| A-1-8 Chapter of the 4th Infantry Division |
A/1-8 Chapter Newsletter
| January - February 2004 SitRep | |||
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| “SIT REP” A Co. 1st Battalion 8th Inf. Chapter, 4th Infantry Division Association For all veterans, active duty or retired, all eras, and those attached to or who ever served with A Company, 1st Battalion, 8th infantry, 4th Infantry Division |
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| January - February 2004 Edition |
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News snippets direct from Iraq
A-1-8 moved from Ballad to Samarra December 10th to participate in “Operation Ivy Blizzard” which of course resulted in Saddam’s capture. Below are some excerpts from the FRG’s in house newsletter “The Fighting Eagles Express”. “As everyone knows by now, we have lost two of America’s finest from the ranks of 1-8 Infantry, SSG Dale Panchot (B Company) on 17 Nov 03 and CPT Eric Paliwoda (B/4th Engineer) on 2 Jan 04. So the holidays were incredibly bittersweet for me as I know that I will return home with 2 less soldiers than what we arrived with over here. May God Bless their families during this most difficult time”…… “At the time of this writing we are less than 60 days away from our transfer of authority with 1-77 Armor from Schweinfurt, Germany who will take our place here in Balad” LTC Nate Sassaman “Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from your soldiers in Samara, Iraq. As you all know and I’m sure saw in the news, we moved to Samara on 10 December to take part in Operation Ivy Blizzard. The company was the main effort company for the main effort battalion in the only major division operation left in the 4ID area of operation. Your soldiers performed wonderfully and successfully moved the city from an enemy-controlled city to coalition-control.” ….“We all felt a huge void not being around for the holidays and I know all of you back at home did as well. I am completely humbled by the outpouring of support all of you gave us through your packages and letters. I cannot even imagine how much work was done to make all of that possible but we felt your love with each gift. Thank you!!!!” Captain Cunningham “As we unwind from the Christmas holiday, 1st Platoon is reminded of our family and loved ones that we couldn’t share this joyous time of year with. We miss you and are thankful for all your prayers, letters, and packages that made this time of separation bearable.”….. “We continue to meet no opposition in the city of over 200,000 and have rid the area of the vast majority of those who wish to fight democracy and do Americans harm. The Samarra populace, on a whole, has become more receptive to our presence and 1st Platoon is pleased to witness this change. Upon completion of Ivy Blizzard, we now patrol the city in 8-hour increments while boredom, stagnation, and complacency remain our biggest battles.” …“Our living conditions remain less than desirable, but with heat, walls, and protection from the unexpected cold temperatures, our living areas continue improving daily. We were thankful for the recent opportunity to shower (our first in 16 days), and we are all a little more receptive to living in such close quarters with one another now.” 1LT Jack Saville, Platoon Leader |
“It has been surprisingly cold and rainy here. I don’t think any of us expected Iraqi weather to ever be like this…. Our living conditions here continue to improve daily as we finally built some rooms out of plywood in the large hangar we occupy, put in electricity, and brought in some heaters. Yesterday we were even able to enjoy our first hot showers since moving here! It has been a huge morale booster for everyone to be able to use the Internet and phone café that is set up here, even though it works only half the time” “We continue to patrol inside the city for roughly 8 hours each day to keep the city safe so that the work of rebuilding the police force,schools, city government, and other infrastructure can continue. Our initial operation in the city, Operation Ivy Blizzard, was a great success. 2nd Platoon was responsible for capturing several of the leaders and fund-ers of terrorist organizations in the area. We all used up a little bit more of our 15 minutes of fame as we had a camera crew from NBC, as well as a writer and photographer from Rocky Mountain News follow us around. Your Christmas packages and letters were a huge hit with the platoon and we all thank you for the hard work and loving care that went into each one. They really helped to make our holiday season that much brighter. Christmas day was spent relaxing, eating, and eating some more.” 1LT David Nelson, 2nd Platoon Leader “Christmas has now come and gone, yet everyone was able to find something to be thankful for. I was particularly thankful for all the work that was put into our FRG Christmas packages. I wanted to personally say that you all out did yourselves, and made Christmas a little bit more enjoyable for everyone. Our Company worked a little on Christmas Eve and into early Christmas morning.” “ In an earlier edition of 3rd Platoons FRG letter I had made light of the time that SPC Daniel fell into a sewage pit. Well the joke came around to bite me in the butt when I fell victim of a sewage pit recently. I did not get quite as nasty as SPC Daniel did, but it did teach me an important lesson. Never make fun of anyone for falling into a raw sewage pit in Iraq because it may happen to you..” LT Adam J. Dykstra, 3rd Platoon Leader (Gentlemen and Ladies our T-shirts for Christmas program was a big hit. Thanks to all who contributed! I still have six shirts available (second printing) in Large, X Large and XX Large for anyone wishing to participate. $20.00 buys you a shirt and sponsors one for an active duty trooper in Iraq.) Page 1 |
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