DISPATCH FROM DOWN UNDER
Tell the Truth (Craig Smith)
Craig Smith, 23, from Pembroke, NY, served as a Specialist in Operation Iraqi Freedom from April to November 2003. His unit drove fuel trucks, facing IEDs, small arms fire, and rocket-propelled grenades until he was medevaced after a serious Humvee accident. Here he describes his positive relationships with Iraqi civilians, his concerns about the effect of war on the soldiers, and his growing doubts about the war's planning and rationale.
Ever since I was a child I wanted to be a soldier. It felt to me like it was something that I was obligated to do. To be quite frank, I enjoyed every minute of being a soldier. It was also a sense of tradition in my family. Both of my grandfathers were Veterans of Foreign Wars. So I thought, why not me?
I arrived in Iraq around April 1st, 2003. It was a night convoy to An-Nasiriya. We had been in Kuwait for about a week, just waiting around for the word to go.
My experience in Iraq was at one point personally satisfying, and at another angle very frightening. You have to understand that when you are put into that situation, a person has to make the best of everything. I tried my best to be a humanitarian and a representative the United States.
I dealt with many Iraqis, and I fell in love with their humility, and their willingness to give. An Iraqi will give you his food, even though he has nothing. I was learning Arabic, and enjoying trading with the friends that I made in An Najaf. I remember that an Iraqi friend of mine at a power plant made a phone call to his little girl and wife so that they could talk to "a real American soldier." This was one side of my experience in Iraq.
The other side of my experience was a lack of training before we went to Iraq. We were not given proper training to handle guerilla fighters. We were trained with the classic 1950's Cold War scenario. Oh God, the Russians are attacking us again, head to your foxhole. This kind of training was not reality in Iraq. We were faced with an ORGANIZED insurgency, and we ALL KNEW IT WAS ORGANIZED FROM THE START. We were then faced with our own military's unwillingess to adapt to the insurgency or the needs of an Arab country.
The unit that I was with drove fuel trucks. Thats right, 7500 gallons of highly explosive fuel. We were attacked sporadically by Improvised explosive devices, small arms fire, and on 2 occassions Rocket Proprelled Grenades. On one occassion Fuel truck just a about 75 meters in front of me was hit by a rocket propelled grenade, causing an explosion and horror like I have never seen or smelled in my life. That day forever changed me, and changed my view on our whole mission in Iraq
We had 1970's flack vests. We were not given the bullet proof vests that "Key American Leaders" receive when they take a candy land tour of Iraq. We did not have armored Humvees. We did not have crew served weapons. We did not have night vision goggles. We were strapping a machine gunner onto the back of a humvee with a ratchet strap. That is downright dangerous. I saw units over there trying to tie down weapons to vehicles because they were not given proper equipment. A unit right next to us, the "Harlem Hellfighters" out of NYC were probably given the worst, most out of date equipment that I have ever seen in my life. It would not be suitable for public service in America, let alone a COMBAT ZONE. The war ended for me when I was driving on a mission to Baghdad when I lost control of my Humvee, was ejected and medivaced. To this day, It is still a mystery to me why I didn't die. I escaped with only minor inuries.
Returning to the United States was so amazing. I was so happy to come back to a country were I could not have sand in my face when I went to sleep. I was quickly amazed at how divided our country was and is. I was really out of date with everything. My friends did not understand me. No one really understands except for people who were there. People can say that they understand, but we all know that expeirience is the only true understanding.
The way that I can best describe what it is like to be a soldier and a veteran is to describe perception. The United States Soldier is fed what the leaders of the country want them to be fed. Mentally and Physically.
Perception plays a huge role in how someone views the war. I was very uneducated about the situation in Iraq. I had no idea what Haliburton was. I did not know what "pre-emptive war" was. I had no idea that there was no idea that the 9-11 commission would later find that Iraq and Al-Qaida had NO connection whatsoever. I didn't know that the United States and Britian had been Bombing Iraq weekly for the past 12 years. And I sure didn't know that our commanders had not prepared us mentally, tactically, and with the proper equipment. So, to sum up to you how my tour in Iraq was? I thought we were some serious heros fighting a terrible regime, and I felt damn good about myself, my goverment, and my country. Looking back now, and playing connect the dots, I see some greivious errors in the Department of Defense, and the U.S. invasion of the soverign nation of Iraq. So what I want the American people to discover is the truth. From the soldiers mouths. Not from someone's mouth who spent a few hours having Thanksgiving in Baghdad.
Hear it from us, the ones who were on the streets day and night. Hear it from us, the ones who saw a well organized insurgency. I want the American people to know that the United States and its allies were not prepared for this war, or the insurgency that followed. I want the American people to know that they are sending your sons and daughters to a war ill-prepared, under-manned, and with equipment that is downright embarrassing for our country's honor and tradition. I want the American people to know that these soldiers are not being educated about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and that MANY soldiers have PTSD. They either don't know it, don't report it, or they are told that they flat out don't have it. Finally, I want the American people to know that these soldiers are very young, and that they are not getting the proper care and treatment that they deserve. Many of them are retrurning to combat with PTSD. Making them unfit for duty.
