9/11

Kosovo Firefighters at a 9/11 Memorial

Ever wonder if you'd ever remember where you were when 9/11 took place?  It's one of those old adages that started back in the 1800s after Lincoln was assassinated.  For years people would talk about where they were and what they were doing when they first heard the news.  To many the next one was Pearl Harbor, then Kennedy's assassination - then of course 9/11.  I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing because it just so happened that I was in the middle of a Muslim Country - Kosovo - when we got the news about the planes and the World Trade Centers.  Everybody's got a story about that day.  Mine's just another - with a twist.  

The world generally felt sorry for us.  I mean 'Really.' Fly planes into buildings?  Make a statement by hitting the financial, military structures, then mess up when a brave bunch of Americans decided that whatever the intent of the hijackers of flight 93 was, they weren't going to let them go through with it so they took over the plane and the Muslim terrorists flew it into a field in my home state of PA?   So the (probable) plan to fly into the Capital building or the White House didn't pan out.  "Let's Roll" Todd Beamer.  Google his name...

The Mayor at that time - Guiliani - said something significant today.  When asked what could the Firemen do to get the people out of the building, the Chief said, "I can save everyone below the fire."

The Mayor then knew the truth with nothing more need being said - he was going to have to watch people jump to their deaths above the fire because there was no way to save them.  No one could get up the stairs and helicopters couldn't get close because of the heat...And I'm supposed to be tolerant? 

We got alot of attention from our Allies in Kosovo and from the civilian authorities.  We also got a little uptight too.  Rumors spread all over that we would be heading to Afghanistan directly from Kosovo since we were close and the trouble brewing there had to be handled.  We had our own mission (2nd Brigade) though since trouble was still brewing in Kosovo and the Former Republic of Yugoslavia so the 3rd Brigade of the 101st went instead - with alot of Army Rangers.    One of the impressive things that happened was as the 3rd Brigade was flying North from Fort Campbell the airline pilots of the planes purposely flew over New York City and the site where the Trade Centers used to be just so the Soldiers could see what they were going over there for.  The site was still smoking...

Senior Imam in Kosovo. 
Meeting in Pristina

Some of the pictures I posted here were taken after the attack.  We had a huge service attended by many Allies.  The picture with the flowers and Red Cross are the Camp Bondsteel Kosovar Firefighters at a Memorial they conducted in honor of the New York City Ladder Teams.  The video is of the British BlackWatch Piper Team as they did a parade around Camp Bondsteel and the Kosovo Firemen put an American flag draped casket on top of the fire truck that the Pipers led around the post. 

The other picture is of me with the Senior Imam of Kosovo.  We had a regularly scheduled meeting with the Allied Clergy (my boss over there was from Sweden).  We met in the Imam's Office building next to the Mosque.  There were Greeks, Poles, Germans, etc. present, as well as a number of Imams from around the country.  There was tea and alot of talking when the Imam all of a sudden stopped the meeting and told me to come and sit by him.  I guess he wanted everyone to hear what he was going to say - and that was simply, "I am sorry for what happened to your Country."  "Those people do not represent Islam."   I accepted the apology of course.  And we drank some more tea.  Burning question remains though:  Where are all these moderate Imams today?

They did feed us - but no way I was gonna eat that guy..

Postscript:  The 2nd Brigade, 101st Airborne remained in Kosovo to protect the Muslims from the Yugoslavs - people forget that...

Slimed by the 3rd Infantry Tankers - Baghdad Hillbillies - Wal-Mart tarp - the Shamal

Sometimes life is on the edge - other times it just sucks...I had that same "it sucks" experience in early 2003 when I found out that the 101st Airborne Division was deploying to Kuwait in anticipation of an invasion of Iraq.  To the left are my 'peeps' who were with me in Kuwait and in the vehicle all the way to Mosul.   The guy on the left is a senior warrant officer who flew Chinooks and the other guy flew Blackhawks.  Me - I'm in the middle.  They are armed, I am not.  To the left of my Chinook buddy is the tarp I brought with me that I bought at Wal-Mart.  I intended to use it as a floor for any tent I may have found myself in since I was in the Middle East in 1990-1993.
We ended up using it as a cover for the back of the vehicle to hopefully keep the dust off our equipment, water and MREs (it didn't work).  No good against IEDs either and particularly no good against those darn Hammer Division 3rd Infantry guys and their tanks rolling past us in the race to Baghdad.  It was their fault I'm still adverse to anything to do with dust and sand altogether.  We put the Wal-Mart tarp on the vehicle a few minutes after someone took the first picture and you can see it to the right.  To the left you can see one of those 3rd Infantry Tank guys sliming us which was pretty much an hourly occurance.

Anyway, it was during this wonderful time that that four day 'shamal' windstorm, hell from Mars hit.  I was in the 101st Division Plans Cell in the Assault Command Post (ACP) with General David Petraeus and the best Division Chaplain in all the world Chaplain Ken Brown.  He sent me ahead with the ACP to ensure we had coverage up front.  My best friend of all MAJ Tim Quillen was with me all the way and the plans cell had helicoptered up from the Division Main Command post (which was so large it supposedly could be viewed from space), and they barely made it because the 'shamal' was starting.  Miserable?  Uhhh - YES!  Ever been in a place where the large tent you are in is shaking violently - sand is pouring in from every corner of the thing?
The computers are so dusty that we're using PAINT BRUSHES!!! to keep them clean?  No, you haven't.  And we're in the middle of quite literally NOWHERE!  A place where you crawl into your tent and there is mud on the floor but it hasn't rained?  Just for the fun of it, I took a picture (left) of the inside of our tent in Kuwait (this is before the 'shamal' in Iraq), when I woke up one night and while lifting my head a few inches I bump into something - and that something turns out to be a tent pole that had fallen over and was inches from bashing me in the head!  Anyway - it sucked - but I've already talked about this in another blog.

But here we are in the Iraqi version of a 'shamal,'  a REALLY bad sandstorm - like Lawrence of Arabia kind of bad sandstorm.  It rains for two whole minutes and there is so much dust in the air that when the rains cuts through it it turns to mud and that mud hits the ground for a grand 2-3 minutes - perfect timing to mess up just about everything.  Tents rattle for three days.  Mud is all over.  The sky is blood red.  Helicopters can't fly and my friend Tim Quillin and the other planners have to land somewhere else and bus in because of the bad winds.  No day for almost four days.  We are all NOT in a happy mood.  But we make it through.  BG Freakley lets the newspaper guys sleep in his tent since they had nowhere to go.  And the one writer found out he won a Pulitizer Prize while he was in that tent.
Anyway - I got to my HUMVEE that night and was just about through with it all.  I couldn't show it but I was beat.  We hadn't slept for about three days or so just to get here and we are downing the Instant Taster's Choice coffee right out of the packet just to stay awake.  Then in pops Tim Quillin - wondering if he could get an MRE because he was hungry - really?  He's one of those brilliant always moving minds that can put things where they belong.  We sat and talked for awhile and he left - I got into my mud hut and went to sleep - I to this day don't know how - and someone remarked after we returned that we were lucky to get out of their alive -I don't know how we did.
One of my enduring memories those days was praying with BG Freakley before he went out on a recon.  And seeing GEN William Wallace, Commander of V Corps, sitting on the ground with MG Petraeus going over maps of all things and strategizing how we were going to take Baghdad - or (I think) how to deal with those towns we by-passed along the way in our march to the Capital of the Persian Empire (Karbala, An Najaf, etc.).
The next day - the sun was out - the wind had stopped - we peeled off the chemical suits we had on for days and generally did some cleaning up.  There's a lesson here friends.  It's written on faces.