Mr. Speaker, I thank the Speaker for the opportunity to address the House this evening, really by way of reporting on a congressional delegation trip that I had the privilege of leading at the very turn of this month, the very last days of…
Mr. Speaker, I thank the Speaker for the opportunity to address the House this evening, really by way of reporting on a congressional delegation trip that I had the privilege of leading at the very turn of this month, the very last days of August, the very first days of September.
Our journey took us on a diplomatic mission through Egypt. We met with military commanders at Central Command in Qatar. But clearly the most memorable and meaningful time of our trip, which included the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hensarling), who we will hear from in a few moments, and three of our Democratic colleagues, the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Davis), the gentleman from Hawaii (Mr. Case), and the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. McIntyre), it took us for two full days into Iraq.
I rise tonight anxious to hear my colleagues' reflections on this trip and trips that they have taken as the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. King) will join us. But I rise today to make a very simple assertion, that from what I saw on the ground, flying into Baghdad on C-130s, flying around to outpost bases far outside the Green Zone in Baghdad, far outside the safety net of the center of our operations in Iraq, what I herald from the soldiers, not just in official meetings but in informal interactions and what I heard from our commanders was a simple message: We are winning the war in Iraq.
I know, Mr. Speaker, that that is a very different message than most of the American people, some of whom may be looking in tonight, are getting from national television and from the newsprint.
The headlines today were resplendent with over 100 killed in a series of car bombs and suicide attacks in Iraq; but let me say emphatically again, from our meetings with General Abizaid at CENTCOM, to General Petraeus in Baghdad, our meetings with members of the 3rd Infantry Division and A Company of the 138th Signal Battalion from Indiana in Ramadi, I heard it again and again: we are winning the war in Iraq.
That is not a slogan. It is an objective fact, based on a few simple observations, because as many who are strenuous critics of the war would assert, we have endured casualties, the precise number still less than 2,000, but every single loss, including the 10 heroes from my congressional district, is grievous to every single family. I will not for a moment trivialize a single American loss; but as we heard from one soldier after another, some with four stars, some with one, some with
corporal bars sitting on top of amphibious assault vehicles in Ramadi, as I was with Lance Corporal Ty Cotton, but soldiers understand that you do not define victory in war by the absence of casualties.
When the U.S. Marines went ashore in Okinawa in 1945, April, we lost 10,000 soldiers in that military engagement and we won. We won the battle on Okinawa. It remains one of the great military victories in American history, because as we lost 10,000 American soldiers, the Japanese lost 200,000 soldiers in the same engagement.
Let us begin there in the definition of victory in Iraq. While we have lost somewhere shy of 2,000 soldiers in 4 years of fighting, and today we have 140,000-some-odd soldiers within Iraq, according to information we received, enemy casualties run from 20 to 30 to one American casualty; and more compellingly to me as we were informed, the number of Iraqi military personnel fighting on our side in uniform compared to our casualties is three to one. Three Iraqis in uniform, fighting for their own freedom, have died for every American fighting for their freedom in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Beginning with that large statistic, Mr. Speaker, it is undeniable: we are winning the war in Iraq. As I will discuss later, literally hours before the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hensarling) and I and our colleagues touched down at the landing zone at the military base at Balad, there had been a mortar attack, a pretty typical engagement with the enemy, as near as was represented to us.
Two mortars were fired into the American base. They were tracked through extraordinary technology and professionalism from literally moments after they were fired, several thousand yards from the base. The incoming mortars were determined to be landing in an area where they did not threaten a significant amount of American military personnel. They did destroy two trucks, I believe, both of which were still on fire as we were landing on the base; but when we went into the command center at the Balad Air Base and saw the full report on that engagement, we learned that within 3 minutes of the launch of the mortars, American military personnel had identified where the mortars were fired.
Within minutes after that, American surveillance drones, known as Predators, flying overhead were able to surveil and identify up to 13 different insurgents who were making egress from the site where they had launched the mortar; and within 12 minutes from the time of the launch, all 13 of those insurgents were killed in a Hellfire missile attack on their location.
