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Young vets relay Iraq tales
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by Ryan Masse
Friday, October 22, 2004
Two young U.S. Army veterans brought tales of Tikrit to Madison Thursday, conveying first-hand experiences from being stationed in Iraq to students at Vilas Hall.
National Guard members Jennifer Giese and Abbie Pickett described the harsh realities of being suddenly activated to serve in the war-torn Middle Eastern country. Giese received a Fed-Ex letter one Friday night informing her of a pending activation, while Pickett was given two days to prepare for deployment to Ft. McCoy.
“Those two days were so tough — you’re talking about getting your will and getting your car payments all squared away before you go,” Pickett, an MATC student, said.
In Iraq, Pickett and Giese were stationed in different companies in Tikrit, Saddam Hussein’s hometown. Despite a lack of body armor, both companies managed to avoid suffering any fatalities.
“We were lucky or well-trained, I’m not sure which,” Giese said.
Day-to-day life in Iraq consisted of a sporadic mail schedule, no available phones but instant Internet access and sandstorms that rendered many computers useless. The most annoying aspect of daily life, however, was the Iraqi children, according to Giese.
“They will steal anything from you that wasn’t tied down or attached to you,” Giese said of the numerous bands of children. “Cameras, shovels, water, meals, anything they could take … fuel cans, they don’t have cars, but they still took them.”
Pickett described arriving at her living quarters only to be greeted by a room shoulder-high in debris and filled with animal droppings. The soldiers also had to cope with large amounts of mud due to unusually high levels of rainfall, Pickett said.
Still, there were rewarding moments in Iraq, such as providing textbooks, paint and electricity to grade schools, Giese said. And, despite being pesky, the Iraqi children were known to sell soldiers liquor, she added.
Also speaking Thursday was Army National Guard officer David Boetcher, who is being activated in January. Boetcher identified himself as a supporter of Democrat John Kerry and said a different attitude has pervaded the troops in Iraq compared to those in the Persian Gulf War.
“In the Persian Gulf War, the mindset was totally different,” Boetcher said. “You went over there with the goal of freeing a country that was invaded by another country. Soldiers were very excited to help Kuwait, and there wasn’t what you’re seeing now with a lot of soldiers coming back … pretty upset about why they were there.”
Boetcher said he does not believe a draft will occur in the near future, but indicated the accelerated rate of activations within the Guard and Reserves recently will have to be addressed with some kind of policy change. Both Kerry and President George W. Bush have been outspoken in their opposition to reinstating the draft.
“There’s definitely not the political will for a draft, but the soldiers also can’t keep putting up with this,” Boetcher said.
