Publication:Chattanooga Times Free Press
Date:Tuesday, March 08, 2005
Section:Front Page; Page:1

More than fighting a war

Soldiers Provide Iraqi Children with Clothes, Candy and School Supplies


By Edward Lee Pitts Military Affairs MUOLLA, Iraq — Christmas came in late February for more than 100 children from this village of mud huts scattered near the Iranian border.

When the convoy of 278th Regimental Combat Team soldiers arrived for a ribbon-cutting ceremony at a U.S.-funded school, the children were silently waiting, girls in one neat row, boys in another. But the order soon evaporated once a truck bearing gifts backed into the white stone school’s entrance.

Some children left so burdened with pencils, papers and stuffed animals they walked away hunched over with the bottom of their shirts stretched out forming a makeshift pouch.

"We do other things here besides fight a war," said Command Sgt. Maj. James Pippin, the regiment’s highest ranking non commissioned officer.

Members of the 278th are providing Iraqis with clothes, shoes, candy and school supplies donated from families, friends, church groups and schools back home.

Some humanitarian projects here are formally organized but many are home-grown efforts, conducted through e-mails or phone calls between the grassroots leaders back home and individual soldiers here.

HELP FROM HOME

1st Sgt. John Forgety, of Athens, Tenn., said every couple of weeks he gets a package of school supplies from Midland Heights Baptist Church in Shelbyville, Tenn., whose members gather pencils from the city’s two major pencil manufacturers.

Sgt. 1st Class Michael Cram, with a Vermont military police company attached to the 278th, said a Vermont-based charity, called Vermont Cares, has mailed him almost 40 boxes of clothes, shoes and school supplies.

Staff Sgt. Bryan Holliter said one e-mail to a member at St. Stephens Catholic Community in Mt. Juliet, Tenn., led to 25 boxes destined for Camp Caldwell, the regiment’s main base. 1st Sgt. Forgety said the items get piled onto the backs of Humvees whenever soldiers leave the base to go out on patrols.

One Humvee with four 1st Squadron Apache Troop soldiers recently handed out 150 pens and pencils on a single trip to the city of Balad Ruz. Soldiers said the children seem to treasure school supplies more than candy.

At least one 278th soldier has encountered Army roadblocks towards his charitable giving.

After hearing about the many Iraqi children walking barefooted around the sometimes wet mud and other times hard sand of the Iraqi desert, Sgt. Lamar Price decided to send out a call for shoes back home. His letter even found its way onto the Web site of radio talk show host Neal Boortz and snowballed into offers of help from several states beyond Tennessee.

However, Sgt. Price said he was forced to stop actively soliciting for shoes after receiving an e-mail from an officer in Postal Operations stating it was against Army regulations.

"I was shocked because I was just trying to do some good while I was over here," said Sgt. Price, who was raised in Chattanooga and moved to Atlanta six years ago.

Maj. Rhonda Keisman, the regiment’s head of civil military operations, said her office is not coordinating these charity efforts but is making sure the packages get distributed evenly among the regiment’s four squadrons.

She said her unit is focusing less on quick fixes and more on bricks and mortar help. The school in Muolla is one of more than 25 in the regiment’s sector under construction or renovation. The regiment is careful to only finance schools in places where the local community is willing to pay salaries for the teachers, Maj. Keisman said.

BRAND NEW SCHOOL

The new six-classroom building in Muolla marks the first school in nine years for the village of about 500. The children had been meeting in a ramshackle home since the previous building was destroyed during the Iran-Iraq War, according to headmaster Ali Jalal Ibrahim.

Last year just 40 students attended school, he said.

"Maybe next year the numbers will rise when they see the brand new school," Mr. Ibrahim said through a translator.

Members of the 278th’s Support Squadron, soldiers who rarely leave the base, dispersed boxes of supplies, candy and toys at the school.

The more than 20 Support Squadron soldiers, among them mechanics, supply officers, medics, radio operators, X-Ray technicians and administrative clerks, relished their opportunity to get out and interact with the locals.

"It is hard to understand if we don’t see where they are coming from or what they do in their lives," said Sgt. Susan Tobey, 25, a nurse from Knoxville. "One of my biggest fears was having to say I’ve been in Iraq a year but never left the FOB (Forward Operating Base)."

After the soldiers handed out easel boards, chalk and cleaning supplies to the teachers, the children mobbed individual soldiers bold enough to break open bags of candy. Spc. Sam Reagan laughed as the children swarmed, forcing him to raise his arms holding the candy higher and higher above the grasping arms of the children.

"They are like sharks. Good golly," Spc. Reagan, 37, of Oak Ridge, Tenn., said as he became enveloped by children shouting, "Mister, Mister," and "Give me. Give me."

Other soldiers examined the rotted wooden desks and made plans to use some of Camp Caldwell’s abundant supply of plywood to make new ones.

Sgt. Ed Cox, one of the Support Squadron soldiers present Sunday, said the regiment should teach the children how to take care of themselves even if it doesn’t happen overnight. "It is great giving them supplies and opening up schools," said Sgt. Cox, 42 from Alcoa, Tenn. "But what is going to happen when we leave?"

E-mail Lee Pitts at lpitts@timesfreepress.com

ON THE WEB Photos by U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Russell Lee Klika of the 278th Regimental Combat Team are available on the Times Free Press Web site. Visit http://www.timesfreepress.com /kp

U.S. Army Photo by Staff Sgt. Russell Lee Klika - Capt. James Hite of the 278th Regimental Combat Team’s 1st Squadron walks through a group of children at a school in Muolla, Iraq.

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