Saturday, July 30, 2005
Out Of The Action...
...onto your computer screens. I have heard again from my friend Jared Leinhart in Iraq -- this time with pictures!
Still cracking away in Iraq. Today we worked with the Iraqi Army again in going into a village that is suspected of housing terrorists. We stormed two schools as there are no classes (due to the heat) and it was suspected that terrorists are using the buildings to live in and hide weapons. The Iraqi Army guys are getting much better to work with and are progressing very well. Many of us have not officially been tasked, but still try to help train them. To us it means the quicker that they are up to speed the quicker we can go home and not have to come back. I have started becoming friends with the Iraqi battalion's intelligence officer. He speaks English pretty well. We talk about our love for our families and our countries.
I have attached 10 more pictures. Here's a little narrative for each:
Picture #1 shows a bomb makers lab we found in Mosul. They use the electronic equipment to rig 2-way radios, cordless phones, and cell phones to bombs. They then sell or issue these to other terrorists who plant them and then can be far away and wait for a US convoy to go by. They then call or contact these electronic devices which cause the explosives to detonate.
Picture #2 is a picture of SSG Tom Petri's door to his HMMWV. SSG Petri is my platoon sergent who seems to attract all sorts of attention. This was the 3rd time that insurgents had fired at him and the round here near him. In this one, it struck the door. As the armor is very thick, it only made a small dent and scratched the paint on the door. Gotta love good American steel!!!
Picture #3 is of the largest cache we found in Mosul. It was actually found in a rural area south of Mosul where many caches were found. The terrrorists would store them in the country so they don't get caught red-handed with them in their house. The many small round discs are Italian-made anti-tank mines. Each one of those little discs have enough explosives to flip a 2-ton HMMWV.
Picture #4 is SPC Israel Lopez manning the radio inside of an armored personnel carrier. Either that or he's trying to phone home!!!
Picture #5 is of a cookout that we had with EOD in Mosul. As we worked hand-in-hand with them, we got to know them very well. It was the first cookout that we were able to have and included some paying off of local workers to bring us some supplies we needed (meat, buns, etc). If you look real hard, that's me at the grill in the back.
Picture #6 is another picture of when we were in Mousl. This is one of our APC (armored personnel carrier). We actually prefer to be in the HMMWVs as they were faster and more resiliant than these things. These looked tough, but were made out of aluminum whereas the HMMWV is made out of steel.
Picture #7 shows several of the guys waiting to go on a mission while in Mosul. We had gotten the call of a possible IED so everyone geared up and waited by their vehicles. Finally the call came in that it was a confirmed IED, so off we went to go neutralize it. Pictured here from left to right is PFC Jason Landfald, SGT Joe Kolosci, SPC Brian Farlie, SPC Jay Cochran, SPC David Stone, SSG Marlin Wunder, SPC David Sendejas, and SPC Shaun Casto.
Picture #8 is another stop we made to hand out candy to the kids in Mosul.
Picture #9 is of an Iraqi Army soldier in Mosul guard in a combat outpost. By the date on it (Feb) it still could get a little chilly in the early morning.
Picture #10 is of us neutralizing an IED we found on the side of the road. Terrorists would lay these bags of bombs next to the road and wait for US troops to roll by and then they would detonate them. US troops have been doing a great job in spotting them before they get up to them which is saving numerous lives.
Well, I'll try to get some more put together to send out. God bless!
For God and Country, Jared
Still cracking away in Iraq. Today we worked with the Iraqi Army again in going into a village that is suspected of housing terrorists. We stormed two schools as there are no classes (due to the heat) and it was suspected that terrorists are using the buildings to live in and hide weapons. The Iraqi Army guys are getting much better to work with and are progressing very well. Many of us have not officially been tasked, but still try to help train them. To us it means the quicker that they are up to speed the quicker we can go home and not have to come back. I have started becoming friends with the Iraqi battalion's intelligence officer. He speaks English pretty well. We talk about our love for our families and our countries.
I have attached 10 more pictures. Here's a little narrative for each:
Picture #1 shows a bomb makers lab we found in Mosul. They use the electronic equipment to rig 2-way radios, cordless phones, and cell phones to bombs. They then sell or issue these to other terrorists who plant them and then can be far away and wait for a US convoy to go by. They then call or contact these electronic devices which cause the explosives to detonate. 
Picture #2 is a picture of SSG Tom Petri's door to his HMMWV. SSG Petri is my platoon sergent who seems to attract all sorts of attention. This was the 3rd time that insurgents had fired at him and the round here near him. In this one, it struck the door. As the armor is very thick, it only made a small dent and scratched the paint on the door. Gotta love good American steel!!!
Picture #3 is of the largest cache we found in Mosul. It was actually found in a rural area south of Mosul where many caches were found. The terrrorists would store them in the country so they don't get caught red-handed with them in their house. The many small round discs are Italian-made anti-tank mines. Each one of those little discs have enough explosives to flip a 2-ton HMMWV. 
Picture #4 is SPC Israel Lopez manning the radio inside of an armored personnel carrier. Either that or he's trying to phone home!!!
Picture #5 is of a cookout that we had with EOD in Mosul. As we worked hand-in-hand with them, we got to know them very well. It was the first cookout that we were able to have and included some paying off of local workers to bring us some supplies we needed (meat, buns, etc). If you look real hard, that's me at the grill in the back. 
Picture #6 is another picture of when we were in Mousl. This is one of our APC (armored personnel carrier). We actually prefer to be in the HMMWVs as they were faster and more resiliant than these things. These looked tough, but were made out of aluminum whereas the HMMWV is made out of steel. 
Picture #7 shows several of the guys waiting to go on a mission while in Mosul. We had gotten the call of a possible IED so everyone geared up and waited by their vehicles. Finally the call came in that it was a confirmed IED, so off we went to go neutralize it. Pictured here from left to right is PFC Jason Landfald, SGT Joe Kolosci, SPC Brian Farlie, SPC Jay Cochran, SPC David Stone, SSG Marlin Wunder, SPC David Sendejas, and SPC Shaun Casto. 
Picture #8 is another stop we made to hand out candy to the kids in Mosul. 
Picture #9 is of an Iraqi Army soldier in Mosul guard in a combat outpost. By the date on it (Feb) it still could get a little chilly in the early morning. 
Picture #10 is of us neutralizing an IED we found on the side of the road. Terrorists would lay these bags of bombs next to the road and wait for US troops to roll by and then they would detonate them. US troops have been doing a great job in spotting them before they get up to them which is saving numerous lives. Well, I'll try to get some more put together to send out. God bless!
For God and Country, Jared
