September 16, 2007
LETTER FROM IRAQ
As longtime readers of the Salad Bowl know, my buddy Drew (above, second from left) has been deployed to Iraq as a battalion commander since August of 2006. He's scheduled to come home by the end of the year.
Drew checks in at the Salad on occasion, which blows me away since he has so many overwhelming obligations to oversee. Maybe reading about Ronald McDonald's O-face or seeing me shopping for pig uterus gives him a little mental vacation, I don't know.
Anyway, about two days ago, I got a note from him detailing all the successes his battalion had achieved. They were so numerous, it was almost breathtaking.
The note read:
"We have not slowed down our offensive approach as our time here in Iraq is coming to a close. The opposite has been seen and felt by all. Of note, Hawijah has just received a new power substation from the Kirkuk Province. Not one penny of US Funds was used to make this happen. We have invested valuable time in making the Hawijah District Government work hand-in-hand with the Kirkuk Province in getting the Provincial Government to support the people of this district, and the Iraqi Army and Police delivered the new Substation yesterday to Hawijah untouched by the terrorists that want to destroy this great country. Within 30 days, the people of this area will once again see improvements to their quality of power. This time all resourced and funded by their own Government! Other Projects almost complete for this area includes:1. Irrigation of the Zab Canals to repair over 35 years of neglect is almost complete. This will improve water quantities by almost 50% and feed this agricultural area crops and produce the best growing season they have seen in decades.
2. With an increase in crops, the neglected Corn Mill was also in desperate need of repairs and improvements. This project will open next week and improve their ability to store and process this year's improved crop by double the previous capacity.
3. Crops need to get to the Processing Center. Repairing the roads will solve the problem initially, but not solve the long term problem. The Asphalt Factory of Hawijah has not operated in over 10 years and is in its final stages of repair. Now, Hawijah will not only be able to repair its own roads, but maintain and improve the entire districts ability to move safely.4. With bigger crops and better roads, industry is beginning to take root in this area. Business men want to invest in Hawijah's future, and the government must support these men to create even more jobs for their people.
The biggest incentive the city can give these investors is a safe and secure Industrial Park for the businesses to flourish. The Hawijah Industrial Park is also in its final stages of completion and will employ hundreds of men in the not so far future.
Through all of this, the Iraqi Army and Police has become a fixture to this areas security. They are doing incredible work as the Patriots of the New Iraq. My counterpart just received 42 new Armored Vehicles for this areas security. They fight side by side with us and routinely conduct unilateral operations to rid this area of the death and destruction that the terrorist offer. The fight is not over, but they are clearly in the lead.
That Drew's letter came the same week that this ad (right) ran in the New York Times angered me in a way that I can't even describe. They thought they were being cute, I remember thinking. What they've done instead is angered anyone who has someone with boots on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan. This was a slur against everyone in uniform, not just Petraus. There are ways of protesting the war that don't include personal attacks. Petraus represents everything that's gone right with this effort. He represents Drew and all the danger he and his men have endured. He represents the ultimate sacrifice our servicemen and woman have made. Whatever his country asked, Petraus and his soliders have answered and then some. And this is the reward?
How dare they, I thought. As Joe Welch once said to Joe McCarthy: "Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency? "
Then, this morning, I got this note from Drew from the front lines.
It's a note that, I fear, was inspired by a comment left here on the Salad.
Nonetheless, it's a breathtaking letter. I'm constantly amazed at Drew's endless resolve to do his job and finish his mission, despite the hollow support he hears from people back home. What he wrote - and the fact he did so at a time of great triumph and great sadness - deepened the awe I have for him and his soldiers.
Drink it in deep, folks. This is about as pure from the source as it gets:
15 SEP 07Family and Friends of the Wolfhounds;
Today we paid our final respects to another fallen Wolfhound who gave the ultimate sacrifice on 9 SEP 2007 as part of a large-scale joint operation with the Iraqi Army in Hawijah. All of the success we have achieved in this district has had a lasting toll on all of us but we remain steadfast and strong in our purpose to rid this world of radical extremists who only want death and hatred to prosper.
