MIXED EMOTIONS: LEAVING THE 48TH BRIGADE COMBAT TEAM I am coming home. As you read this, I should be on a C-5A headed for Dover, Del. and then to Home Sweet Home. I leave with mixed emotions. Taking the world’s longest shower and sleeping in a real bed with a real mattress will be a pleasure, but leaving behind the men and women of Georgia’s 48th Brigade Combat Team wasn’t … [Read more...] about Oct. 14, 2005: Iraq Column #7
Oct. 13, 2005: Iraq Column #6
COLUMNIST SEES THE WAR ‘UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL’ With Georgia’s 648th engineering battalion in the Triangle of Death. I saw the war in Iraq up close and personal today. In fact, it was up closer than I wanted. A couple of bad guys exploded an IED (an improvised explosive device) as we were crossing a bridge near Camp Striker. Had our vehicle been going slower, or had the bad … [Read more...] about Oct. 13, 2005: Iraq Column #6
Oct. 12, 2005: Iraq Column #5
GEORGIANS HELPING TO BUILD SCHOOLS AND TRUST With the 118th Field Artillery Battalion in Taji. Today we went by helicopter to Camp Taji, south of Baghdad and the headquarters of the First Battalion of the 118 Field Artillery Regiment. This regiment, composed mainly of Georgians, has a myriad of responsibilities including overseeing various construction projects in and around … [Read more...] about Oct. 12, 2005: Iraq Column #5
Oct. 11, 2005: Iraq Column #4
FIGHTING TERRORISM WITH AMERICAN GOODNESS With Georgia’s 48th Combat Brigade Team at Radwaniya near Camp Stryker. General Stewart Rodeheaver, commanding general of Georgia’s 48th, invited us to ride along with him today to dedicate a local health clinic. Why would a general who has a lot of war on his hands these days take the time for such trivialities? Because, it is in … [Read more...] about Oct. 11, 2005: Iraq Column #4
Oct. 10, 2005: Iraq Column #3
DRIVING THE DANGEROUS ROADS OF IRAQ WITH A BAND OF BROTHERS With Georgia’s 48th Brigade Combat Team in Mahmoudiyah and the Lion’s Den. This morning General Stewart Rodeheaver, commanding general of the 48th, had a meeting scheduled with General Mahdi, brigade commander of the Iraqi army, to discuss last minute preparations for Saturday’s vote on a new Iraqi constitution. It … [Read more...] about Oct. 10, 2005: Iraq Column #3