My Deployment Operation Iraqi Freedom
By SFC Donjuan L. Williams


My Second Tour of Duty

     On February 19, 2005 I started my trip to Baghdad, Iraq for my second tour in OIF.  This time I am stationed in Irbil, Iraq.  It is in the northern part of Iraq, an hour southeast from Mosul.  It has been a very interesting period on time because I knew I would have to come back to the war zone when I left it in 2003.  I expected that the situation over here in Iraq would have calmed down by now!  I have learned a lot about the culture here.  I don’t believe that in my lifetime there will ever be peace here in Iraq unless they divide up the country into the separate territories and countries.  The Kurdish people Sunni’s and Shiites’ will never live in peace in this country because of the hate they have for each other.

     I have never had the privilege of experiencing the hate that these groups of people have for one another.  The hate goes back hundreds of years and again, it will not get fixed now because they now have a new government.  Let's face it, the US government is in the middle of a civil war over here and the US government does not want to admit it.

     The US Army and government are trying to do our best to service the people of Iraq, however it has been my experience that we are losing the battle of public opinion. The locals here like our money we are giving the country and the jobs that we are providing, however what is going to happen when we leave this country if we ever leave.  This country will unravel.  This is a poor country.  If an Iraqi makes 600 dollars a month in salary, then that is considered to be in the middle class.

     Everything is done by cash here, and that is why there is so much corruption in this country by army personnel, US Contractors and Iraqi businessmen over here.  It is very hard to trace a money trail when there is so much cash.

     I have experienced death here in my second tour and it is not pretty.  I have witnessed a suicide by a fellow soldier and a soldier blown up by a mortar round that hit the base in Mosul.  Since being here in Iraq I have been ambushed one time leaving Mosul and just missed being blown up by a suicide bomber in Irbil in May that killed over 60 and injured over 160 people.  I pray each day that God gives me the strength to continue to do my job and make it home alive and whole.  It is very disturbing to me that over 12,000 service members have been seriously injured over here and I and not trying to be one of them.  I just want everybody to know that there are way more reports of attacks and injuries than you hear on the news.

     On April 28, 2005 this country’s government was officially put in place.  And on that day the real terror began in this country.  This year alone there have been over 500 suicide bombings in this country.  The insurgents and the Sunni’s have gotten together to form a coalition that has spread havoc all over Iraq.  Safe areas of Iraq are no longer safe.  The Iraqi people, police and U.S. military are all targets now.

     It is now the Second week in July and I am ready for rest and relaxation(R&R).  I am due to go on R&R in a week, so I am so happy.

     The weather has gotten very hot.  Well I can compare it to southern Iraq and Kuwait and I can tell you that it is not as hot here as it is in Kuwait.  The daily temp is around 110- 120 degrees.  That is far lest the 135 to 150 degrees in Kuwait I experienced.

     Irbil was relatively a safe place when I came here in March, however the people are scared to walk the streets because of the car bombings from the terrorist.

     I am working out daily and staying fit.  I tell you it is very hard, when you get over 40 to keep your body in shape if you don’t work at it.  The food you eat tends to want to stick with and on you!  I have lost 10 pounds since I been here and I am maintaining my weight at 230lbs.

     I went to Suli last week; it is a 3 hour drive to the east of Irbil.  It is a place where Sadam’s people killed over 100,000 Kurds in this jail I went to.  It was a very sad site to see all the people that were tortured by the dictators’ people!

     Again, I know what was done to the Kurds were wrong however there will never be any peace over here unless the Kurds learn to put the past behind them and move forward!  So much hate over here!

     It is now the beginning of July and I have moved my operations to Mosul.  I hate this city.  Mortar rounds are in coming to the base on a daily basis and being in the wrong place at the wrong time can cost you your life.  I will not be here for long I am waiting to be reassigned to Baghdad where headquarters is located.  The people here are nice and I now have recreation activities and a nice chow hall to eat in.

     The problem here on base is that the entire base is powered by generators and it is very noisy.  Mosul is a very dangerous place and people are getting killed here daily.

     Well it is now August and I am now moved to Baghdad.  This city is a work in progress.  There are so many bombings here daily and mortar rounds coming in constantly.  I am living in a room with 10 people and I don’t like it.  I am working in the HQ and with the big wigs.  The days are long 12 to 14 hours a days and everybody is walking on egg shells.

     It is the middle of August now and yesterday my coworker was killed by an IED.  He was traveling in a convoy from Baghdad!  I am having problems with this because this was not suppose to happen and could have been prevented.  I can not go in details however, this could have been prevented.

     It is now the end of August and I have just received a date for Warrant Officer School.  I will be attending the school on 19 Oct 2005. I have been waiting on this date for over a year now.  I will be leaving this area in September to prepare for school.

     In conclusion, this deployment has been an experience that I will never forget.  I will never understand why we are still over in Iraq and I know that soon as we leave Iraq the civil war that is currently going on will get out of control.  I pray for the families that lost members of their families and lost parts of their bodies.  I thank God to this day for bringing me back to the USA whole.

My Blog Continued