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| A-1-8 Chapter of the 4th Infantry Division |
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Bob Babcock - "Deeds not Words"
President, Americans Remembered, Inc. - http://www.americansremembered.org
President, 22nd Inf Regt Society - http://www.22ndinfantry.org
Past President/Historian - Nat'l 4th Inf Div Assn - http://www.4thinfantry.org
babcock224@aol.com
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>From CentCom news release on 1-19-04:
4ID WRAP UP
TIKRIT, Iraq – Soldiers from C Company, 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment searched three locations simultaneously, north of Balad before dawn on Jan 17. They were looking for individuals they suspected are responsible for attacks against Coalition forces. Soldiers captured seven individuals and confiscated six AK-47 assault rifles, one bayonet, six AK-47 ammunition magazines, one shotgun and one bolt-action rifle.
C Company, 1st Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment patrol saw missile fins sticking out of the ground in Kanan in the afternoon of Jan. 17. The soldiers investigated and uncovered 146 57mm rockets. One person was detained for further questioning. It was later determined this person was not involved with the buried cache but was wanted for his suspected actions in another incident. Initial assessments indicate that the rockets had been buried prior to the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The rockets were taken to a nearby forward operating base and will be destroyed.
Information provided by an Iraqi citizen about a possible cache of mortars led soldiers to a location 1km southeast Jasimiyah in the afternoon of Jan. 17 where they found 269 82mm mortar rounds. The munitions are scheduled for destruction.
An improvised explosive device detonated prematurely in an automobile in downtown Tikrit, at approximately 10:00 p.m. on Jan. 17, killing two individuals and wounding another in the vehicle.
The wounded person was taken to Tikrit Hospital under guard. The three were apparently transporting the IED with intentions of emplacing the device. No Coalition forces or Iraqi civilians were wounded in the incident.
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A Few Words From Bob:
On an extremely slow news day, I thought I'd take this opportunity to focus in one more time on my favorite topics:
- Make sure your soldier gets the full names, social security numbers, home addresses, and any other pertinent information on all of his or her buddies in Iraq - and send them home to you for safekeeping. That includes those attached to his/her unit from other support type units - all the fellow soldiers, and even Iraqi civilians, that have been important. Don't let them say it is on a company roster they can get when they come home. Their support unit personnel that they work so closely with are not on their unit roster, so they need to get ALL the full names (not Shorty or Tex but full names) of everyone, including commanders above them, that they worked with. Trust me, your soldier will thank you in the future for holding their feet to the fire and making them do that. In the future, 15-25-50 years from now, they will want to find those buddies that shared this memorable time with them. Without preserving the information now, it will be an uphill battle to find it in the future. I had a call Monday from an 84 year old WWII vet of the 4ID trying to find some buddies - so don't let your soldier make the same mistake of not getting full names, social security numbers and permanent addresses.
- Before the chaos and excitement of redeployment takes over, spend a little time to organize and preserve the mementos you have saved from this deployment - letters, pictures, these updates, things your soldier sent home, etc. If you do nothing more than buying a plastic box with a lid (and label) on it, at least keep it all in one place so it doesn't get lost. Again, I speak from experience. Fortunately, my wife and parents both did that for me so I have great memorabilia from my tour in Vietnam. I've talked to far too many vets who have lost things that they wish they had saved.
- And a new piece of advice - send your soldier a camera if he/she doesn't already have one. It can be several disposable cameras or a cheap camera with plenty of film, or a digital camera with plenty of memory sticks - whatever you can afford. Encourage them to not only take pictures of their buddies - and have their buddies take pictures of them - but also encourage them to get pictures of where they live, their sleeping and eating quarters, the palace, the countryside, their guard posts, the natives, whatever strikes them as picture worthy. They should take too many pictures rather than not enough. People, places, things, surroundings, the unit's pet dog - all are memories that they will be glad they have when they look back at this year sometime in the future. And their kids and grandkids will thank them for having pictures to support their stories. I carried a $12 Kodak Instamatic 104 in an ammo pouch when I was in Vietnam and got lots of great pictures that I still treasure today. Just Monday I sent a copy of one of them to a Vietnam vet who asked for it. Again, in the future, they will thank you for pushing them to do this. And make sure they get lots of good pictures of themselves as well as of all the other things and people. (Don't worry about them taking pictures when they should be alert. Of all the pictures I took, I never once thought to pull my camera out when bad guys were trying to hurt us. Your soldiers have the same common sense that I had).
