Buffiniraq

I am back in Greenville and doing my best to catch up to my son's last year before
becoming an official "teenager" and all that that entails...LOL
To say I missed my bride and all my family and friends is an understatement.
You all were a blessing to me knowing you were there to help my bride if/whenever needed.
I am forever grateful.

Upon leaving Baghdad, I felt it appropriate to say "Farewell" to my colleagues and soldiers
who have made such an impact on 24 million Iraqis while dealing with those who are bent
on "world domination" at any cost... Below are my observations written to and for them as
one blessed to have "walked with them through the sands" of this historical event...

My tour in Diyala Province (2005-2006) and the one just completed in Baghdad (2007-2008)
have both been overwhelmingly memorable. In each deployment, it was the people I had met,
observed and worked with that I will forever remember. I am reminded of our United States
history when I state that you all—Soldiers, civilians and Iraqis (Sunni, Shia, Kurd, Christian)—
are an awesome group of individuals much like our forefathers.

In 1775, we Americans were disparate groups of English, Irish, Germans, Italians, Africans,
Protestants, Catholics, Jews, etc...charting an unknown course but believing in unity there
was strength. So 232 years later, here we find ourselves going through another historical
experience helping other “disparate” groups trying to follow our footsteps to become what
our forefathers described back then as,

“We the People... establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common
defense, promote the general welfare….” (Preamble to the United States Constitution, 1787)

As volunteers in this historic reconstruction mission in Iraq, you all have worked together with
many courageous Iraqis to help so many others in this war-torn country. You and your families
have unselfishly shown that in the years to come, the Iraqi people’s desire for freedom and
prosperity can become a reality.

Another more recent similarity comes to mind. Back in the 1920’s, “Tammany Hall” was a
euphemism applied by the press for the Irish immigrants who ran New York City. For many
Italian immigrants (my grandfather being one) coming to America to work, Little Italy in the
heart of New York City was their first stop. There they met with the benevolent “Godfather.”
His role was to help the Irish pols find good immigrants with skills to build the city into what
it has become today.

When I recently visited our projects in the Baghdad Al Doura neighborhood (or Mahalla 840) with Capt. Cooke, I saw many Iraqi men, young and old, come up to him and pay their respects reminding me of my grandfather's stories of his experience during the “roaring 20’s”. These folks were thanking Capt Cooke for all he and his soldiers had done to clear the Mahalla of Al Queda in hopes that one day that part of south Baghdad will become a safe and prosperous "new Babylon" . Walking down the main Street # 25 of M840 in January 2008, with our Soldiers was all I needed to appreciate the difference since my second trip back in Feb. 2007. Back then, it wasn’t even safe to get out of the Humvee much less walk the empty main streets. Where 250,000 people lived there wasn’t a soul to be seen. Now, to see the children interacting with our Soldiers and the Iraqi adults chatting with Capt. Cooke as if he were the
“godfather” of M840, was an overwhelming sight to behold.

Similarly, not many folks back in 1775 gave our forefathers or their families much hope that they could ever make this thing called “freedom of, by and for the people” work, but like them, you
persevered in finding ways to make freedom for the Iraqi people become a reality. I am profoundly honored to know and have rubbed shoulders with such a group and will forever be humbled by the efforts of just a relatively few good men and women helping the Iraqi people accomplish extraordinary things under sometimes brutal and oftentimes difficult circumstances.

Finally, there is no “blue book” or roadmap for our men and women to follow here, just as there wasn’t any for our forefathers. Your determination and perseverance against all odds (and naysayers) made their hunger for freedom happen. So when one considers what it must have been like for our forefathers and compares it to what the Capt. Cooke’s of our military and our civilians have accomplished in less than 5 years, one can only come to the realization that our men and women, under these brutal circumstances, have done a profoundly successful job. We can all take a great deal of pride from that.

The message you send throughout the world is loud and clear. It is about patriotism, honor and selfless service to the noble cause of helping others, as it was written long ago,
“Do unto others as I have done unto you.” (Luke 6:30-36)

Thank you all for your unselfish service and for giving this 40+ years former combat engineer (1964-1966) one last chance to help you make "footprints in the sand" and
“...go where there is no path and leave a trail.” (Ralph Waldo Emerson,1802-1882).