Sergeant Alexander U. Gagalac was an incredible young man that did his duty willingly simply because he believed in our cause and our nation. His sacrifice as well as the sacrifice of all of our fallen brothers will be a permanent scar that we will all bear for the rest of our lives as a high price for our Freedom and Liberty.
I received an email regarding one of my many comments about the war that our nation and the world are currently fighting in. This email accused me of blaming all of Islam for what started on 9-11 and compared my views to blaming all Germans for the Holocaust or every Japanese for Pearl Harbor. Though this individual may have misunderstood my comments, I found his ignorance of who we are and what we represent to be insulting.
I am not blaming every Muslim. I have too many Muslim friends here in the Hawijah District that are beautiful people who want their children to grow up in a safe and prosperous country that lives under the Islamic Religion of love and peace. They work, fight and sacrifice every single day to make their homeland whole again. They are fighting the same people I blame for the unjustified hijacking of Islam. I blame the 5 percent of Islam that wants to twist this beautiful Religion into one of hatred, oppression and destruction. As long as there are people like this in our world, our job will not be finished. Regardless of his misunderstanding, the assumption he made in his email that we have some level of religious hatred towards an entire society is absurd. His message indicates that he not only misunderstands our mission, he also carries a deep ignorance of what the Wolfhounds and our Nation stands for. Nobody understands our purpose better than our Soldiers. Yes, terrible things happen here every day. Thank God that our Wolfhounds can see through all this violence better than he can and continue to show Iraqis the compassion they need to unite and ruthlessness towards the 5% of fanatical Muslims that want to destroy it. Osama Bin Laden stated in his most recent message to America that, “the state of Islam at this present time makes me cry.” For once I agree with him. His hijacking of the true nature of Islam and his twisting of the Muslim faith into one of anger and destruction is directly responsible for the misunderstanding that most of our world has about the Muslim Faith.
Despite the relatively short time we have remaining here, our team will continue in the offensive nature of helping the people of the Hawijah District gain their freedom from the clutches of evil. We know that the enemies of God’s supreme law will not stop until we hunt every single one of them down. We will not rest until we are back in the arms of our friends and families back home. SGT Gagalac and the other 17 fallen Wolfhounds would demand that of us. Their sacrifice was not in vain and Hawijah District will never forget the sacrifice and honor that this Regiment has bestowed upon them in their support.
After 14-months here at FOB McHenry, the enemy has failed to realize the magnitude of our strength and unity. Our 106 years of ruthlessness in battle and compassion towards the innocent CAN NOT and WILL NOT be denied. Their cowardly acts will not turn us into the same murderers and criminals that we have sworn ourselves to rid this world of. Our Wolfhound legacy remains firmly intact simply because of the discipline, honor and integrity of the brave Wolfhounds I have the privilege to lead. There is no difficulty we are afraid to face and our battle cry remains loud and strong throughout our entire area of operations: NO FEAR!
Please keep the family of Sergeant Alexander U. Gagalac in your prayers. We pray that God gives them the strength to endure this loss and the understanding that the entire Wolfhound Family stands with them forever. Pray for and take care of each other during this time of need. Seek out and help each other during this final stretch of the deployment as the love and support of our Wolfhound Family is undeniable. Finally, pray for the strength of our team of Deployed Wolfhounds and know that we fight on in the names of all of our fallen Wolfhounds from our 106 years of discipline, honor and integrity.
NO FEAR ON EARTH!
Respectfully Yours;
DREW R. MEYEROWICH
LTC, IN
Commander, 2-27 Infantry “Wolfhounds"
Congratulations, Drew. We here at FOB Salad are proud of you and all your success.
PREVIOUS LETTERS FROM IRAQ:
Excerpt from Soldier magazine.
Walking tall.
Desert sombreros.
'Not the same Hawijah.'
Time out for toys.
Coffee and sunsets.
Get your motor runnin'.
"Wolfhounds don't do anything small."
Thanksgiving in Iraq.
"What sacrifice for the sake of freedom feels like."
"I am amazed by them every single day."
It's who you know.
Month two of deployment.
I'd walk a mile.
Boots on the ground.
Once more into the breech.