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Making a difference

Oct-18-2004 » Filed Under: 3/2 SBCT

[Link to Full Article]
By Jed Babbin, SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES

[...] Spc. Herman Breuer of Warren, Ohio, patrols Mosul with fellow members of the Pennsylvania National Guard's Alpha Company, 1st of the 107th Military Police Brigade.

Mosul, 225 miles north of Baghdad, in recent days has seen another surge in deadly insurgent attacks against U.S. troops and Iraqis, including children.

Spc. Breuer, 36, first joined the Army in 1990. He re-enlisted last year but admits to having been a bit surprised when the 107th, based in Newcastle, Pa., got orders for Iraq in February.

It was hard to leave his wife, Tara, and children, Bailey, 5, and Emily, 10 months. The strain is relieved by his Guard unit's access to e-mail and Web cams. Spc. Breuer talks with his wife "pretty regularly," at least by computer linkup.

Is morale low among troops in Mosul?

"Quite the contrary. It just can't be," Spc. Breuer says in a Sept. 29 interview, before the renewed violence. "The fact of the matter is that what we do every day is extremely dangerous.

"If you have low morale and you're hanging your head low," he adds, "you can't do the job."

Spc. Nikolas Keefer, 21, also in Alpha Company, was studying at Indiana University of Pennsylvania in his hometown of Indiana, Pa., when he was called up.

"This is the best job rolling," Spc. Keefer says, although when he and his buddies go out on patrol in Mosul, it's "serious business."

"I'm a pretty low guy on the totem pole," says Spc. Keefer, who is single. "But from what I understand, we seem to be accomplishing all our goals, one by one, here. It's gonna be a long process, but so far we're doing really good work."


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