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‘Buck buck’ for luck

Sep-23-2006 » Filed Under: Stryker Vehicle

By Anita Powell, Stars and Stripes

How does Lt. Col. Al Kelly tell his Stryker apart from others on Baghdad’s streets?

By looking for ‘buck buck,’ the fake plastic duck he’s mounted on the front hatch of the massive vehicle.

“Iraqi kids call it ‘buck buck,’” he said, imitating the sound a duck makes.

He’s also decorated the vehicle with a horseshoe, and a toy eagle.

“He has an eagle eye,” Kelly said. With the eagle, he said, “We spotted a lot of [roadside bombs] before we hit them.”

And what about the fake mallard?

Well, Kelly explained, after being hit by 13 roadside bombs and four snipers over the last year, “I figured I was a sitting duck.”


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