The intelligence, the military precision, no American casualties, 13 Iraqi casualties. We are winning the war in Iraq.
As we sat with General John Abizaid at Central Command in Qatar, pictured here in this photograph, we had a very intense and intimate hour with the four star general at Central Command; and before I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hensarling), my colleague, I want to share with my colleagues, without compromising any confidence, a conversation that I had with the general, which basically was derived from a recent stop that I made at the American Legion Hall in Selma, Indiana.
Mr. Speaker, Selma, Indiana, probably has the population of this House of Representatives when it is filled, maybe 500, 600 people. I popped into the Legion Hall about a week before I went to visit Iraq. I walked into the Legion Hall, and there were several guys, a few of them bellied up to the bar, a few more sitting around tables and chairs and playing cards; and as I said to General Abizaid, the guys at the Legion in Selma, Indiana, were concerned about what they were seeing on television. They wanted to know what is going on, did the soldiers over there have a cause, are we in this for the right reasons. I took by their meaning how are we doing in Iraq.
I told them I was leaving in about a week and I called the question and I had asked the brass and the regular soldiers. So I asked General Abizaid that very question. I said, General, what do I tell the guys in the Legion Hall in Selma, Indiana? Four Star General John Abizaid said in words that still ring in my ears, sitting at this table, he turned and looked at me, me here, him there, in his private office and he said, Congressman, you tell them we are winning the war in Iraq.
Then he explained it. He talked about that ratio of, yes, there are Americans that are dying, but 20 to 30 enemy insurgent soldiers are dying for every American that has fallen. Then he went on to point out that at no time in 4 years of fighting have we ever lost a military engagement to this enemy, never. Every time the enemy has engaged our forces, we have defeated them and defeated them summarily.
Another statistic that General Abizaid shared with me was the simple statement that we have never lost a full platoon in a military engagement with the enemy in this theater of combat.
He conceded that being a combat soldier, being a military man, knowing the ruthless nature of the perhaps even 10,000 insurgents that we are dealing with in Iraq, that he had assumed that maybe at this point they would have figured out how to launch and ambush, as they had done many, many times and maybe catch us unawares.
The Confederate Army caught the Union Army at Shiloh completely unawares. In war, people make mistakes, people end up exposed. The general basically said, in 4 years of fighting, I would have thought that they would have figured out a way to defeat a full platoon, but they have never done it. Every time they have engaged our forces, we have defeated the enemy.
He went on to say that the answer here is not entirely military; but, rather, that as we went out to Camp Caldwell along the Iranian border, as we went up to Balad, as we went out to Ramadi, we saw these are soldiers that are not only engaging the enemy successfully and not only defeating the enemy in military engagements, one after another, with professionalism and courage and precision, but they are also training Iraqi soldiers.
These are the two hands. The American soldier in Iraq today is doing the work of defeating the enemy, and at the same time, many of the same personnel are also training Iraqis to provide their own defense, and the statistics are rather overwhelming and impressive.
In the last 12 months, we have stood up in uniform over 100,000 Iraqi soldiers for the defense of their own country. Literally, 100 battalions have been stood up, a little bit more than 100 battalions, but roughly 100,000. As the general told us and the men on the ground told us who are training these soldiers, they are on track to stand up another 100,000 Iraqis within 12 months, Iraqis who would be able to take over their own security of their nation, both internal and ultimately external security.
Of the 100,000 Iraqis, roughly 30,000 of those are deploying every day with American soldiers. One full battalion, we were told, is fully independent and has to do with old tribal loyalties, and they can handle themselves and we let them handle themselves; but the balance of some nearly 29 battalions of nearly 1,000 men each are deploying either on point as we did along the Syrian border last week when literally Iraqi military personnel led the charge, defeating insurgents and killing insurgents along the Syrian border, or they are going right alongside with us.
So for those who want to minimize that, it is an extraordinary thing.
