"We're not going to change the Iraqis. I don't care how many halal (Muslim) meals we give out."
"Morale is a roller coaster," said Lt. Rusten Currie, who has spent 10 months in Iraq. "We were all idealistic to begin with, wanting to find Osama bin Laden and (Abu Musab al-) Zarqawi, and bring them to justice — whatever that means. Now we just want to go home."
During this bloody fall, Maj. Robert Blessing, the 1-184 chaplain at Camp Falcon, talked to soldiers who were dealing with flashbacks and nightmares of mangled bodies. The official title of these sessions: "critical event debriefings."
"So many deaths, so many wounds," said the 47-year-old Blessing, his voice thickening with repressed tears. "Supposedly it's peacekeeping, but it's a war."
Although the battalion was getting ready to leave Iraq, the chaplain feared he would be talking to troubled soldiers for years to come.
"They're going back with all these memories," Blessing said. "The wound they carry back with them is the loss of innocence."
Thursday, November 24, 2005
U.S. morale in Iraq is marked 'fragile'
"Seeing friends die, injured is taking its toll on many American soldiers"
"We're not going to change the Iraqis. I don't care how many halal (Muslim) meals we give out."
"Morale is a roller coaster," said Lt. Rusten Currie, who has spent 10 months in Iraq. "We were all idealistic to begin with, wanting to find Osama bin Laden and (Abu Musab al-) Zarqawi, and bring them to justice — whatever that means. Now we just want to go home."
During this bloody fall, Maj. Robert Blessing, the 1-184 chaplain at Camp Falcon, talked to soldiers who were dealing with flashbacks and nightmares of mangled bodies. The official title of these sessions: "critical event debriefings."
"So many deaths, so many wounds," said the 47-year-old Blessing, his voice thickening with repressed tears. "Supposedly it's peacekeeping, but it's a war."
Although the battalion was getting ready to leave Iraq, the chaplain feared he would be talking to troubled soldiers for years to come.
"They're going back with all these memories," Blessing said. "The wound they carry back with them is the loss of innocence."
"We're not going to change the Iraqis. I don't care how many halal (Muslim) meals we give out."
"Morale is a roller coaster," said Lt. Rusten Currie, who has spent 10 months in Iraq. "We were all idealistic to begin with, wanting to find Osama bin Laden and (Abu Musab al-) Zarqawi, and bring them to justice — whatever that means. Now we just want to go home."
During this bloody fall, Maj. Robert Blessing, the 1-184 chaplain at Camp Falcon, talked to soldiers who were dealing with flashbacks and nightmares of mangled bodies. The official title of these sessions: "critical event debriefings."
"So many deaths, so many wounds," said the 47-year-old Blessing, his voice thickening with repressed tears. "Supposedly it's peacekeeping, but it's a war."
Although the battalion was getting ready to leave Iraq, the chaplain feared he would be talking to troubled soldiers for years to come.
"They're going back with all these memories," Blessing said. "The wound they carry back with them is the loss of innocence."
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