COURTESY OF SPC. SEAN KIMMONS Staff Sgt. Robert Ryder of Portland, Ore., shares his sunflower seeds with children as U.S. soldiers and police walk through a new tent village.

Striving to serve

Troops work to protect
civilians as attacks go on

22 Aug. 04, 2330 hours >> Three rockets are heard screaming overhead, then three explosions. Immediately observation posts are reporting distance and direction from where they were fired and where they impacted.We immediately contacted police to investigate any impacts inside the city limits.

After about five minutes, the police reported that one of the rounds came down in a neighborhood within our sector. The police immediately sealed off the area and we dispatched a patrol to help with the scene investigation.

23 Aug. 04, 0050 hours >> Our patrol returned to report the 107 mm rocket landed in someone's front yard and blew out all the windows in the surrounding six houses. Luckily, everyone that lived in the house was in the back yard celebrating Iraq's soccer team making it to the Olympic quarterfinals.

This is one of the most frustrating types of attack for Alpha Company and all the coalition forces. These types of attacks along with Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) are so common because there is so much ammunition across this country left over from the last regime.

They are also frustrating because they are hard to detect prior to an explosion.

I'm just thankful that we didn't have to deal with another family wiped out needlessly and senselessly.

We made a few trips out to the new tent village to check on boundary violations and health standards.

We were able to bring an Army Civil Affairs Team out to conduct an evaluation. So far there are no major health concerns.

There are some villagers starting to bring cinder blocks in to lie on their dirt foundations they have constructed. I talked to a few men and they all agreed they had to start preparing for the winter now, or they would be putting their families' health in jeopardy.

One man said, "I have three small children, I have to think of their safety, but I have no other place to go."

I remember when we first arrived in Kirkuk back in early February. We were amazed at how cold it got at night. I can't imagine living under these conditions day after day when the temperatures drop in the 30s and 40s, then it starts to rain.

COURTESY OF SPC. SEAN KIMMONS Kurdish families appear curious as they stand outside their tents at a tent village, as U.S. soldiers walk through.

First report -- they were taking fire from second story windows and the roof of a building about 250 meters. They were trying to find a maneuver route. I reported to my higher and they dispatched a patrol from our sister company.

Second report -- there are also shots from behind them. I checked the map and we had no friendly forces in the immediate area. The squad leader decided to try to break contact so as not to be enveloped by the enemy.

Third report -- they had broken contact and moved into an alley. No casualties; all equipment accounted for.

Just as the third report came in, Bravo Company had surrounded and began to move into the building. Two men were searched and detained. One AK-47 was still warm from firing and expended shells were all over the floor. Bravo Company leaders questioned neighbors and found out that just before they arrived three other men fled by car.

I can just hope that future criminals will understand that two things will eventually happen if you continue to launch attacks on coalition forces. You will either go to jail or die. Either one suits me fine.

God bless and aloha.

Squad leader enjoys
building chow hall

Eric Guffey

He said, "Things are much better than I expected. Chow's not so bad, we live in houses that we've customized to sleep 30 people, and the work load isn't too bad."

I asked Guffey what was the most enjoyable thing he has done while in Iraq. He said, "I have been doing some type of construction since I was about 11 or 12. It's a natural stress reliever for me to get out there and create something. My favorite project has to be the chow hall. I was told a basic idea of what was needed and got to use my own judgment."

I asked Guffey what was the funniest thing he's seen in Iraq. He said, "We were on a mounted patrol in Humvees and the driver noticed a low telephone wire and yelled out low wire. Well, the guy in the back didn't hear him and the wire caught his night vision goggle mount on his helmet an almost lifted him out of the truck. I look back and laugh because no one got hurt, and I can still see the expression on his face."

He finished his interview by saying hi to all his family back in Kentucky. "Tammy, Devin and Logan, I love you and miss you all."