I will never forget it was Labor Day, the day that we were at the military base at Camp Caldwell near the Iranian border. So, of course, it is a military base, there was a Labor Day picnic going on. As the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hensarling) and the gentleman from Hawaii (Mr. Case) and the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Davis), who had an awful lot of Tennessee Volunteers there, National Guard from Tennessee, urged us, we went to the Labor Day picnic. What a sight it was to see the American military personnel letting off a little steam, of course playing blue grass music; but the most awesome thing was walking on to a volleyball court and half of the people playing volleyball in T- shirts and shorts were Iraqis. Here I am at a Labor Day picnic at a military installation, along the Iraq-Iran border, and half the people playing volleyball with the Americans were Iraqis, the people that we were training.
In fact, we learned there at Camp Caldwell that in a matter of 3 to 6
months, when the Tennessee Volunteers, the National Guard, head back to Tennessee, they are not going to be replaced by American military personnel. They are going to be replaced by Iraqis, which is a statement of success. It affirms we are winning the war in Iraq. We are standing up an army, 100,000 now, and 12 months, 200,000 Iraqis in uniform. We are defeating the enemy. We have never lost a platoon or a military engagement.
I say, Mr. Speaker, with great respect to my colleagues and anyone else listening in, we are winning the war in Iraq; and it is time the American people began to hear that and hear that consistently. We are winning the peace.
As we prepare, we met with Prime Minister Jafari, we met with the ministers of interior and defense. October 15, the people of Iraq will vote to ratify, and it is my fondest hope and prayer that they will ratify, a constitution of their own making. This standing up of a legitimate government in Iraq, the standing up of an independent army of Iraqis in Iraq, and ultimately, the drawing down of American troops as Iraqis take responsibility for their political and security future is in the cards. It is happening. I know it is not making it on the evening news, Mr. Speaker; but I have seen it with my own eyes. I have heard it from our soldiers, not a one of which does not believe in the mission.
I will yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hensarling) with this final thought. We must have talked to thousands of soldiers in the field, and I say that with absolute sincerity. We spoke to them in official meetings. We spoke to them on C-130s flying into the country. We talked to soldiers who knew where we were and who we were and soldiers who did not know who we were and knew that we would never see them again. I did not meet a single soldier anywhere in Iraq in the uniform of the United States of America who did not believe in this mission.
Every single soldier with whom I spoke said variations of the theme: we need to be here, sir; everything I have seen, we are doing what needs to be done; we have got to stop these guys right here.
We are winning the war in Iraq because of that kind of courage, that kind of determination. So allowing for my passion on this point, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hensarling), a colleague who journeyed with us on this trip; and if I may say without embarrassing him, at a time when his own family was dealing with the tragic circumstances around Katrina, his own father-in-law, grandfather of his children, out of communication in New Orleans, but he was still willing to go into harm's way to be among the soldiers, and I commend him. I commend his wife, Melissa, for their dedication to our country.
Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend for his powerful reflections on an extraordinary trip.
Before I yield to the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. King), who led his own delegation in August to Operation Iraqi Freedom, I wanted to reflect for just a few minutes, Mr. Speaker, on a few of the soldiers I met from Indiana, the kind of people the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hensarling) was just talking about.
In fact, a very detailed version of this appears on my Web site, MikePence.House.gov on our Web log, or blog as it has come to be known. I literally sat down on the airplane flying back from Iraq and typed up my reflections and remembrances while they were still fresh, and I want to excerpt them for just a second, if I can.
This first photograph is my conversations with Sergeant Matt Wright, an extraordinary young man from Muncie, Indiana, and part of A Company of the 138th Signal Battalion stationed in Ramadi. To speak about the kind of dedication that my colleague just reflected on, as I talked to Sergeant Wright, he said, with the same kind of smile you see in this photograph, he said, ``Yes, sir, it is good to have you here. Yesterday was supposed to be my wedding day.'' And I said, ``Did you put it off?'' He said, ``No, sir. We moved it up 9 months so we could be married a couple of months before I deployed for 18 months to serve my country in Iraq.'' I mean, here was a man's dedication to his beautiful wife and his dedication to his country on full display. Sergeant Matt Wright.
