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<p class=MsoNormal>Courtesy of today’s (August 19, 2010)
Spokesman-Review.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Last U.S. combat brigade in Iraq is headed home<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>KHABARI CROSSING, Kuwait – As their convoy reached the
barbed wire at the border crossing out of Iraq on Wednesday, the soldiers
whooped and cheered. Then they scrambled out of their stifling hot armored
vehicles, unfurled an American flag and posed for group photos. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>For these troops of the 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry
Division, it was a moment of relief fraught with symbolism. Seven years and
five months after the U.S.-led invasion, the last American combat brigade was
leaving Iraq, well ahead of President Barack Obama’s Aug. 31 deadline for
ending U.S. combat operations there.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>When 18-year-old Spc. Luke Dill first rolled into Iraq as
part of the U.S. invasion, his Humvee was so vulnerable to bombs that the
troops lined its floor with flak jackets.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Now 25 and a staff sergeant after two tours of duty, he rode
out of Iraq this week in a Stryker, an eight-wheeled behemoth encrusted with
armor and add-ons to ward off grenades and other projectiles.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>“It’s something I’m going to be proud of
for the rest of my life – the fact that I came in on the initial push and
now I’m leaving with the last of the combat units,” he said.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>He remembered three straight days of mortar attacks outside
the city of Najaf in 2003, so noisy that after the firing ended, the silence
kept him awake at nights. He recalled the night skies over the northern city of
Mosul being lit up by tracer bullets from almost every direction.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Now, waiting for him back in Olympia, Wash., is the
“Big Boy” Harley-Davidson he purchased from one of the motorcycle
company’s dealerships at U.S. bases in Iraq – a vivid illustration
of how embedded the American presence has become since the invasion of March
20, 2003.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>That presence is far from over. Scatterings of combat troops
still await departure, and some 50,000 will stay another year in what is
designated as a noncombat role. They will carry weapons to defend themselves and
accompany Iraqi troops on missions (but only if asked). Special forces will
continue to help Iraqis hunt for terrorists.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>So the U.S. death toll – at least 4,415 by Pentagon
count as of Wednesday – may not yet be final.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>The Stryker brigade, based in Joint Base Lewis-McChord in
Washington state, lost 34 troops in Iraq. It was at the forefront of many of
the fiercest battles, including operations in eastern Baghdad and Diyala
province, an epicenter of the insurgency, during “the surge” of 2007.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Before the Aug. 31 deadline, about half the brigade’s
4,000 soldiers flew out like most of the others leaving Iraq, but its
leadership volunteered to have the remainder depart overland. That decision
allowed the unit to keep 360 Stryker vehicles in the country for an extra three
weeks.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>It took months of preparation to move the troops and armor
across more than 300 miles of desert highway through potentially hostile
territory.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>The Strykers left the Baghdad area in separate convoys over
a four-day period, traveling at night because the U.S.-Iraq security pact
– and security worries – limit troop movements by day.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Along the way, phalanxes of American military Humvees sat at
overpasses, soldiers patrolled the highways for roadside bombs, and Apache
attack helicopters circled overhead as the Strykers refueled alongside the
highway.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Chief Warrant Officer 3 Gus McKinney, a brigade intelligence
officer, acknowledged that moving the convoys overland put soldiers at risk,
but said the danger was less than in past.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>The biggest threat was roadside bombs planted by Shiite
extremist groups who have a strong foothold in the south, McKinney said.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>But except for camels straying into the road, and breakdowns
that required some vehicles to be towed, there were no incidents.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>The worst of the ride was conditions inside the Strykers
– sitting for hours in a cramped space – and the temperatures
outside that reached 120 degrees.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>The driver’s compartment is called the
“hellhole” because it sits over the engine and becomes almost unbearably
hot. The vehicle commander and gunner can sit up in hatches to see the outside
world. At the tail end are hatches for two gunners. Eight passengers – an
infantry squad in combat conditions – can squeeze in the back.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>When the convoy finally reached the sandy border, two
soldiers, armed and helmeted, jumped off their vehicle and raced each other
into Kuwait.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Once out of Iraq, there was still work to be done. Vehicles
had to be stripped of ammunition and spare tires, and eventually washed and
packed for shipment home.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>For Dill, who reached Kuwait with an earlier convoy, the
withdrawal engendered feelings of relief. His mission – to get his squad
safely out of Iraq – was accomplished.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Standing alongside a hulking Stryker, his shirt stained with
sweat, he acknowledged the men who weren’t there to experience the day
with him.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>“I know that to my brothers in arms who fought and
died, this day would probably mean a lot, to finally see us getting out of
here,” he said.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>--------------------------<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>A column of U.S. Army Stryker armored vehicles cross the
border from Iraq into Kuwait on Wednesday.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><a
href="http://media.spokesman.com/photos/2010/08/19/iraq-crossing0819_t620.jpg">http://media.spokesman.com/photos/2010/08/19/iraq-crossing0819_t620.jpg</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>--------------------------<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>4th Stryker Brigade rides out of Iraq<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>The 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infrantry Division was officially
designated the last combat brigade to leave Iraq under President Barack
Obama’s plan to end combat operations by Aug. 31. Named for the vehicle
that delivers troops into and out of battle, the brigade was at the forefront
of many of the fiercest battles in Iraq and lost 34 troops there. The unit is
based at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Although 6,000 combat troops remain in Iraq for
cleanup/recovery operations, they will be home by the established deadline of
August 31<sup>st</sup>.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Welcome home, Four-Deuce.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Seeya round town, Moscow.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Tom Hansen<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Moscow, Idaho<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>"Patriotism
is not a short and frenzied outburst of emotion but the tranquil and steady
dedication of a lifetime."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>-- Adlai E.
Stevenson, Jr.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
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