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59 Years Ago Today - 4ID in Luxembourg:
20 January 1945 - D+229
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The enemy resisted stubbornly from its strong points and pockets. In the town of Kleinreisdorf resistance was determined until sometime during the night when an enemy force of about one company withdrew. At Longsdorf, resistance was also heavy and the town was still in enemy hands at the close of the period. Artillery fire was heavy and constant throughout the period.
The 8th Infantry continued its attack to the north and northeast to seize the high ground overlooking the Our river. The 1st Battalion maintained the positions secured on the previous day commanding the high ground within its sector. The 2nd Battalion succeeded in clearing the town of Kleinreisdorf and continued to advance to secure its objective. The 3rd Battalion sector remained quiet. At 2025 supporting engineers completed a Bailey bridge in the 8th Infantry sector. At 0830 the 2nd Battalion of the 12th Infantry reverted to the control of its parent unit.
The 1st Battalion of the 12th Infantry Regiment attacked at 0845,passing through the 2nd Battalion in the positions which it had just taken over from the 10th Infantry and subsequently the town of Longsdorf was cleared. Just north of the village, the 1st Battalion encountered strong resistance which continued throughout the day. In the interim, a strong combat patrol from the 2nd Battalion moved out at 1000, pushing north, reported the town of Tandel cleared, and continued for approximately 300 yards before meeting two platoons of enemy infantry dug in along the road Tandel-Fouhren. The 2nd Battalion then moved into position in the vicinity of Tandel. The 3rd Battalion moved from its assembly area to the town of Eppeldorf, closing therein at 1100.
The 22nd Infantry maintained the defense and conducted active patrolling.
Thanks to Philippe Cornil at www.revive-it.com.
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What Our Families Are Hearing From Our Soldiers in Iraq:
1) I finally heard from my husband this morning (Bravo 1-44ADA). He was pretty upset over the incident from Saturday with the loss of the 3 soldiers killed and two wounded. I'll share a bit of his email..."Sorry I havent emailed, they shut the internet down after what happened. Did you see me on the news? ...I had to go out to recover the Bradley so I saw everything. Then I had to get reporters out of there and they got me on camera... Anyway, it was horrible and I don't want to talk about it..." He didn't say whether or not he'd be able to call this week. I had told him that our 8 1/2 month old daughter took 3 steps by herself the other day and he was so excited, he said he can't wait to get home to see her. My prayers and thoughts are with the families of Saturday's losses, my heart goes out to them... Let's pray that there are no more and our soldiers arrive home safely and soon!
2) I received an e-mail from my son this weekend, he is from the 2 brigade 3-67 armor. He had been on a mission for a little over a week, so we had not heard from him in awhile. He said the mission was fine and that he would be leaving on another one soon. He was tired he had just gotten off guard duty. He was very proud, he made SGT.,since the last e-mail I had received from him. I'm counting the days now till he is home.
3) Hi my husband of HHT 1/10 CAV 4th ID called me yesterday. It was so good to
hear his voice. He says he's really excited that it's really close to coming home. I e-mailed him later saying he needs to focus on the mission so they all have a safe return home. I don't want them to start relaxing now, the bad guys could be waiting for that. But I always tell him I'm so proud of him, and love him being my soldier.
4) Well isn't the internet a wonderful tool? We spent almost an hour last evening instant messaging with our soldier (A-CO 1-22). He had just gotten in from guard duty, it was around 3:00am Iraqi time. All of us got in on it and we were all laughing, he was as well!! He was cracking us up and he and our other son were exchanging brotherly jabs......it was almost like he was right here with us! It felt sooooo good!
I also want to thank the single soldier that wrote in about redeployment for the single soldiers......it made me cry. I had asked you before if anyone has any idea how to book the flights now without a fly date...other than purchase them with an arbitrary date and then pay through the nose to transfer? All four of us are planning on flying to Ft. Hood.....we don't want our soldier there without family, especially after reading the information from Friday's update, but we would like to do it as frugally as possible....so any tips or information would be greatly appreciated......I had spoken with representatives from both American and United Airlines and they were less then helpful and actually rude about the request. I had asked if they had anything in place for people like us that want to be there when their soldier returns...stating that there are families all over the country that would be able to take advantage of any programs they may offer for this situation. Ha....and I thought the airlines would bend over backwards for families of soldiers....not likely I guess.....Interesting reading about the 101st! It makes me so anxious, as we are getting so close to the 4th packing up and heading back as well. God bless our troops!!!
