Ryan and Christy's Place

Hey everybody, here is my latest from the Chattanooga Times Free Press, which ran last Sunday. There should be two more stories about coming home and our overall mission coming out soon as well. I’ll post them after they are printed.

- Ryan

                                       Elections mark final mission for 278^th unit

By Spc. Ryan Seals

The Chattanooga Times Free Press

FORWARD OPERATING BASE BERNSTEIN, IRAQ-- It was a peaceful ending for the Peacemakers of 2^nd Squadron 278^th Regimental Combat Team as little violence interrupted Iraq’s constitutional referendum on Saturday. Thousands of citizens in the Peacemaker Area of Occupation (AO) came out to vote in the country’s second democratic election since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003.

The election was the last major event for the 278th RCT, as we spent the day working with members of the 101^st Airborne Division, out of Fort Campbell, Ky., who are replacing us as we prepare to return stateside.

In what was my final mission in Iraq, I spent the day working with our headquarters platoon from H Co. ready to respond to any violence that might have arose at any of the polling sites. No significant activity occurred most of the day, and the election was a huge success in AO Erwin, which my company is responsible for.

It was a boring day, which translates into as being very good day in a combat zone.

A peaceful election day was the result of the hard work of the thousands of U.S. and Iraqi troops that were determined to root out an insurgency and keep Iraqi citizens free as they took this step toward democracy. Over the weeks leading up to the elections, the 278^th conducted several significant raids, rooting out insurgents and taking them off the streets so they couldn’t interrupt Iraq‘s historic day.

It was also a sign of the good things the 278^th has been able to accomplish during its near 11 months in country, especially with the Iraqi Army.

The 209^th Iraqi Army Battalion, based out of Tuz, Iraq is now a fully equipped force that has made huge strides toward becoming an independent force by working with units from the 278^th. They are able to do many things they are were not able to do when we first arrived, such as conduction their own operations and providing security for themselves.

The 209^th IA Battalion and the Iraqi Police took the lead in providing security for the polling sites in the 278^th’s areas, which left U.S. forces as third or fourth string responders if anything were to happen. It was an act that probably validated the authenticity of the voting process for Iraqis by not seeing a U.S. presence at polling sites.

Whether the constitution ends up passing or not, a true Iraqi election where millions came out to vote despite threats made by the insurgency is truly a victory for their country, after the many years of dictatorship under Saddam.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

The only thing that is really left for many of the members of the 278^th is making sure that our counterparts with the 101^st Airborne are prepared to take over for us. For many of the lower enlisted men, like me, we have nothing left to do but to wait on our ride out of here and back to the states.

It has left me with some time to reflect on everything we have accomplished here in country. To most of us “grunts,” out there doing the dirty work on the ground, kicking in doors, clearing roads of improvised explosive devices, etc, we tend to overlook what we have done because we have stayed so busy.

However, reflecting back on it all, we truly have made a difference for the Iraqis, each by doing our own small part. I think that a peaceful election day meant a lot to most American troops because it showed that not all of our hard work rooting out insurgents and training the Iraqis to hold their own was done in vain.

However, one thing that really touched my heart in seeing how far the Iraqi people have come was something I saw on Iraqi-state television today when I visited one of the many shops ran by Iraqis here on FOB Bernstein. It was a mass funeral in Dahuk, Iraq, for 8,000 Kurdish people who had been buried in a mass grave after being killed by orders from Saddam in the 1980’s. There were thousands of coffins lined up one by one, covered by Kurdish flags. Iraqi Army soldiers carried off each coffin after a mass prayer for each of the victims was broadcast over a loud speaker in the presence of their grieving families.

It was a ceremony that would not have been possible just five years ago before the U.S. invasion. It was heart-warming to me to know that all of our efforts fighting in this foreign land have made a difference by seeing those families finally being able to grieve and find peace after the brutal murder of their loved ones.

Whether it be seeing a family finally finding peace, this country having it’s second democratic election in a year, or just seeing the smile on the face of a little girl after giving her a coloring book and a pen. It just shows that there are many good things that have happened in Iraq rather than most of the violence and gore that has continued to make headlines.