Troops’ ‘Real Christmas’ Awaits the Return Home

BAGHDAD —  The first stroke of Christmas found 100 soldiers of U.S. Army Task Force 2-70 conducting a house-to-house search for mortar rounds and for the guerrillas who regularly fire them at the armored battalion’s base, dubbed Thunderdome.

Four hours later, fellow soldiers were steering immense, 70-ton Abrams tanks onto the streets and highways of western Baghdad hunting for any new roadside bombs, a main cause of casualties.

At 2 p.m., units rushed to investigate two suspected car bombs, the lethal Dec. 15 explosion in front of the Amiriyah police station still fresh in their memories. Two hours later, just as some soldiers were sitting down to a belated Christmas lunch, reports filtered in about a rocket attack at a neighborhood bank. Off sped a dozen soldiers to investigate.

“This is just another day of trying to survive,” said Sgt. Timothy Leak of Greensboro, N.C., a tank commander.

So it went on Christmas Day for the 1st Armored Division’s 2nd Battalion, 70th Armored Regiment, or “2-70,” the most battle-hardened unit currently in Iraq -- one of many still waging a deadly 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week fight.

“A day here is like a week anywhere else,” said battalion commander Col. Lee Quintas.

However distracted, soldiers found time to observe Christmas in a fashion. Some participated in a brief nondenominational service. Others welcomed a Santa Claus bearing gag gifts. All took their holiday meal in the drab, olive-green mess tent enlivened by Christmas decor sent by family members from Kansas. Red and green crepe and Santa posters festooned the metal framing.

During the day, soldiers received raffled presents, including compact disc players and phone cards. Other gifts were less alluring. One was a “free chewing out by the sergeant major.”

Also raffled off were one left-handed golf club and a 5-pound block of fruitcake, a “family heirloom donated by Capt. [Jade] Hinman.”

Before lunch, Quintas briefly addressed the troops, reminding them that since the beginning of the Army’s history, troops have served “away from our homes at Christmas.”

He invoked Valley Forge, the Battle of the Bulge and the run-up to the 1991 Persian Gulf War. “In all those cases, it was the right thing to do, a fight that had to be done,” Quintas said.

On Thursday, like every other day here, the troops -- some of the 112,000 American soldiers stationed in Iraq -- couldn’t afford to let their guard down. As the hours wore on, they discharged the same dangerous, nerve-racking duties they have faced since their armored column arrived in Baghdad in April following a bloody, three-week sprint from Kuwait.

The nonstop pace has taken a toll. “It’s a drain to maintain this readiness level at all times,” said Capt. Bradley Loudon, the battalion adjutant. “Guys are tired.”

The unit was among the first “over the berm” at the border when the invasion started March 20 and, unlike all other combat units that helped launch the assault, is still here. Asked why, Sgt. John Solis said: “We are the lost battalion.”

Over time, the unit has remained in harm’s way, its 44 tanks running a gantlet of mortar fire, rocket-propelled grenades and bombs in cars and in their path. Small wonder that the battalion’s casualty rate -- 10% of its 600 troops have been killed or wounded -- is among the highest of American forces.

“I’ve performed eight last rites. I hope there won’t be any more,” said battalion chaplain Capt. Glenn Palmer, referring to the unit’s troops who have died in the conflict.

On Christmas Eve, Palmer led 25 soldiers in prayer, Scripture readings and carols. Several soldiers said in interviews that “real Christmas” will come only after they and their weary comrades finally return home to Ft. Riley, Kan., in February.

Tank commander Lt. Ryan Simonson of Sarasota, Fla., said, “You have to think of Christmas as just another day. Easier yet as just Thursday. My wife and I will celebrate Christmas in March.”

The people in coalition headquarters “may have the day off,” Leak said, “but we can’t lose focus on the mission for a second.”

Soldiers let out some stress on Christmas morning with three hours of touch football. “It relieves the frustrations and shows the camaraderie among the platoons,” said Spc. Brian Wright of Orlando, Fla.

But the troops’ stress level is a source of growing concern for Army brass. The division command has arranged for soldiers returning to Ft. Riley to undergo counseling “to help them process what they have been through,” said Palmer, the chaplain, and to work half-days for the first two weeks.

“We’ve seen a lot of bad stuff, a lot of dead people. I’ll try to forget it,” said Spc. Bart Viers of Myrtle Beach, S.C. “You realize how fragile life is.”

Still, Palmer worries that a year of tension will result in scattered cases of domestic and drug abuse. “I’m afraid once they get home they will cut loose.”

Several soldiers said they were using Christmas Day mainly to remember fallen comrades such as Master Sgt. William Payne, 46, known as a father figure for young soldiers, who was killed May 16 by unexploded ordnance he was clearing from a playground.

“He was old-school Army. He would ask you about your job and if you didn’t know it, he’d help you learn without degrading you,” said Sgt. James Hower of Harrisburg, Pa.

Others recalled included Spc. Brandon Rowe, who died March 31 in a battle at Hillah, the unit’s most intense fight, to secure a northward route to Baghdad; Capt. James Schull, killed Nov. 17 by a sniper’s bullet just a few weeks after his arrival; and Spc. Larry Brown, who fell in the battle for Karbala on April 5.

These days, the battalion’s duties include maintaining order in the area surrounding the old Abu Ghraib prison, which was emptied by Saddam Hussein prior to the invasion. Many freed criminals have stayed in the neighborhood and are involved in robberies, extortion and kidnapping, Quintas said.

The difficulty of maintaining order here is one reason the battalion has not been relieved, several officers said. “We literally own the worst part of Baghdad. Who is going to replace us? Nobody wants it,” said Hinman of Susanville, Calif.

The battalion also must deal with remnants of the Saddam Fedayeen who once occupied the Thunderdome base, now a bleak, postapocalyptic site surrounded by 15-foot concrete walls.

“Each neighborhood has a personality and varies drastically from block to block,” said Simonson. “On one street, people might come out of their houses and offer you tea and take your picture. Then you go around the corner where people will just stare at you, or drive a car to keep you from entering their street or throw a hand grenade over the wall at you.”

On Christmas Day, many of the battalion’s young soldiers spoke about their horrific experiences in Iraq and said the holiday had given them reason to pause and reflect on the fragility of life and how good most Americans have it.

“I’m trying not to think of the bad things, like the people who were killed,” said Spc. David Refior of Lexington, Neb. “I’m thinking about my wife and children’s safety and getting out of here.”