16 May 2003

Capt Voelkel of the 2nd Bct, 82nd Airborne met us just outside the rotunda entrance this
morning at about 8. Jerry and Fritz got into the armored DART vehicle, Nate at the
wheel, accompanied by Mary.a water sanitation specialist. I went with the Capt in his
open Humvee. As we pulled out of the palace grounds the Capt turned to me and said,
Sir, you might want to put your helmet on. Sometimes people get upset and shoot at us.
I complied.

Our first stop was the battalion headquarters at the Scandia office just across the Tigris.
We were briefed on the current situation in the battalion area of responsibility and their
activities. Later, the Captain, who is probably 28 years old, hes a 96 West Point grad,
approached me as we were loading up for a tour and said: This CA stuff isnt our normal
mission, Sir; were not too good at it. We're Airborne. We jump out of planes and kill
people.

I rode with the battalion commander, an L/C and his CA officer, Maj Rodneur. The major
had various suggestions for grant activity. He asked if we could fund a fuel drop for some
essential services in the AOR. I replied that we would certainly consider it. Airborne!,
he responded.

The battalion has done some great stuff. Fro example, yesterday morning they went into a
water treatment facility near the power plant, on the banks of the Tigris. They found main
tanks full of sheet metal and mud. They brought in a crane, yanked out the sheet metal
and then, somehow, cleaned out the mud. This morning when we visited we were greeted
by a fully functioning water treatment facility. The folks at ORHA have no idea that this
was done. These guys, the soldiers, not the ORHA people, are impressive.

They fought al the way north, thru several major towns and didnt lose a single man.
They truly are the countrys finest.

The battalion commander, L/Colwas recounting some of their experiences on the way
north, particularly a few encounters with the fedayeen. Fanaticws, he said. And suicidal.
They walked right into a wall of gunfire and kept coming. Kill them!, he ordered. It
became disgusting. They just kept coming and we had no choice.

A small passenger vehicle carrying several fedayeen with weapons poking out the
windows lunged at one of the Humvees. The gunner opened up with his .50 cal. The
weapon worked as advertised, Sir. They were cut in half. The gunner later said to me,
You know, Sir, youd think it would be cool, but it was really kind of disgusting. And
that gunner, said the L/Col, was not the type to shrnk from a situation. How do you
explain that kind of behavior?