2006 Soap Box Archives

Second Day at TQ 05/01/06

Since we couldn’t get our morning flight to Mosul we wanted to spend the day with the troops at al Taqqadum. We wouldn’t be able to get a flight to Baghdad until that night and we wanted to make the best of our time on the ground.

The morning started with a sand storm, and went into a thunderstorm. Before the day was over we had sand, wind, rain, hail, thunder and lightening. And later in the day it turned downright cool.

But none of it deterred us from driving around the base signing autographs, shaking hands, hugging necks, taking pictures and
spending some time with the sons and daughters of America who daily take their own lives in their hands to defend our way of life.

We started the day with a visit to EOD or Explosive Ordinance Unit. These are the guys who disarm the IEDS or the Improvised Explosive Devices the terrorists plant on the roads in Iraq. The enemy has ways of hiding these things that will absolutely blow your mind, maybe just a piece of wire no bigger that a matchstick sticking up in the sand or under a piece of garbage left beside the road.

You’d be surprised at what they use to make and detonate a device using old artillery shells, anything they can lay their hands on that will blow up and cause harm to our American troops.

But our guys are smart and adaptive and have come up with ways we won’t discuss to find and disarm these devilish things
from high tech to hands on. They have it well in hand and my heart and prayers go out to these heroes who face death every day to protect our troops.

We also spent some time with the UAV or Unmanned Aerial Vehicle unit who call themselves Eagle Scan. They fly the drone planes that are able to spy on the bad guys without them even knowing it. This is an amazing program, which I won’t go in to a lot in case some bad guy should read this but suffice it to say that these guys are adding a life saving element to the war on terror.

Some of the guys got to visit with were the Arch Angles, the folks who fly the medivac helicopters to pick up wounded troops and bring them back to base for treatment. It’s a tough and dangerous job and it takes a dedicated human being to face the night flights over hostile country never knowing when a terrorist bullet or rocket could be aimed at them.

Everywhere you turn in Iraq you are faced with heroes, young men and women from the streets and countryside of America.
Just regular folks like the guy who played quarterback on your high school football team or the girl your son took to the prom.

They’re from big cities, small towns, big sky, hill country, downtown and Dixie. They’re the boy and girl next door who have given up some of the very best years of their lives to serve America and the American people.

If you know any of them I encourage you to write a letter or send a package. It means so very much to know that we appreciate them.

And by the way, Momma, after eating in the mess halls I want to tell you not to worry, the military is feeding your loved ones well.

Pray for our troops

What do you think?

God Bless America

Charlie Daniels
May 1, 2006