DRIVING THE DANGEROUS ROADS OF IRAQ WITH A BAND OF BROTHERS With Georgia’s 48th Brigade Combat Team in Mahmoudiyah and the Lion’s Den. This morning General Stewart Rodeheaver, commanding general of the 48th, had a meeting scheduled with General Mahdi, brigade commander of the Iraqi army, to discuss last minute preparations for Saturday’s vote on a new Iraqi constitution. It … [Read more...] about Oct. 10, 2005: Iraq Column #3
Iraq Columns
Oct. 9, 2005: Iraq Column #2
With Georgia’s 48th Brigade Combat Team at Camp Striker on the Outskirts of Baghdad Just when I had decided that the United States military couldn’t organize a two-tank parade and that I would spend the rest of my unnatural life in that Garden Spot of the World — the passenger lounge at Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany — voilà, I am in Iraq. It took five days to get here and … [Read more...] about Oct. 9, 2005: Iraq Column #2
Oct. 8, 2005: Iraq Column #1
Dear Folks: It has been the Week from Hell, but (famous last words) it may be over shortly. It is now midafternoon Saturday at Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany. After our aborted flight to Baghdad, there have been no planes to take troops or people like me to anywhere. That is about to change. Our plight has finally received the attention of State Adjutant General David … [Read more...] about Oct. 8, 2005: Iraq Column #1
Iraq Column: October 14, 2005: Mixed Emotions: Leaving the 48th Brigade Combat Team
I am coming home. As you read this, I should be on a C-5A headed for Dover, Del. and then to Home Sweet Home. I leave with mixed emotions. Taking the world’s longest shower and sleeping in a real bed with a real mattress will be a pleasure, but leaving behind the men and women of Georgia’s 48th Brigade Combat Team wasn’t easy. These are good folks and I wish that I had had the … [Read more...] about Iraq Column: October 14, 2005: Mixed Emotions: Leaving the 48th Brigade Combat Team