Recess Time For The Kids

Sorry it has been so long since I posted.  We have been very busy here and most of it involves a topic that I can’t write on.  I did get the opportunity today to visit two small towns in my area of operations.  The first town was larger and had waaaaaay more activity.  Children started pouring into the streets once they figured out that we were friendly visitors.  Sometimes locals look at us like we are aliens, and other times they smile and say hello in Arabic or Kurdish.  I have learned a bit of both and can respond with a greeting or thank you.  When they hear a bit of their language come out of our mouths, we sometimes catch a big smile.  I kind of relate to them in the fact that I believe all who move to the states should learn to speak English.  Sure we are all immigrants in some fashion, and value our heritage, but the local language takes priority. 

The kids were all saying the normal “Mista, Mista!!” as we would evenly try to hand out school supplies, candy and beanie babies.  They even mimicked me by saying, “Get, get, get back” when they got in a grabbing mode.  Fair is not something that these kids are used to and they appeared to not care if their playmate got nothing, and they got multiple items.  It could be that all kids are like that while in a frenzy.  I guess I should analyze my childhood before I slam these kids for being selfish.  All kids seem to be selfish at one point in their lives, and these kids definitely have more of a right to be than I ever had.  The idea was to catch the school in session and hand the items out, but they were in a recess time, which was not about to end.  This led us to decide to go ahead and hand out everything outside the school house.  We had to use some of the normal techniques to hand out supplies like having our gunner throw items, and another Soldier stand on the hood of the vehicle while handing things out.  One of the children reached into a box that one of my Sergeants was holding, and found his hand getting slapped (in a gentle way that is).  The kid looked up and was surprised.  He must have had much better luck in the past trying to not wait his turn.  There were little girls who came outside to see us, and they were just toooo cute.  We made it a point to give them each something, and hope to help them build their confidence in this new iraq.  They smiled and ran up to us like they were our own children.  I personally have not been blessed with any children yet, but hope to in the near future.  The Soldiers with me have various different aged children at home, and seeing Iraqi children make it that much harder to come back to the FOB alone.  Yes, we have each other, but in many ways we are still alone.  We ran out of time in the first town and made our way to stop two on the list. 

The next town was much smaller in size and had fewer children.  Compared to the first town (60+children), the second had only about 20 children.  Due to the town’s size, it was much easier to hand out candy, school supplies, and beanie babies.  It also was a town that our squadron had only been to once before, so the children were more hesitant to come out and see why we were there.  Our interpreter told one child to go get the other children, which he proceeded to do.  We emptied the opened boxes and then emptied a few more of the unopened ones.  They each walked away with a stack of old dot matrix printer paper, crayons, pencils, and about two beanie babies per child.  We sort of were in a hurry and left before handing out all of the supplies.  It was decided to hand out the rest of the items at a later date.  There was a school that we explored.  It was a one classroom school with wooden benches, and a blackboard.  It actually was nicer than some school houses since it had a cement floor instead of dirt.  Next door was the teacher/principle’s office, which had things posted on the door.  I did not make an attempt to read the notices, just like I did not read them when I was in school, ha ha.  Next to the school was an outhouse made of concrete.  There is no way I will complain about my stanky portojohn again.  Well, yeah I will still complain about it.  Who am I kidding? 

All of my guys were giddy with what had occurred this morning.  They have since chattered back and forth about a certain child here or there, or a smile that lit up the town.  SGT W saw a little girl with her father and decided to approach them with a few gifts.  It was somehow communicated that the girl needed some water.  He gave a bottle to the father, who held it up for the little girl.  She about swallowed the entire bottle, as she drank like it was milo’s sweet tea.  Those from bama (and now TN) know what I mean, mmm.  Another Soldier was on detail to keep the kids from grabbing things out of our vehicle.  Let’s just say he gladly will pass that on to someone else next time.  One troop showed the kids that crayons were like pencils and wrote on some paper to demonstrate.  We felt the need to show them since on our last trip a kid tried to eat a bar of soap.  SSG B and Chief B played Santa Clause for the day and enjoyed every minute of it.  SGTs W, H, and S each were smiling ear to ear, which is no doubt contagious despite the heat trying to make us miserable.  Overall, it was a great day, and all of us are still kicking.  Shawn out…

I put more pics in the photo album.

Here is a good website to check out if you have time.  www.agreaterfreedom.com

Great article to read:

An Iraqi's Thoughts of US Troops

quote for the post:

"If I were to have a heart attack right at this moment, I hope I would have just enough air in my lungs and just enough strength in me to utter one last sentence as I fell to the floor: 'What a ride!' My life has been up and down, careening left then right, full of mistakes and bad decisions, and if I died right now, even though I would love to live longer, I could say from the depths of my soul, 'What a ride!'"--Mike Yaconelli

Comments

[Ma Deuce Gunner]

I make the kids get in a line, youngest to oldest. I tell the interpreter to tell them to not get back in line until everyone has gotten something. Only then are they allowed to reform and try again. It helps cut downn on the grabbing and begging.

[gavin]

a mike yac quote. i'm impressed.

[drhunt]

Saw your interview at A Greater Freedom. Well-said, Shawn. Well-said. Stay safe.

[gavin]

excellent interview bro!

[Darrell Loudermilk]

Hey,
I just saw your blog today, and I really enjoy it. It's refreshing to see and hear about the experiences of an actual soldier stationed overseas, instead of only hearing about the experience through the filter of the media. I hope you know how proud you guys make us, and stories like this make me appreciate you all even more. Thank God for the men and women in the US military, and God bless you.

Take care,
Darrell Loudermilk

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