News Article

By: BILL JONES/Staff Writer
Source: The Greeneville Sun
06-16-2005

MOSHEIM — Sgt. Joe Morehouse asked the children he was speaking to Wednesday night if any of them wanted to return to Iraq with him when his leave ends.

"I do," his 3-year-old son Ryan replied.

"Well, I’ll take you." responded Sgt. Morehouse, who is scheduled to return to Iraq on June 27.

Morehouse, a Tennessee Army National Guardsman who is home on leave from duty in Iraq, presented a Children’s Church program at the Central United Methodist Church here on Wednesday evening.

Using a globe and photos taken in Iraq earlier this year, Sgt. Morehouse spoke for about 15 minutes to the audience of children that also included his daughter, Abigail, 7. He talked to them about his experiences in Iraq with the 278th Regimental Combat Team.

Among the adults watching as he spoke to the children who clustered around a small table were Morehouse’s wife, Melissa, and mother-in-law, Elaine Coleman.

Also watching his presentation were Billie Fox, mother of Children’s Church participants Corey and Preston Fox and niece of Sgt. Sammy Dunaway, who is serving with Morehouse in Iraq.

Sgt. Morehouse began his presentation by showing the children on a globe where the United States is located, then rotated the globe and pointed out Iraq’s location, which he told the children is "not quite halfway around the world."

He said, "Right here between Baghdad and Kirkuk is where I live now." Sgt. Morehouse said he is serving at Forward Operating Base Bernstein in Iraq as a scout with the 2nd Squadron of the 278th Regimental Combat Team.

About 15 other former members of Greeneville-based Troop G are serving with him, he said.

Soccer Balls And Pens

Sgt. Morehouse said during an interview that 278th RCT soldiers often distributed donated shoes and toys to Iraqi children.

The two items the children seem to most enjoy receiving, he said, are soccer balls and ink pens.

"I always carry a cheap pen in my body armor because I know some child is going to say 'Mister, mister, give me a pen,'" Sgt. Morehouse said during the interview.

During his Wednesday evening presentation to the Children’s Church group in Mosheim, Sgt. Morehouse also showed the children photos that showed him in Iraq. One photo showed him standing in a dry riverbed.

Another showed him beside an armored HUMVEE military vehicle.

"That’s my truck," he told the children. "I love my truck."

During a separate interview, Sgt. Morehouse said the heat generated by the truck’s engine, when combined with high outside temperatures in Iraq, often raised temperatures inside the military vehicles up to the 120-degree range. The only way to cope with the heat, he said, is to "drink a lot of water."

He noted that the hottest weather of the year has not yet arrived in Iraq. Sgt. Morehouse also told the children that it also gets cold in winter in Iraq.

"Believe it or not, it gets really cold," he said. "We even had snow. It didn’t stick on the ground. But it snowed."

Palace Photos

Sgt. Morehouse also showed the children a photo of one of Saddam Hussein's former palaces in Iraq. He noted that the palace had been converted into a recreation center for U.S. troops.

"We can watch Monday Night Football there," he said.

In addition, he showed the children photos taken of him while he was visiting a lake in northern Iraq last February during a recreation break.

"It’s actually really, really nice," he said. "It reminds me more of Europe than the Middle East. There are mountains and trees, and I got to go to this lake for four days." During the interview, Sgt. Morehouse said visits to the recreation area in the Kurdish part of northern Iraq have since been suspended because it was taking too long for soldiers to travel to and from the area.

A scheduled four-day visit was taking up to two weeks to complete because of logistical difficulties, he said.

Sgt. Morehouse also showed the children a photo of him standing atop a concrete bunker at daybreak.

"This is where I and Corey and Preston’s uncle live," he said. "We live in this bunker. It's concrete, and it's underground. It's like living in a big old cellar."

He added that the bunker has air conditioning.

Riding Donkeys

As the children listened on Wednesday evening, Sgt. Morehouse reminded them of Bible stories about Jesus having ridden donkeys and told the children that many people in Iraq still ride donkeys.

"A lot of things are still like they were back in Bible times (in Iraq), except they (the Iraqis) have satellite dishes on their houses," he said. "They live in mud huts, and they ride donkeys back and forth to work, but they do have television and satellite dishes."

Near the end of his presentation, Sgt. Morehouse asked Corey and Preston Fox if they had anything they wanted him to tell their uncle, Sammy Dunaway.

"I see him every single day," Sgt. Morehouse said. "I'll tell him you said 'howdy.'" During a Wednesday evening interview, Sgt. Morehouse said he is a native of Morehead, Ky., and that he has lived in Greene County since 1998.

Sgt. Morehouse noted that he had been working to complete a degree in accounting at East Tennessee State University when Greeneville-based Troop G and the rest of the Tennessee Army National Guard’s 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment was called to active a year ago.

"If I had been able to attend summer school last year, I could have graduated last December," he said, noting that he hopes to resume his studies after the 278th returns from Iraq.

The unit is scheduled to spend a year in Iraq. The tour of duty should be up in December, but could be extended.

In response to a question, Sgt. Morehouse said the time since the Troop G soldiers left Greeneville on Father's Day 2004 for training at Camp Shelby, Miss., had passed more quickly that he had expected.

"You would be surprised how fast time goes by in Iraq," he said. "They keep us pretty busy."

Community Thanked

At the conclusion of the interview, Sgt. Morehouse said he appreciates the support local National Guardsmen have received from the community while they are serving in Iraq.

"I would like to express my gratitude to everyone in the Greene County and Mosheim area for all the support," he said. "It means a lot when you’re in a place like that (Iraq) and not having to worry about your family being taken care of back here. The community is just A-1, number one."

Sun Photo by Jim Feltman - Sgt. Joe Morehouse, right, a Tennessee National Guardsman who is home on leave from duty in Iraq, shows photos taken in Iraq to Children’s Church participants at Mosheim’s Central United Methodist Church on Wednesday evening. The children, pictured from left, are Ryan Morehouse, Sgt. Morehouse’s son; Corey Fox; Preston Fox; Abigail Morehouse, Sgt. Morehouse’s daughter; Cole Ellenburg; Hannah English and Hailee English. In the background at left is Traci Ellenburg, a church member and Morehouse family friend. Sgt. Morehouse, a member of Greeneville-based Troop G of the Tennessee Army National Guard’s 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment, is scheduled to return to Iraq on June 27.

Story Copyright to The Greeneville Sun