.Troops Celebrate Low-Key 4th in Iraq
RAMADI, Iraq (AP) - It was a far cry from the Fourth of July parties a world away, but five U.S. Marines in one of Iraq's most dangerous cities celebrated with what they had: a hookah, relaxing exhales of strawberry-scented smoke and thoughts of home.
Other than a bigger meal being served at a base dining hall later that day, the U.S. holiday was no different than a regular day. Trucks and Humvees rumbled through this complex of palaces, the sun bore down on jogging U.S. troops and Marines prepared for their next missions.
But on the edge of a converted building that served as Marine barracks, five Lance Corporals converged around a hookah, or a traditional Arab water pipe, for the latest of regular nighttime chatting sessions. Due to the insurgent mortar threat, the base was largely cloaked in darkness - though Marines could glimpse each other's silhouettes from coals that glowed orange as they took puffs.
"This is our way to escape from the world around us," said Matt Stephens, 20, of Birmingham, Ala. "We're sitting here by a river under moonlight. We're not in central Ramadi listening to gunfire."
The Marines from India Company, 3rd Battalion, 8th Regiment rested in midnight temperatures that still hovered near 100. Curls of smoke hovered above them as they exchanged jokes, talked about the war and lauded improved living conditions on their base.
But thoughts of wives, girlfriends and families thousands of miles away were hard to suppress for the Marines, all in their early 20s.
"For me (July 4) is just another chance to miss everyone. I have a really close family and I know tomorrow everyone is going to be cooking out," said Tony Mallett, 21, of Orange, Mass.
Most Marines have missed numerous holidays and anniversaries because of a deployment schedule that had many on their third tour - first in Haiti, then two trips to Iraq - in as many years.
Stephens missed the birth of his first child during his last deployment. Last year, he spent his birthday in a lookout post outside Fallujah.
But some said they still wanted to be here, all things considered.
"I'd be out here two, three, four times, as long as people I love back home don't have to come here," Mallett said.
Others were wore down by the rotations, which had recently sent them to Iraq's dangerous Anbar province.
"I'm ecstatic," Robert Wilson, 21, of Springfield, Ohio, said dryly. "I've never spent a July Fourth home since I joined the Marine Corps."
Some Marines chuckled about their last Fourth of July - also spent in Iraq on their prior deployment - when Sri Lankan dining hall workers dressed up in Uncle Sam costumes. In the distance, explosions sporadically echoed in the distance and helicopters raced across the midnight sky.
But the Marines still had their hookah, which had become a center point for socializing after they ran out of DVDs to watch. They bought the pipe for about $45 from an Iraqi shop on their base, which also supplied them with flavored tobacco.
"We get to know people better. We get to be tighter. It's a communal thing," Mallett said after taking a puff from the gurgling pipe.
The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, meanwhile, held its annual Independence Day celebration in the ornate marble ballroom of Saddam Hussein's former Republican Palace, with red, white and blue balloons hanging from a chandelier.
U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad promised continued U.S. support for Iraqis struggling with a rampant insurgency and ethnic and sectarian violence.
"Iraq's democratic experiment will also not be easy," he told Iraqi dignitaries and Americans in Baghdad. "However, building democracy in Iraq will be assisted by the fact that Iraq has many friends in the community of democratic nations."
"On this special day, I pledge to work with Iraqis for Iraq's success and for Iraq to stand on its own feet as soon as possible," he said.
MyWay
Other than a bigger meal being served at a base dining hall later that day, the U.S. holiday was no different than a regular day. Trucks and Humvees rumbled through this complex of palaces, the sun bore down on jogging U.S. troops and Marines prepared for their next missions.
But on the edge of a converted building that served as Marine barracks, five Lance Corporals converged around a hookah, or a traditional Arab water pipe, for the latest of regular nighttime chatting sessions. Due to the insurgent mortar threat, the base was largely cloaked in darkness - though Marines could glimpse each other's silhouettes from coals that glowed orange as they took puffs.
"This is our way to escape from the world around us," said Matt Stephens, 20, of Birmingham, Ala. "We're sitting here by a river under moonlight. We're not in central Ramadi listening to gunfire."
The Marines from India Company, 3rd Battalion, 8th Regiment rested in midnight temperatures that still hovered near 100. Curls of smoke hovered above them as they exchanged jokes, talked about the war and lauded improved living conditions on their base.
But thoughts of wives, girlfriends and families thousands of miles away were hard to suppress for the Marines, all in their early 20s.
"For me (July 4) is just another chance to miss everyone. I have a really close family and I know tomorrow everyone is going to be cooking out," said Tony Mallett, 21, of Orange, Mass.
Most Marines have missed numerous holidays and anniversaries because of a deployment schedule that had many on their third tour - first in Haiti, then two trips to Iraq - in as many years.
Stephens missed the birth of his first child during his last deployment. Last year, he spent his birthday in a lookout post outside Fallujah.
But some said they still wanted to be here, all things considered.
"I'd be out here two, three, four times, as long as people I love back home don't have to come here," Mallett said.
Others were wore down by the rotations, which had recently sent them to Iraq's dangerous Anbar province.
"I'm ecstatic," Robert Wilson, 21, of Springfield, Ohio, said dryly. "I've never spent a July Fourth home since I joined the Marine Corps."
Some Marines chuckled about their last Fourth of July - also spent in Iraq on their prior deployment - when Sri Lankan dining hall workers dressed up in Uncle Sam costumes. In the distance, explosions sporadically echoed in the distance and helicopters raced across the midnight sky.
But the Marines still had their hookah, which had become a center point for socializing after they ran out of DVDs to watch. They bought the pipe for about $45 from an Iraqi shop on their base, which also supplied them with flavored tobacco.
"We get to know people better. We get to be tighter. It's a communal thing," Mallett said after taking a puff from the gurgling pipe.
The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, meanwhile, held its annual Independence Day celebration in the ornate marble ballroom of Saddam Hussein's former Republican Palace, with red, white and blue balloons hanging from a chandelier.
U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad promised continued U.S. support for Iraqis struggling with a rampant insurgency and ethnic and sectarian violence.
"Iraq's democratic experiment will also not be easy," he told Iraqi dignitaries and Americans in Baghdad. "However, building democracy in Iraq will be assisted by the fact that Iraq has many friends in the community of democratic nations."
"On this special day, I pledge to work with Iraqis for Iraq's success and for Iraq to stand on its own feet as soon as possible," he said.
MyWay
posted by madtom at 5:10 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home