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Along the Silk Road, troops find hope

Oct-18-2006 » Filed Under: 3/2 SBCT

SEAN COCKERHAM; The News Tribune

HATRA, IRAQ – Remains of the giant columns, temples and fortifications of the 2,600-year-old city of Hatra tower over the Iraqi desert.

This was a major city along the Silk Road. Hatra sent caravans of traders throughout the Middle East with spices, woodwork and gems. It was a tolerant center of diverse religions that twice repulsed Roman invaders.

Now the 1st Battalion of the 37th Field Artillery Regiment from Fort Lewis does daily combat patrols in the area, and religious tolerance is hard to come by. Just a month ago, a suicide car bomber killed several people in the neighboring settlement of al-Hatra.

But the U.S. soldiers draw inspiration from the beautiful ruins, hoping someday they can be a world-renowned center of tourism.

“It’s remarkable that it’s still standing in a place of pretty much chaos,” said Capt. Alex Aquino, a 26-year-old who lived in Tacoma before the Stryker brigade deployed in July. “It’s like there is some hope, if this thing can last after all the stuff that has happened in Iraq.”

The places where Fort Lewis and other U.S. soldiers are fighting in Iraq are exceptionally rich in history. Cities might be garbage-strewn battle zones now, but this is still Mesopotamia, known as the cradle of civilization. [...]


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