5) Hi Bob---Just to let you know we heard from our son who is with the 1-68 AR. Here is what he said, "We have been busy with lots of raids. Also trying to clean up the place before we come home. Keeping busy helps pass the time. The guys loved the candy and the cookies. Thanks mom, you really lift our spirits. Our dog is still in the puppy stage. She chews on everything. We can't bring her home so hopefully the next unit will adopt her. It has finally started to warm up again. Just think, in another couple of months it will be back up to 110. It still rains occasionally but not like in December. Everything is starting to green up and that is a first. Tell everyone hello and thanks for everything. Counting the days...........cya soon."
6) Bob, we were able to "talk" to our son (3-67 AR) again on Thursday. Talking is actually by instant messenger. Thank God for modern technology! When he gets on-line, the whole family has to log on. He is so busy hopping back and forth between conversations. He seems so upbeat and excited about coming home. He said they have been told they will be out of Iraq by March, and hopefully back in the states by mid April. Maybe we will be able to celebrate his 22nd birthday together! He celebrated turning 21 in Kuwait last year. All he could talk about was the apartment he and his buddy were going to rent when they got back. No more barracks for him!
7) Received a nice wake up call from my husband who is with 3/29 FA Bravo Battery out of Fort Carson. Hadn't heard his voice in close to a month so even with the 5 disconnecitons it was nice to have a conversation. I just moved into on post housing so I was telling him about his new home he's going to come home to and he sounded very excited. He said they are all hanging in there well..... And they've all come to realize that after 10 months of being out there, the 2 more months they have to go through before they are supposed to deploy to Kuwait should be a breeze. He was not about to take R+R. He said all the guys coming back telling their stories about being home has just made him realize how much more special it will be for him when he gets home. Thanks to all our soldiers and let's all support each other in this last long stretch....
8) Just a little funny from Iraq. Yesterday during the New England Game our son was on line with us. He got to listen and watched most of the game with the family through the webcam. He was able to see and comment about the game and listen as we cheered then booed as the Colts went down in defeat. How different technology has made this war from Vietnam or Gulf 1 when we recorded letters on regular and mini-cassettes and thought an instant Polaroid snapshot taken from our soldier's AO was the next best thing to him being home!
9) My son is in the First Cavalry operating out of Fort Hood. He left ten days ago to begin replacing troops in Baghdad. I have been receiving your eMails for several months, and they helped to inspire me to start a project in school that we call Adopt-A-Soldier. .... I have made many references to your website, and used some of the ideas that your readers have sent in as a guideline to inspire ideas for our own packages. Every week we have had different kids and their families sending out 5 packages to different soldiers. We'll have sent out close to 90 packages by the time the 4th Infantry returns home. Each week the same soldier gets a new package from a different family. ..... It has been a godsend for us, helping us to understand what our son and his friends are, will or have been going through and how we can support and help them. (Editor's Note: Glad to be of assistance - 4ID and 1st Cav are one happy team, all working for our common cause).
10) Just a note, as my son is one who will be back in Fort Campbell. He is with the Aviation/ Maint. unit, the 101st. I plan to be on the runway when his plane arrives from the Middle East. It has been a long year and this "mama" has not had a decent night's sleep in this past year. 2003 was the toughest year that my family and I have ever lived. We are thankful for all of the support, prayers, etc. that everyone out there has done for these young men & women. Continue to pray and support the ones going in to take the places of the 101st. It will be a glorious day when my son arrives home.
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Families Sharing R&R Moments:
1) My son is now ending his R&R, he has to be in Baltimore on the 21st, so he leaves tomorrow night out of Austin. I just wanted to share with you how the R&R went. The first week he was so out of it. His voice was low and his speech slow. I finally asked him what was wrong, and his reply, "Mom I am tired!" Well, it took him the first week to snap back to his happy go lucky self. He spent the next week taking care of things around the house and his wife's friends gave him a welcome home party. He is hoping that as soon as he gets back to Iraq, he will be preparing to come home, he is with the 1/44 ADA. As a Mom, I am already shedding a few tears but I told my son that his father and I will be at Ft.Hood waiting to greet him home as soon as we get the date.
