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March 29, 2005
[Have an opinion about the issues discussed in this article?
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By
Charlie Coon
Stars & Stripes, Mideast Edition
AD-DALUIYAH, Iraq - Men in robes and sandals strolled through the village's dark main street on the warm night. Some gathered in the light of ramshackle storefronts and chatted in Arabic.
The old village looked like any other, but there were three large holes in a dirt berm next to the street, less than 50 yards from a school.
“Ten days ago we found a 122 mm IED (improvised explosive device) here,” said 1st Lt. Jimmy Ryan. “We called the (bomb disposal) unit. The school had to be evacuated.”
The bomb unit detonated the IED, but the troops didn't spot two other IEDs nearby. The three bombs were planted side-by-side at kneecap level, about 10 yards apart, and when the first was detonated, all three blew at once, shattering windows.
“There were almost 600 kids there,” Ryan said. “A lot of them were crying. A lot of people could have been hurt.
“They know we stopped this from happening.”
As the 42nd Infantry Division completed the first month of its tour in north-central Iraq, soldiers from units such as its 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment have their own small-picture goals within the division's one-year, big-picture plan.
“Right now it's measured by how many friends we make and if we have very few attacks and our patrols are going good,” said Staff Sgt. Cory West of Columbus, Ga.
Soldiers and Marines across Iraq go on daily and nightly patrols like the one that the 1-15th's red platoon, led by Ryan, conducted Wednesday afternoon and evening. Their collective mission is to turn the tide from pre-election peril into postelection peace.
The “Peninsula,” as it is known to the 1-15th, is a nook carved out by the Tigris River on which sits Ad-Daluiyah, a densely populated village that has been slow to catch on to democracy. According to the battalion, of 60,000 residents in the region, only 327 voted in the Jan. 30 election that chose state-level (provincial) leaders.
On its first stop Wednesday, the 1-15th checked on a gate at a different school. One of its Bradley fighting vehicles had knocked it down during a recent operation. The soldiers promised the school's headmaster a new gate, as well as school supplies and maybe playground equipment, if things worked out.
Ryan, who has a Lebanese wife and speaks some Arabic, gave pens and paper to the headmaster and told him that when the insurgents stop attacking, he wouldn't have to worry about gates getting knocked down.
The patrol next stopped on the outskirts of Ad-Daluiyah where a few days earlier an IED had narrowly missed striking a patrol. As the soldiers walked toward a nearby house, they passed a trash-strewn dirt field where a dog had its teeth clamped around the neck of a dead cow.
“That's nothing,” said one soldier. “In OIF-I, I saw them eating people. Dead Iraqi soldiers.”
The soldiers walked past the hole from the previous IED. Nearby was another hole, complete with fresh shovel marks.
Some residents trickled out to meet them. The troops gave the children toys and candy; they gave the parents a message — if you know something, tell us.
“I'm not saying you did it,” Ryan told one man who seemed offended.
“They've been reluctant to talk,” Ryan explained. “We're trying to build a rapport.”
During a pre-patrol briefing, soldiers were reminded once again that complacency kills and to stay alert.
Their platoon had already been attacked three times during its first month in Iraq. In addition, there were those IEDs found near the school that were meant for them.
After the patrol, the squad leaders said they hoped the troops would stay alert through the dog days of the summer and to the completion of their one-year tour.
“Every time we roll out I know it's dangerous, and I don't know if I'll make it back,” West said. “But I hope my guys will. That's how I take it every time.”
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