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The Final Chapter of My Trip To Iraq Martha Zoller Isn’t it interesting how things have a natural beginning and end to them? The Voices of Soldiers Tour began flying away from Hurricane Dennis and ended flying away from one of the biggest sand storms in history. Col. Daniel Kornacki, the Commander of the Air Base at the Baghdad Airport from the 94th Airlift out of Dobbins and is a Delta 767 pilot in his other life, said that sand storms are the desert’s thunderstorms. Coming from tornado alley, that is an analogy I can understand. Our group (Buzz Patterson...

Sending the ‘right’ signals The following was written by Spc. Curt Cashour of the military’s “Desert Voice” on the “Voices of Soldiers” Truth Tour that took place from July 7th - 17th. Cashour is based at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait. Sending the ‘right’ signals By Spc. Curt Cashour Coalition Forces Land Component Command Public Affairs Office There’s an old saying among those in the media that states, “If it bleeds it leads.” There’s a reason the motto has stuck: it’s the truth. Take Iraq for example. Day after day, stories of car bombings and suicide attacks take prominence over the...

Some of What I Learned in Baghdad Author: Brad Dated: Tuesday, July 19 2005 @ 01:03 AM EDT On Wednesday July 13, 2005 I had the opportunity to go out on patrol with the US Army stationed in Baghdad 3 times, including foot patrol with the New Iraqi Army. Our soldiers who are assigned to patrol duty generally go out several times a day. These patrols are regularly irregular so as to establish a presence in the area without presenting a predictable target. These are some of the things I learned while in Baghdad. The International Zone in Baghdad is...

Courage plentiful in Iraq By: Howard Kaloogian BAGHDAD, Iraq ---- Courage. You know it when you see it. "Speaking truth to power" is thought of as courageous. Lt. General Abdul Qader Jassim told Saddam Hussein that the Iraqi army could not withstand the coalition forces arrayed against it in the mid '90s. Then he spent the next 7 years, 4 months and 10 days in an Iraqi prison until being liberated by American troops in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Today he is the head of the Iraqi army. We met him in Baghdad. He talked to us through an interpreter whose...

CAMP FALCON, THE GREEN ZONE, BAGHDAD: Sorry about the lack of postings since my arrival here in Iraq early Monday morning, but internet access has been somewhat limited. Sheesh! You'd think there's a war on or something... I have a hundred stories to tell, all of them amazing in their own way, but I don't have time now to tell them all. So let me tell you just one, from earlier this morning: Melanie Morgan of KSFO in San Francisco and I went on patrol this morning on Route Irish, aka "The Highway of Death" with Delta 3-7 of the...

Latest from Iraq - from Melanie Morgan's website at KSFO I spoke with Melanie this morning and she asked me to forward a few pictures of what we are doing here in Iraq. The 184 IN is part of the California National Guard and we are assigned to the 4 BCT (Brigade Combat Team) 3rd Infantry Division. We are currently stationed at FOB Falcon in the Southern part of Baghdad. I realize that the media tends to focus solely on the IEDs the firefights etc because that is what sells. The reality is that for every contact we have with...

Still in Bahgdad by Martha Zoller As we enter our third day in Bahgdad, there is much to report. I was unable to post yesterday, we were out most of the day. Believe it or not, there is power and wireless internet connectivity in the tents we are staying in but it is hit and miss as far as the strength of the signal. Also, when the soldiers are on missions, they have the ability to take down the internet and cell service in the area of operation. Yesterday, we walked alot in the heat and I really felt it...

Wow, What a Day! This has been the most incredible trip of my life! I have met the most wonderful people and have learned so much first hand. A Doctor, Captain Daniel Green, at Fort Prosperity, one of Saddam's Palaces, decided that the only way we were going to see Iraq properly was to have unfettered and total access to anyone in Baghdad, from the lowest soldier to the Chief of Operations.... and we did!. He got a two star to sign off and the real fun began. (A few feathers were ruffled in the middle but they came on...