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Redeployment Tips
1) I've noticed in the updates that many family members of single soldiers are worried about their loved ones "immediate needs" after their return. I don't know specifics, but maybe this will be of some comfort to them. The command structure will not fail your sons or daughters. The will make sure that they have a place to stay - plenty of barracks are being cleaned up and repaired as we speak. They will have enough food, true it may not be homecooking, but it isn't food that has had to travel hundreds of miles before it was prepared either. Plus there are several fast food places on post and a bunch of restaurants that are only a taxi ride away. And when they get off the planes there will be a welcome home ceremony were everyone will make your soldier glad to be home and very appreciated. Our battalion's FRG (1/66 AR BN, Semper in Hostes, Iron Knights!!!) made goodie bags for our returning soldiers and passed them out to the single soldiers returning from Iraq for ETS and PCS prior to the stop loss and stop movement orders. I went to almost every flight that had our soldiers on it to pass out the bags and to thank them. We made signs and yelled like crazy at the ceremony - great fun even though it wasn't our (those that went to pass the
bags out) husbands or relatives. I was very impressed by the amount of attention given to those flights/ceremonies, so I can imagine what will be done for welcoming home of an entire outfit. Many FRG's are running like mad to raise funds for these welcome home events, this will be in addition to what the Army, itself, provides. If your son (sorry gals, were a combat battalion) is in our battalion, 1/66 AR BN, we are going to have a goodie bag (that has some good old fashioned American munchies and personal hygiene items in them and a few extras we've been working on for months) in each room and we are working with the powers that be to see if they will let us go in and make the beds. We are also looking to coordinate transportation to take the soldiers to the PX, etc. for the first couple of days. Your sons have done so much for the world, there is no way we would let them down!!! Iron Knights!!!! A proud Army wife.
And from another Army wife on the same topic: As for the single soldiers returning home, please let your readers know that FRG groups are making plans that definitely include the single soldiers! We will make sure everyone is taken care of ! Ft. Hood is one BIG family!!
2) From the husband of a deployed soldier: This is my first deployment as a military husband. Luckily my wife and I have been able to keep the lines of communication open a during the past year. I would like to share some thoughts and ideas that I have come upon with preparing for the redeployment. 1.) Make no firm plans. I know that it will take time for my wife to get her body adjusted to returning to a new time zone. She may want to sleep longer or stay up later but I am going to try and be flexible. 2.) A good gift for those wives (and maybe husbands) when they get home is a nice hot bath in a clean bathroom. I am going to make sure she can soak in the tub a few hours with some candles, music and big fluffy towels. I know its been showers and baby-wipe baths for the past year so a good hot tub soaking will feel good. In addition to the bath, I have found several good websites and books in the libraries on how to give backrubs. My wife has told me on several occasions how she needs a massage so bad cause her cot hurts her back. Since I can't really afford to send her to a professional I figure I could learn some tricks and surprise her. 3.) Be ready to listen. I know guys get hit with the notion of being a bad listeners, and frankly most of us are, but this is going to be a time when your wife is going to need an ear. Also invest in tissues, lots of them, cause if anyone's wife is like mine she has a lot of crying pent up cause as she puts it "It doesn't do my soldiers any good to see me cry." 4.) Plan an escape. If you can't afford a real trip away or have to wait a while for block leave, lock the doors, find a sitter (or parents/in-laws), take the phones off the hook and just enjoy the time together.
3) An excellent tip from a wise woman: I really appreciate your 4ID updates. I am a 74 yr old Mother of a son in Iraq. I am also the wife of 52 years to a Vietnam and Korean veteran. Some of these redeployment tips are not only tips for redeployment, but are tips for everyday life if you expect to make marriage a lifetime commitment. For instance, one of the "tips" from your January 19 update that I have highlighted in bold below:
Take things slow and gradually work back into doing the things you were before. The biggest burden on my wife was the bill paying, so I took that over. Making decisions about how to handle things is something else you have to work back into doing. Make joint decisions - discuss the matter then you both decide. Keep open communications - that is the srongest piece of advice someone you can give to someone coming home. Relax and discuss things openly. There will be things you won't want to talk about, and you need to let them know. Just keep an open mind and communicate with each other. (Smart words - definitely worth repeating).
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