We began making our way to the mess hall that evening, Mr. Speaker, in Ramadi. And Ramadi is principally the location of an enormous division of Marines who engage every night in the very dangerous patrols of this provincial capital of the west, of Iraq. In fact, many of the military commanders with whom we spoke said, even more than Baghdad, in the months ahead as we make that steady, to use my colleague's term, sometimes halting progress towards democracy and stability, much of the future fighting will take place in Ramadi, and it will be done by these brave Marines.
So we stopped on our way to the mess hall, and these five politicians started reaching up and shaking hands on these enormous amphibious vehicles, and suddenly I heard a voice say, Are you not going to say hello to the only Hoosiers here?
I stopped and looked up and saw this bright, freckled red head, a huge, strapping Marine named Ty Cotton from Anderson, Indiana. Ty leaned down and helped me climb up on that vehicle where we had a chance to visit for just a few minutes. As I talked to Ty about his mom, Marla, back in Anderson, I promised to look in on her and give her a report on how well he looked. We heard the commander in the background yell, 5 minutes.
I asked if there was anything we could do, if he had everything that he needed. And he said shyly, Sir, we have everything we need. I am with a great unit. Then I heard a shout, 2 minutes.
As I started to move toward the edge, I said, Ty, I want you to know the people back in Anderson are praying for you, and he looked at me with that shy smile, and he said, Glad to do it, sir.
We made our way to the mess hall to meet with the balance of the 138 Signal Battalion. I do not know what I expected when we went there. I sure did not expect to see this bright, good-looking group of men and women, faces shining like the morning, morale high, proud to be where they are, even though they are 8,000 miles away from their families. I sure did not expect to hear the optimism in their voices. One of the soldiers said it got way better in
Ramadi in the last year. To hear soldiers say it has got way better, the people on the ground living it, was very encouraging to me.
I was profoundly moved when one soldier after another asked about the families and communities affected by Hurricane Katrina. These soldiers are 8,000 miles away from their families, moms and dads, wives and kids, in 110 degree heat, and they are asking about New Orleans. They are Americans. They are an extraordinary lot.
As our Black Hawk helicopter lifted off from Ramadi, I watched the front lines on the war on terror, and I felt humbled by the men and women of the 138th that you see in this picture; and I felt more confident than ever in the justness of our cause and the war against terror and the belief it is vital to provide these men and women the resources to succeed. That begins by understanding that they are winning the war now, based on their professionalism, their commitment, their courage and the faith I encouraged in them, faith in God, faith in the country, and I say again, their faith in this mission.
I am going to go home this weekend and spend time with people at home, but I know the most bone-jarring thing that I have said to my constituents and colleagues, in two 20-plus hour days in Iraq, I did not meet a soldier who did not believe in the mission. General Mark O'Neill of the 3rd ID, I looked at him and said we appreciate your leadership. He said to me, Sir, it is a privilege to be here, but we have to stop these guys right here.
General Abizaid said to us, I think the most unreported story in America is how dangerous these guys are. If they get hold of this country the way they want to and become a petroleum power, these guys are the Nazis from the 1920s.
To understand that in this environment, as tough as it is, these soldiers are winning the war in Iraq. They are winning it because we have never lost a military tactical engagement. We have never so much as lost a platoon. They are winning it because we have stood up 100,000 Iraqis in uniform in the last 12 months and are on track to stand up another 100,000 in the next 12. And they are winning it because democracy is steadily advancing in a nation conditioned by thousands of years of authoritarianism, but it is advancing nonetheless with a constitutional referendum around the corner. We are winning the war in Iraq.
Mr. Speaker, I am happy to yield to the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. King), who has been a tireless advocate of our soldiers in the field in Iraq and Afghanistan. He has just returned from leading his own delegation there, and I thought it altogether fitting that he and other colleagues associated with his travels might seize the opportunity of this Special Order to reinforce our firsthand account of what is really happening in Iraq, because what is happening is we are winning in Iraq.
Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, I thank the gentleman for his tireless efforts to see firsthand. This is a congressman from Iowa who, when there are controversies in the Federal courts, is on the steps of the courthouse. I know for a fact this weekend that he was in a Black Hawk helicopter flying over New Orleans and dining and supping with the people that are dealing with Hurricane Katrina. For him to be here tonight to add this critical, important dimension, as the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hensarling), whom I will yield to in a moment, and I were there focusing on the security in the Sunni Triangle, for him to come here and add to the record tonight that in realtime in the last several weeks the investment the American people are making in reconstructing this country is working. It is having its good effect. An Iraqi chamber of commerce is not something we are seeing on the CBS Evening News, but it is happening; and I am grateful to the gentleman from Iowa for bringing that perspective to bear and just for being who he is.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hensarling) for any closing remarks he might have.
Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, I thank the gentleman for his comments.
I cannot add to that closing, but will simply repeat, Mr. Speaker, we are winning the war in Iraq. And, Mr. Speaker, to anyone who is listening in tonight to hear the passion of the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hensarling), to hear the progress on the ground on civil society that the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. King) described and to hear about these soldiers and our effectiveness, we have never lost a military engagement in 4 years with this enemy. We have never lost so much as a platoon. We are taking the enemy down at a rate of 30 to one that they are taking down our military personnel. That all spells victory. We are winning in Iraq.
But let me leave with one image. As we flew over Baghdad and over Ramadi, 150 feet off the deck, Black Hawk helicopters flanked by Apache helicopters, really scary-looking aircraft, I lost count of the number of men and women and little boys and little girls running from their homes and waving at our helicopter as we sped by.
And then what broke my heart was to see the helmeted soldier take one hand off that enormous 50 caliber machine gun and extend a gloved hand hurriedly out of the helicopter to wave back to those children and men and women. They were running towards the American helicopters. They were waving at the American soldier.
This was not a put-up job for some politicians flying through Baghdad. It was hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people in Baghdad and Balad and Ramadi throughout the Sunni Triangle who were giving the thumbs up in a wave of friendship to their liberators, to the people who are fighting and sacrificing and succeeding in bringing them freedom and stability, which they so richly deserve.
With that I thank the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. King) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hensarling) for joining me tonight. And I close with the thought we are winning the war in Iraq. Never doubt that.
Two Days in Iraq
(By Representative Mike Pence)
Sept. 6, 2005.--Our two days in Iraq began with a prayer
and a brief reading from Psalm 91. After a short delay caused
by an engine failure, we lifted off in the cargo hold of a C-
130 aircraft filled with soldiers and materials returning to
Operation Iraqi Freedom. On the faces of the soldiers we met
aboard the aircraft, most of whom were returning from leave,
was the evident anxiety of men returning to battle and sober
determination. I overheard one soldier tell a colleague,
``I'm here for my family, my kids and my grandkids . . . so
they don't have to deal with these guys.''
Upon arriving at Baghdad airport, we donned the helmets and
body armor that would be our wardrobe for the duration of our
stay and climbed aboard a Blackhawk helicopter, destination
Phoenix Base, Green Zone, Baghdad.
The copters moved fast and low across the landscape of this
city of several million. Different from my visit to Baghdad
in 2004 when the streets were barren, the city sweeping past
me below our helicopter was filled with people bustling about
and large roads filled with traffic. The city of Baghdad is
no longer the deserted war zone I saw before. Despite the
violence of insurgents, Baghdad is alive again.
We landed at Phoenix Base in the Green Zone and attended
meetings with the American Commander and the American
Ambassador for situation reports. In our previous meetings in
Qatar, the diplomatic and military authorities spoke of
steady progress and a determined enemy, but there was no hint
of defeatism or pessimism. As we learned of over 100 Iraqi
Battalions deployed with American forces, schools, basic
services, agriculture, one is left with the sense that our
folks in Baghdad have a plan and are working the plan 24/7.
As one soldier told me, ``defeat the enemy, rebuild the
country and give it back to the Iraqis.''
From our meetings with American leaders, we boarded our
motorcade for meetings with the Prime Minister of Iraq and
the Ministers of Defense and Interior, three of the most
important leaders to the present and future of Iraq.
