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Desert Oasis

Aug-21-2009 » Filed Under: 1/25 SBCT

This is great - SSG Kevin Smith with 1-24 INF, 1/25 SBCT has cultivated a patch of green in the desert.

FORWARD OPERATING BASE GRIZZLY, Iraq - Grass sprouting in the courtyard of this small military base north of Baghdad is rooted in homefront struggles larger than the war.

"You've got to water it every day," said Staff Sgt. Kevin Smith, dutifully shifting the sprinkler to soak another portion of the startling green carpet sprouting near headquarters in this base in Iraq's Diyala Province. It's a bit of the Midwest in the Middle East.

Black, a 30-year-old former landscaper, has nurtured the desert lawn since "Duce Four," the 1-24th Infantry Regiment, withdrew from urban areas and consolidated at Grizzly about three weeks ago.


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