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U.S. troops returning to Iraq find something new: optimism
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| Contributor | kal |
| Last Edited | kal Jan 05, 2009 05:03am |
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| Category | News |
| News Date | Monday, January 5, 2009 11:00:00 AM UTC0:0 |
| Description | The violence of his past deployments in Iraq still haunts Daniel Clemons, a 32-year-old National Guard staff sergeant who's back for his third tour.
This time, however, Clemons, like a lot of returning U.S. troops, is encountering something new: political and security improvements so dramatic that he can imagine the war ending and his memories of past bloodshed dimming.
"I think it's winding down. I think I'll be able to let go of this place," said Clemons, who barely survived a 12-hour firefight in Baghdad's Sadr City district nearly four years ago.
Clemons, who's from Sacramento, Calif., now is with the 1st Battalion of the 184th Infantry Regiment, based in Modesto, Calif. The battalion lost 17 of its roughly 700 Baghdad-deployed troops in 2005, its last Iraq tour.
This time, it's stationed at a former Iraqi airfield in a safe corner of northern Iraq. Empty desert surrounds the base for miles, protecting the battalion from surprises.
The troops face dangers that are familiar from past deployments, mainly homemade bombs, but they encounter them far less frequently. They drive heavily armored vehicles that give them protection they didn't have from those threats in previous tours.
Their new assignment has them traveling to volatile cities, such as Mosul and Kirkuk, to guard long supply convoys. The two companies from the 1st Battalion of the 184th Infantry Regiment have run across a few homemade bombs — the military calls them "improvised explosive devices" — but none that's done any damage.
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