Prime Minister Jaafari greeted us in a formal setting and
spent the first 15 minutes expressing the heartfelt
condolences of the people of Iraq for the loss of life in
Hurricane Katrina. He seemed most determined to convey that
the insurgents engaged in violence do not represent the
feelings of the people of Iraq. I asked him, ``Who is the
enemy?'' and he replied with a litany referring to Beirut in
1983, 9-11, Sharm El Sheik, as all the work of ``the
terrorists.'' He actually seemed slightly indignant about the
question . . . as though anyone, with any common sense, would
see that the enemy in Iraq is simply ``terrorists.''
In our meetings with two government leaders, two moments
stood out. The Minister of Interior, a studious, bearded man,
said the greatest challenge he faced was ``changing the
culture of authoritarianism'' that followed the repressive
history of Iraq. As we walked out, he and I spoke further
about this point and I was moved by his ambition for
his people to live under a just system of law and not of
men.
The other moment came when another Congressman asked the
Minister of Defense, ``what neighboring nation represents the
greatest challenge to peace within Iraq'' to which he
replied, ``all of them'' then added, ``Kuwait is ok.'' It was
an illuminating moment. I will never forget that this new
Iraq is, with one exception, floating in a sea of
authoritarian regimes with long histories of association with
terror among their people and their governments.
Our helicopters set us down at ground zero for American
forces in Baghdad: Camp Liberty-home of the legendary 3rd
Infantry Division under the Command of General Mark O'Neill.
As we learned earlier, most of the terrorist violence in Iraq
is taking place in 4 of the 18 provinces . . . a1l 4 are in
the area under the control of the 3rd ID. But Gen. O'Neill, a
thick-necked warrior with the mind of a CEO, said, ``Hey,
it's what we do sir and we're glad to do it . . . we gotta
stop these guys right here.''
After getting an update on action and progress, we headed
to dinner with the troops including Evansville native Sgt.
Dave Newland. Dave is part of force protection for the 3rd ID
and is approaching 20 years and retirement but, from what he
told me, there is no place he'd rather be. When I asked about
the mission, he replied with a smile, ``We need to be here
sir.'' We spoke of home, of his plans to move to Washington,
Indiana and work for Crane. We spoke of the White Steamer, a
diner in Washington, which turned out to be his Dad's
favorite stop and one of mine. For that time we were not what
we are doing (soldier/congressman), we were just a couple of
Hoosiers swappin' stories from home. I told him everybody
back home was praying and was proud and he said quietly, ``I
know that, sir.''
As our C-130 took off from Baghdad airport, I thought of
the men of the 3rd ID. I thought of the mission. And I
thought of Sgt. Dave Newland. By God's grace does this nation
still produces men like that.
Day two began at 3:30 a.m. as we headed for a day that
would take us to four American bases in some of the most
violent sectors of the ``Sunni Triangle.'' First stop, Camp
Caldwell, near the Syrian border which is home to the 278th
of Tennessee. We were the first delegation of elected
officials to ever visit this base and the soldiers seemed
delighted to see us...especially Tennessee Congressman
Lincoln Davis. When Lincoln presented the command group with
a coin bearing the US Capitol and spoke of the time when
these Tennessee Vols would ``be a 'comin home,'' there wasn't
a dry eye in the room.
It being Labor Day, the base had a picnic going on for
soldiers off duty, so we made our way over to throw
horseshoes and listen to blue grass music. I asked one
soldier after another, ``What would Labor Day be without
havin' a bunch of politicians show up to spoil your
picnic?!'' While the atmosphere was festive, when I would ask
``How ya doin?'' or ``How's everybody back home holdin' up?''
one soldier after another would pause and get that far away
look that you would expect from any soldier on a
distant frontier. This unit has lost 12 men but defeated
the enemy in every engagement. Their effort in training
Iraqis has been so successful that their unit actually
will not be replaced by American forces when they head
home in a few months. Iraqis will take over Camp Caldwell.
Mission Accomplished Tennessee.
Our Blackhawk helicopters and their Apache helicopter
gunship escorts lifted off from Camp Caldwell at midday for
the American airbase at Balad, another region of recent and
intense insurgent activity. As we approached the base by air,
I took note of a large column of black smoke billowing from
the far end of the base. As we learned upon our arrival, at
approximately 6 a.m. the base came under mortar attack by
insurgents. While some equipment was damaged, as we learned
later in the command center from a videotape replay, the
enemy fared much worse.
