Keeping in contact from Iraq

ANBAR PROVINCE, Iraq — A career Marine from Colebrook is keeping in contact with with his friends from the Winsted area by sending dispatches from Iraq, describing daily life in the war-torn nation.

Gunnery Sgt. Daniel Ward was getting ready to go to church Sunday when he returned an e-mail from The Journal asking for the latest news.

“Right now it is Sunday and I’m getting ready to go to Mass,� he wrote. “It is in a rugged, wooden church with warped wooden benches that rock every time someone shifts their weight, nearly launching the person on the opposite end. With my erratic schedule I’m able to go every other week or so. After that I’ll be heading to our engineering lot to get ready for this evening’s mission.�

As the senior enlisted Marine in charge of a route clearance team, Ward’s mission requires going out almost every night to patrol the cities and roads for IEDs or people trying to plant them.

“We typically sweep the routes before and after logistical convoys hit the roads to try and either find the IEDs or disrupt the enemy from placing them,� he said. “The missions last through the night, and just before the sun comes up I’ll hit the rack, wake up around lunch time, try to get awake enough to go to the gym, then head to the lot to start the day all over again. There’s times where I’ve only had a few hours of sleep over several nights but it’s making the time go by really fast.�

As far as morale goes, Ward said, “Our spirits are all over the place. Along with one other Marine unit, my unit will be the last Marines in the Anbar Province as we turn over responsibility to the Army and shift our focus to Afghanistan. As a result, there are a lot of Marines who essentially lost their jobs since our arrival and are trying to find things to keep busy. My platoon has been fortunate to continue with our missions and stay busy so our morale has stayed high. We feel that with everything we find our patrol is saving equipment and the lives of coalition forces or local nationals.�

Ward said Iraq is safer now than it was when he was there in 2005. “The best example is how my unit arrived: on a commercial plane, landing in broad daylight, in the middle of Iraq. Far different than spiraling out of the night sky in a C-130 like the last time.�

Winsted-area residents will recall that Ward’s wife, Leah, is also a veteran who spent time in Kuwait as a nurse treating injured soldiers. Leah gave birth to the couple’s first son last May in a hair-raising procedure while she was being treated for a kidney stone.

Ward is planning to be reunited with his wife and son back home in Colebrook in the early spring.

Sgt. Daniel Ward’s latest correspondence to friends and family, straight from Iraq, is as follows:

November is nearing an end and I can’t believe how fast time is going by. The Marine Corps’ mission in Iraq is nearly over as the Army will be taking full control early in 2010, so we are already thinking about our end of mission. March is still a long way off but it looks like I should be home by that time. Things are still relatively quiet in western Iraq but the Hajj and elections are coming up so we have seen an increase in activity.

So far, major events have happened just after or right before we pass through a particular area, so luck has been on our side. It’s beginning to feel like winter with lows in the 40s and highs in the 70s, but I know from experience that it will get colder yet. We also saw three continuous days of rain, and with the hard clay dirt it made quite a mess on our vehicles, in our living quarters and in the office spaces.

My platoon’s patrols have taken us over thousands of miles of Iraqi roads from Ramadi to the northern shore of the Tharthar (the largest body of water in Iraq). We have patrolled over the Haditha Dam, along the banks of the Euphrates River and through most of the villages in between. The civilian populace is used to our presence since we’ve been here for over six years, but as the Iraqi army grows in strength we feel the tension of two forces coming together. A few confrontations I have had with them reinforced the fact that we are sometimes diplomats more than we are Marines. On one patrol, I was approached by a high ranking Iraqi officer and through my translator we argued about an Iraqi flag that was apparently desecrated. My guys were accused of everything from stealing the flag to ripping it down and stomping on it.

After endless squabbling through my interpreter I got us out of there by promising that we would investigate the incident to determine what happened. As we drove past the flag in question later that night, it remained on the pole just as we remembered seeing it on our first pass. We are still confused by the whole situation but I believe I made a positive impact by answering the officer’s question in regard to my interpretation of the Iraqi flag to the country and its people when I told him I knew that it represented to him the same thing the American flag means to me.

Patrolling over the Haditha Dam was an experience as it is hundreds of feet higher than the valley floor and heavily protected by the Iraqi Army since the majority of the Al Anbar Province is powered by the hydroelectric turbines in the middle and because the city of Haditha and countless villages downstream would be eradicated if a wall of water were to come surging down the river valley. From what I could tell, civilian traffic is not allowed on the dam even though it is large enough to fit the existing divided four-lane highway. The water level behind the Haditha Dam as well as in the Tharthar was extremely low but will rise once winter is over and the melting snow far up north fills it up. Engineering the 12-kilometer dam and the hydroelectric spillway must have been no small feat, and to see it reminded me of my visit to the Hoover Dam. Massive steel doors dropped hundreds of feet down to the dam’s base and could be raised or lowered by an enormous crane to control the flow of water going into the turbines and spillway. And leave it to my guys to find creative ways to “curse� over the radio, chiming in every few minutes describing the “dam road,� “dam checkpoints,� “dam crane …� Comedians all.

Going through some of the villages it is hard to imagine life as tough as some of the local people have it. In the middle of the night we have seen a man sleeping on his bed in a doorless, windowless mud shanty with cans of fuel outside his hut. Somehow he was able to get some diesel and is hoping to resell it to a passing traveler. Fruit stands line the roads as well, and one man sat under a wooden box about 3 feet high sheltering him from the cold rain, again hoping to sell his goods to a passerby. Parts of some cities have raw sewage flowing through them like a small river, and the smell is so putrid you can almost taste it.

But kids are still kids and they smile and wave as you pass by, eager to get a good look at the parade going through their streets. Most are hopeful that we’ll throw them candy, food, water or a toy but we have avoided doing this since we feel that bringing kids close to our 40,000-pound vehicles with plenty of blind spots could end in tragedy. At an oasis, miles from civilization, a family had stopped to get some water and let their kids play in the small stream leading away from the source. I saw a girl about 10 years old who looked like any girl from America going to the mall wearing an orange sundress rather than traditional Arab clothing. All of these things reinforce the fact that Iraq is getting back on its feet and is slowly adapting to the rest of the world. Problems still exist in the government, military, police and with al-Qaida in Iraq, but I see changes that seemed impossible five years ago when I was here last.

My entire squadron celebrated the Marine Corps’ 234th birthday just as every Marine has for the past 90 years: cutting the cake with a sword, honoring the oldest Marine present with the first piece of cake, who then passes a piece to the youngest, symbolizing the passing of experience. The other time-honored tradition was beer. Yeah, even in Iraq where alcohol is against religion, Marines find a way to properly celebrate their birthday.

To help pass downtime, my guys created an 18-hole golf course. They were able to snatch up several irons and balls and marked each “hole� by hammering rebar into the ground and tying streamers to mark the spot. Two club lengths within the pin gets you in the hole and the entire course is maybe 300 yards long with a front six, middle six and back six. Luck plays more into your score than skill sometimes because the course is littered with rocks, erosion, MRAPS and, now that it’s rained, water hazards. Hopefully it will improve my short game next spring, but overall it’s a great way to relieve stress and keep us out of trouble. Have a great holiday. Semper Fi!

Dan