Tribute to the Troops, Day 2 w/ Pics
To see day 1, click here.
We finally reached Iraq around 7:00 a.m. Wednesday and went to our barracks. The base we were at was Camp Speicher, which is in Tikrit, Iraq. Even though the base has improved a lot since we were there two years ago, it still has very humble surroundings and just the necessities to survive. In other words, the country still has a long way to go. It is all desert, which translates to lots and lots of dust!!! Allergy sufferers beware!!
Camp Speicher used to be an old Iraqi airbase, so it felt strange to know that we were sleeping where the enemy use to sleep. Our barracks were very, very simple. They consisted of a room with a cot and plywood shelves, but at least it had electricity and heat. The bathrooms (or as the military calls them “the latrines?) were located down from the barracks, so making a run to the bathroom or taking a shower took on a whole new meaning. But even without all the comforts of home, the group couldn’t be happier to be here!
We had chow in the mess hall, which is now called the D-Facs (dining facility), and it is a huge cafeteria full of all sorts of food!! The variety was unbelievable!! After breakfast, we split into four groups so that we could spread out and see as many soldiers as possible. My group consisted of Hardcore Holly, Mr. Kennedy and Mark Henry and I couldn’t have been happier cause they are awesome guys and I couldn’t wait to share this experience with them!!
Our first stop was visiting the soldiers from the 111th Engineer Brigade. They received us with open arms, and because they are engineers, they built a ring for us! It was awesome!! They built it using tape, foam, wire, and even socks to stuff the turnbuckles! They had our photos blown up on the wall and were all so excited to see us! It was great! We had a blast with them!
From there, we visited the offices of the soldiers that are in charge of processing all the medals that are to be awarded to the soldiers that have earned them. It was very special for me to personally see and hold a Purple Heart medal!! Wow, what an honor!
We then were taken for a tour around their barracks and saw what a simple life they lead every day! Their offices are made of plywood on all four walls, they live in small spaces with only a bed, table and chair, and to entertain themselves they play games like toss across. It truly is bare bones!
After the visit of their barracks, we were taken to a field where their trucks were. Here we saw a truck with a long extended arm, which we learned is used to find IEDs. IEDs are homemade bombs that the Iraqis use to blow up our military trucks and kill hundreds’ of our soldiers. The extended arm on the truck has a camera, which allows it to dig and look for IEDs before they go off.
Next, we saw a truck with a device inside that has night vision screens and also heat-detecting screens. This helps track the enemy at night and also detects where the bombs are. It was all very interesting, but I’d rather live in a world where none of it is necessary!!
The best was left for last … the bulldozer!! Actually, I had never ridden in a bulldozer until today, much less driven one!! It was so much fun to drive. But it’s funny, as soon as I got behind the wheel, all the soldiers ran away and took cover. What were they afraid of??? LOL!!
All throughout the day we had autograph signing sessions and took lots of pictures with the soldiers. It was really a great first day, and I can’t wait for more tomorrow.
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