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Also in this section:
Racing Toward Baghdad, Singing
of Home
By JONATHAN FOREMAN in Iraq
April 03, 2003
The 54th Engineers were keyed up and prepared for an ambush yesterday as they headed into the Karbala Gap - the last stepping stone to Baghdad. They had been warned that elements of the Iraqi military and paramilitary thugs would very likely try to thwart their advance.
In their chemical suits, guns at hand, the U.S. troops were ready for anything and feared the worst - being "slimed" with chemical weapons as they traversed the corridor, driving nearer to their goal.
But the daylong crawl through the 20-mile-wide gap ended
without their hearing a shot fired by Saddam's militia - the men they
call "a - - holes in pickup trucks." Equipment breakdowns and
traffic jams were the only problems.
They were both disappointed and relieved.
"Half my platoon is itching to get into a firefight," said Sgt. Kenneth Oberlin, 34. "But I'd be happy not to hear a shot fired in this whole war. I've got too much to live for. I've got a wife and kid."
The ride through the Karbala Gap had started at 2 a.m. - an hour after the troops awoke to see the whole sky light up with waves of rocket fire. It was the cover for the 69th Armored Regiment taking Karbala, clearing the way for their convoy.
As they approached the city which sits astride the gap,
word came over the radio that it had been secured by coalition forces.
Pressing on, the convoy passed a group of POWs, some enemy munitions,
and the burned-out hulk of a U.S. armored personnel carrier that either
had been destroyed by enemy fire, or had broken down and been demolished
to make it useless.
When they finally got through the gap, they were within
50 miles of Baghdad. They knew it immediately. Lt. Colin Raymond, 23,
of Pittsburgh and his buddy Scott Kreike, 25, of Washington state, bouncing
along in the back of a cargo Humvee, spontaneously broke into song - an
old John Denver tune:
Country road, take me home
To the place I belong
They were through the gap and weren't stopping. They drove
on, bound for their next objective - one we can't reveal, except to say
it will require their expertise as engineers and bring them closer to
Baghdad. And home.
And they continued singing, this time Simon and Garfunkel:
Homeward bound
I wish I was
Homeward bound
Home, where my thought's escaping
Home, where my music's playing
Home, where my love lies waiting
Silently for me.
----
MY MESSAGE TO THE TROOPS
'As the wife of a soldier in Iraq, I want to offer my thanks for the courage
our troops are showing and for the sacrifices they are making. They need
our support, not our criticism.' -Debbie Ray, Augusta, Ga.