH!!!!
I stand here in Chicago, and I have nothing before these men. Rock on.
A liberal told me just the other day that we're committing genocide in Iraq. This must be part of the plan, eh?
excuse me..where are the little girls????
Thank God. I needed this after all of these Katrina articles...
Found this page through our stats at dvids. I'll go ahead and remove those dvids watermarks (for this freepers page only) assuming you quote your source well ;) -Ryan
This is soooo cool. It's a good thing they don't have OSHA or some other protect-us-from-ourselves group there to ruin these kids fun.
Actually, considering this is an orphanage, I don't have a problem with all-boys or all-girls facilities.
Thanks, that's nice of you. I'm always happy to point people to the DVIDS site. It's a great source of info.
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