Close Topic Options

Year Long Deployments In Iraq - Page 4

Yes, but I suppose at least a person must be a US resident, I cannot imagine any foreigner going and joining the US army.

Iraq Deployments Long Year

I knew quite a few. One close friend in Germany was an Iranian (Persian). He had adopted the US as his home, and took the responsibility to defend it.

There are also many people around the world who subscribe to the same beliefs - that the US is the best chance to promote liberty, especially in the Third World. Therefore, they are willing to help.

A close friend here is Puerto Rican, served in the US Army, and is very proud of having done so. His family are also proud of him.

Year Long Deployments In Iraq History & Civil Business Politics

The Army is trying to help relieve some of the problems associated with the extra long deployment. The 1st Armored Division (1AD) out of Germany, was supposed to rotate back in April. But they were extended to the end of the summer.

So, there are a whole bunch of graduating seniors, whose fathers (and possibly some mothers) are in Iraq, missing out on one of the biggest days in their children's lives.

Take a look at this blog entry about what the 1AD did about this situation.

Page 4 Iraq Deployments Long Year

It is nice that they did this. It really only worked because this was an American School in Germany serving mostly if not exclusively military families. Many kids in the states attend regular everyday public schools where this can't be done easily.

Iraq Deployments Long Year

In covering wars, journalists have one great advantage over the soldiers: communications. We have satellite phones, we can call out at will, to our offices, to our homes. Part of the unspoken deals we always made was take us along and you can use our phones. Routinely, when there was a momentary lull, the soldiers would line up to use our phones. I'll never forget one soldier in Iraq who heard his baby cry for the first time. They would usually only talk for a minute or two, which I'm sure was agonizing for both sides of the call, but it was enough to hear a voice, to know that they were safe, or for the soldiers, to hear a little bit of home. Most soldiers have e-mail, and are able to stay in touch much more than their counterparts in earlier conflicts, when mail could take weeks or months, if it arrived at all.

And that brings us to tonight's broadcast. We originally started out doing something quite different. An ABC News producer was embedded with a unit in Iraq. He taped a number of video letters home from soldiers there. Another Nightline producer here in the U.S. then took those tapes to the families, who were able to watch the originals, and then tape their responses. We have shipped those tapes back to the soldiers, and so on. All of them were kind enough to allow us to broadcast both ends, something they did not have to do. We're not sure how long we can keep this exchange going, but we realized that we have something special here. Most of the "letters" aren't about world events or strategy or politics, they are about the little things. And more than anything else, they are about love and fear for loved ones who are in harm's way. They are about missing each other.

Leroy Sievers and the Nightline Staff
Nightline Offices ABC News Washington Bureau