But of course you will never hear that from anyone in Washington. Just understand that we did our duty, and now we want out government to do theirs. Tell the truth.
http://optruth.com/main.cfm?actionId=globalShowStaticContent&screenKey=hear&htmlId=1545
Craig Smith, 23, from Pembroke, NY, served as a Specialist in Operation Iraqi Freedom from April to November 2003. His unit drove fuel trucks, facing IEDs, small arms fire, and rocket-propelled grenades until he was medevaced after a serious Humvee accident. Here he describes his positive relationships with Iraqi civilians, his concerns about the effect of war on the soldiers, and his growing doubts about the war's planning and rationale.
Ever since I was a child I wanted to be a soldier. It felt to me like it was something that I was obligated to do. To be quite frank, I enjoyed every minute of being a soldier. It was also a sense of tradition in my family. Both of my grandfathers were Veterans of Foreign Wars. So I thought, why not me?
I arrived in Iraq around April 1st, 2003. It was a night convoy to An-Nasiriya. We had been in Kuwait for about a week, just waiting around for the word to go.
My experience in Iraq was at one point personally satisfying, and at another angle very frightening. You have to understand that when you are put into that situation, a person has to make the best of everything. I tried my best to be a humanitarian and a representative the United States.
I dealt with many Iraqis, and I fell in love with their humility, and their willingness to give. An Iraqi will give you his food, even though he has nothing. I was learning Arabic, and enjoying trading with the friends that I made in An Najaf. I remember that an Iraqi friend of mine at a power plant made a phone call to his little girl and wife so that they could talk to "a real American soldier." This was one side of my experience in Iraq.
The other side of my experience was a lack of training before we went to Iraq. We were not given proper training to handle guerilla fighters. We were trained with the classic 1950's Cold War scenario. Oh God, the Russians are attacking us again, head to your foxhole. This kind of training was not reality in Iraq. We were faced with an ORGANIZED insurgency, and we ALL KNEW IT WAS ORGANIZED FROM THE START. We were then faced with our own military's unwillingess to adapt to the insurgency or the needs of an Arab country.
The unit that I was with drove fuel trucks. Thats right, 7500 gallons of highly explosive fuel. We were attacked sporadically by Improvised explosive devices, small arms fire, and on 2 occassions Rocket Proprelled Grenades. On one occassion Fuel truck just a about 75 meters in front of me was hit by a rocket propelled grenade, causing an explosion and horror like I have never seen or smelled in my life. That day forever changed me, and changed my view on our whole mission in Iraq
We had 1970's flack vests. We were not given the bullet proof vests that "Key American Leaders" receive when they take a candy land tour of Iraq. We did not have armored Humvees. We did not have crew served weapons. We did not have night vision goggles. We were strapping a machine gunner onto the back of a humvee with a ratchet strap. That is downright dangerous. I saw units over there trying to tie down weapons to vehicles because they were not given proper equipment. A unit right next to us, the "Harlem Hellfighters" out of NYC were probably given the worst, most out of date equipment that I have ever seen in my life. It would not be suitable for public service in America, let alone a COMBAT ZONE. The war ended for me when I was driving on a mission to Baghdad when I lost control of my Humvee, was ejected and medivaced. To this day, It is still a mystery to me why I didn't die. I escaped with only minor inuries.
Returning to the United States was so amazing. I was so happy to come back to a country were I could not have sand in my face when I went to sleep. I was quickly amazed at how divided our country was and is. I was really out of date with everything. My friends did not understand me. No one really understands except for people who were there. People can say that they understand, but we all know that expeirience is the only true understanding.
The way that I can best describe what it is like to be a soldier and a veteran is to describe perception. The United States Soldier is fed what the leaders of the country want them to be fed. Mentally and Physically.
Perception plays a huge role in how someone views the war. I was very uneducated about the situation in Iraq. I had no idea what Haliburton was. I did not know what "pre-emptive war" was. I had no idea that there was no idea that the 9-11 commission would later find that Iraq and Al-Qaida had NO connection whatsoever. I didn't know that the United States and Britian had been Bombing Iraq weekly for the past 12 years. And I sure didn't know that our commanders had not prepared us mentally, tactically, and with the proper equipment. So, to sum up to you how my tour in Iraq was? I thought we were some serious heros fighting a terrible regime, and I felt damn good about myself, my goverment, and my country. Looking back now, and playing connect the dots, I see some greivious errors in the Department of Defense, and the U.S. invasion of the soverign nation of Iraq. So what I want the American people to discover is the truth. From the soldiers mouths. Not from someone's mouth who spent a few hours having Thanksgiving in Baghdad.
Hear it from us, the ones who were on the streets day and night. Hear it from us, the ones who saw a well organized insurgency. I want the American people to know that the United States and its allies were not prepared for this war, or the insurgency that followed. I want the American people to know that they are sending your sons and daughters to a war ill-prepared, under-manned, and with equipment that is downright embarrassing for our country's honor and tradition. I want the American people to know that these soldiers are not being educated about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and that MANY soldiers have PTSD. They either don't know it, don't report it, or they are told that they flat out don't have it. Finally, I want the American people to know that these soldiers are very young, and that they are not getting the proper care and treatment that they deserve. Many of them are retrurning to combat with PTSD. Making them unfit for duty.
But of course you will never hear that from anyone in Washington. Just understand that we did our duty, and now we want out government to do theirs. Tell the truth.
http://optruth.com/main.cfm?actionId=globalShowStaticContent&screenKey=hear&htmlId=1545
posted by Kangaroo Brisbane Australia at 5:30 PM
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