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Inside Iraq, a trip to a safe haven

Apr-28-2004 » Filed Under: Iraq News

[Link to Full Article]
By BILL NEMITZ, Portland Press Herald Staff Writer

DOHUK, Iraq - Every soldier should have this problem. Spc. Joshua Nalbandian of Scarborough has his truck running and ready to depart the thriving marketplace in the middle of this small northern Iraq city - but it's still too dangerous to move.

The kids won't get off the tailgate.

"Get back! C'mon guys, get back!" Nalbandian and his fellow soldiers shout, as a wave of Iraqi boys, all between 10 and 15, spill off the sidewalk and onto the first of three Humvees parked by the curb.

Finally, Sgt. Eric Currier of Bristol, N.H., gets out of the second truck and blows hard on a high-pitch whistle.

"Get down!" Currier roars.

The boys get the message. One by one - still smiling and begging for a bottle of water, an MRE (meal ready to eat), a dollar - they climb down and tumble back onto the sidewalk.

"Go ahead. Start rolling!" yells Spc. Peter Morrison of Scarborough, standing on the passenger-side running board as Nalbandian inches the lead Humvee away from the curb.

The day-long party - guaranteed whenever the men and women in the camouflage fatigues come to town - is almost over.

Once every week or so, a convoy of lucky soldiers from the Maine Army National Guard's 133rd Engineer Battalion leaves the perils of Mosul and drives 50 miles north to the pleasures of Dohuk.

Worth reading in full.


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