Using our battlefield technology and real time
intelligence, our forces identified where the mortar was
fired and tracked 10 insurgents evacuating the area. With
incredible precision, a hellfire missile scored a direct hit
on the enemy as the eerie infrared video replay showed. The
professionalism of these forces, young men and women who had
to make split second decisions to save American lives, left
most of us speechless.
We spent lunch with American soldiers in Balad at a huge
mess hall while our colleague from Hawaii, Rep. Ed Case, held
his own townhall meeting with the 29th National Guard out of
Hawaii.
Our last stop of the day was Ramadi, the new home of the
Anderson, Indiana based 138th Signal Battalion under the
command of Captain Keith Paris of Marion, Indiana. Capt.
Paris and Sgt. Matt Wright of Muncie met us at the landing
zone and escorted us to the long, sand colored two-story
building that these Hoosiers will call home for the next
year. Capt. Paris is a determined professional whose
patriotism, love of family and God exude from every pore of
his body. In a short briefing in his modest 12x12
headquarters office, he explained how A Company was actually
supplying all the real time communications for the ongoing
battle in Ramadi, a city of some 500,000, that is the
provincial capital of the west and a Sunni elite dominated
area. Their sandbag reinforced and camouflaged operations are
smack dab in the middle of a bustling base filled with moving
tanks, armored vehicles and soldiers . . . and they all
depend with confidence on the 138th.
Sgt. Matt Wright of Muncie was an impressive young married
man who actually told me that his wedding was to have
occurred the day before I arrived, but when word came of his
deployment to Iraq, he and his fiancee decided to move it up
nine months to accommodate their devotion to each other and
our nation.
On the way to the mess hall, we encountered a Marine unit
of armored vehicles headed out for maneuvers. As we reached
up and shook hands with one soldier after another, I heard a
voice from atop a tank yell, ``Hey, aren't you gonna say hi
to a fellow Hoosier?!'' I looked up to see the broad smile of
redheaded Cpl. Ty Cotton of Anderson, Indiana. He reached
down and shook my hand as a voice cried out, ``5 minutes!''.
. . the time the unit would roll to its duties in Ramadi. I
climbed up the side of the vehicle so we could talk over the
din of engines and troop movements. He told me to say hello
to his mom, Marla, back in Anderson and I told him I'd look
in on her and tell her how good he looked. As the commanding
officer yelled, ``2 minutes!'' I told him the folks back home
were praying for him, proud and grateful for his service. As
I climbed down the side of the combat vehicle, Ty smiled and
said modestly, ``Glad to do it, sir.''
In the mess hall, the young men and women of the 138th
joined me for dinner. I don't know what I expected to find
among these troops but what I did find was good spirits, high
morale, fitness and a matter of fact attitude about the work
ahead. I asked about the war and many spoke of steady
progress, even in Ramadi. One soldier who had already seen a
year in theatre said, ``It's gotten way better here in Ramadi
from a year ago.'' They were confident Americans doing a hard
job in a hard place, but no complaints.
Mostly they wanted to ask about home. We talked about
Indiana's response to Hurricane Katrina. They were concerned
about how the country was holding up after such a tragedy. In
a war zone, working in 110-degree heat, sleeping behind
sandbags and 8,000 miles from Mom, Dad, wife and kids . . .
and they were worried about us. Where do we get men and women
like these?
As our Blackhawk helicopters lifted off from Ramadi, I
watched the sun set over this desert encampment on the front
lines of the war on terror and I felt humbled by the men and
women I saw, especially the Hoosiers of the 138th. I
scribbled the names of the men and women I met and purposed
to pray for them and their families until they return home .
. . victorious, safe and sound.
And I felt more confident than ever that this war is just,
the battle against terror is vital and the enemy can and will
be defeated here and now. I believe that not because of the
armor, the firepower or the technology that swept beneath me
as we passed over one base after another. I believe that
because I have looked into the eyes of the men and women
fighting this war at every level, and their faith and courage
has never and will never be defeated.