From: Joel KL1EF
Sent: Tuesday, March 22, 2005 10:02 PM
Subject: Iraq Update 23MAR05 for family and friends


Hi Everybody,
I know I’ve sent out bits and pieces of our recent activities but, I thought I’d also send out 
a summary of how the week has gone, to include photos.

We’ve been really busy over here but it’s been well worth it and we’ve had nothing but positive results.
In the last week the following things have occurred:

1.  During a patrol, one of our Combat Lifesavers saw a child with his arm bandaged up.  
    It was a poorly dressed injury so he asked the boy if he could look at it.  
    He removed the dressing, cleaned the wound, applied some antiseptic and ointment, and dressed it properly.

2.  Two of our soldiers on tower duty observed a tanker truck run a check point leading into a 
    critical entry control point.  The personnel at the checkpoint fired at the vehicle and disabled it.  
    The operator of the vehicle jumped out of it, started running through traffic, hopped the median, 
    and started running against traffic along Route Irish.  
    The man was wearing a heavy coat and was running towards a fuel truck and past that a crowd of people.  
    Both tower guards were well versed on the Rules of Engagement (ROE) which resulted in them 
    firing well aimed warning shots in front of the fleeing individual.  
    The warning shots stopped the man, without injury, and resulted in his apprehension.  
    Because the soldiers knew their ROE they were able to make a quick and accurate decision.  

    Both soldiers were presented Army Commendation Medals (ARCOMs) from the Dragon Brigade commander (18th Airborne Corps).


3.  During another patrol some children caught the attention of the lead vehicle Track Commander (TC).  
    (Track Commander is still the term used even though we are using wheeled vehicles)  
    The TC’s gut instinct told him to stop and he halted the patrol.  The children told us about 
    some bombs in the area.  We communicated the best we could (we are slowly learning Iraqi, 
    the children know some English, and we used a lot of hand gestures) and the children 
    led us to three Unexploded Ordinances (UXOs).  
    We called Explosive Ordinance Disposal and a total of seven UXOs were found.  
    The UXOs were destroyed and know the village has a safe area for the children to walk and the villagers to work.

4.  This morning an Iraqi family brought their three year old son to one of our towers.  
    The child was sick and they were worried.  We sent out a patrol with a medic to link up with them.  
    The child was found to have a large bump on his head, apparently from a fall, and was suffering from seizures.  
    While the medic was checking him out, the child went through three seizures.  
    We brought the child in to the treatment center and the child and father were MEDEVAC’d 
    by helicopter to a hospital in the International Zone.

Overall, we’re excited to be here and thankful to assist the Iraqi people.

God Bless,
Joel