Looking back on a visit to Iraq 20 years ago with a group of Georgia heroes

It was just a small paragraph buried in the news briefs inside the paper stating that the U.S. was drawing down its mission in Iraq under an agreement with the Iraqi government. A Pentagon spokesman says the drawdown reflects “our combined success in fighting ISIS.” There were no details on the number of troops that have withdrawn or when the drawdown would be completed.

I ran across this item exactly 20 years to the day that I arrived in Iraq, specifically Camp Stryker in Baghdad, to spend time with members of Georgia’s 48th Brigade Combat Team. To say it was an unforgettable experience would be an understatement of immense proportions. I saw war up close and personal. Almost too close and very personal.

The 48th BCT was composed of Georgians from one end of the state to the other and from all kinds of backgrounds – mechanics, truck drivers, nurses, correction officers, schoolteachers, firefighters and postal workers – to mention just a few of the jobs they left behind in order to serve their country in a God-forsaken part of the world. When I arrived, the brigade had already lost 18 of its fellow Georgians since their deployment to Iraq. The brigade was commanded by Brigadier General C. Stewart Rodeheaver, a Great American. The general had previously been an aide to Georgia Sen. Mack Mattingly and a Georgia Power Company executive. Most of all, the general was a leader, a warrior who insisted on getting in the middle of the action with his men and mixing it up with the bad guys. He even hopped in a tank one day and went out looking for the bad guys himself.

During my time there, I sat in on meetings Gen. Rodeheaver held with members of the Iraqi army discussing preparations for a vote on a new constitution that was scheduled to be held the following week.

I visited a hospital clinic that had just opened. I saw members of the 48th BCT giving out shoes and clothing to the locals who had suffered such deprivation from the reign of terror imposed of them by Saddam Hussein. I saw our citizen-soldiers teaching Iraqis basic work skills. I also discovered war can get you killed.

I was invited to join a convoy as they swept through the notorious Triangle of Death — so called because of the terrorist activity in the area between the cities of Mahmudiayah, Yusifiyah and Lucafiyah — looking for IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices, or in layman’s terms, bombs.)

I was in the lead vehicle of our convoy, which included four Humvees with gunners and the Buffalo, an amazing 27-ton armored vehicle that probes for suspected IEDs and sends for a demolition team to destroy the real McCoys. The lead vehicle is most likely to draw fire from the bad guys. The crew said for that reason I might want to choose another spot in the convoy. Of course, hardheaded me wouldn’t listen to them. I should have.

We had begun our mission at 8:30 a.m. We hit an IED at 8:53. The device detonated on my side of the Humvee and just behind me. Sparks, smoke and asphalt were everywhere. Viewing the scene upon the return from our mission, it was amazing to see how large a crater the bomb had made in the road. I was told it looked like the equivalent of a couple of 155mm shells had exploded. Had the bad guys been five seconds faster or had we had been five seconds slower, there is a good chance I wouldn’t be sharing this experience with you this 20 years later.

Looking back today, a lot of people think it was an unnecessary war. No Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) were found – if they ever existed. Some 4,500 service members were killed and another 32,000 wounded. Saddam Hussein is gone. Good riddance. Today, the Iraqi government is listed as a republic, but with strong authoritarian overtones. And Iraq is still a dangerous place.

The citizen/soldiers of Georgia’s 48th Brigade Combat Team? They did their job in Iraq, came back home to rejoin their family and friends and get on with their lives.

The dictionary defines a hero as “embodying exceptional qualities like courage, nobility or ability, and performing selfless acts to help others, often in the face of adversity or danger.” That rightly describes Georgia’s 48th Brigade Combat Team. It has been 20 years since I last saw them, but I will never forget them. Heroes, one and all.

You can reach Dick Yarbrough at dick@dickyarbrough.com or at P.O. Box 725373, Atlanta, Georgia 31139.