TwinMom7
Proud Mom of a United States Marine
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April 28, 2003
Marines Turned Away at Gates of Babylon
POSTWAR IRAQ: DESERT DISPATCH
By FRED DODD
AD DIWANIYAH, Iraq -- South Bend Marines left camp Sunday morning to visit biblically historic Babylon only to be turned away at the gates, apparently because an earlier group of U.S. soldiers had tried to pry something off the walls. As a result, the unit was told U.S. forces have been banned from the site.
The Marines were looking forward to the sightseeing trip to give them something to do and to get them away from their bivouac site at Al Qadisiya University for a while.
"I enjoyed it even though we didn't get to go in," said Cpl. Dan Miller, 22, of South Bend. "At least we got to see the palace at Babylon from afar. We saw the outer walls, some cities on the way there, and we got to interact a little with some of the people.
"They seem a lot friendlier than I would've expected. It seems like they're almost grateful that we're here."
The most exciting part of Operation Iraqi Freedom for Miller was when he served as part of the security team that took Iraqi Freedom Fighter Ali Al Emeri back to his hometown after a 12-year absence.
"Having all of those little kids mob us was really cool, especially the way they interacted with the Marines. They really seemed to appreciate our presence."
Saturday night at around 11 much of the company was awakened because a huge pile of packages had been delivered for the Marines. Maj. Leon Bertschy II, 42, of Niles, received several packages. "This is like Christmas, Hanukkah and Easter all rolled into one," he said as he dug through boxes using a flashlight to see what he's doing, since there's no electricity on campus.
"The battalion called us and said you have a bunch of packages," said Sgt. McArthur Davidson, 32, of Ligonier. "We went over there and half the office was filled with packages for our boys."
"It used to be if you had a package you were the man, now everyone has packages," said Lance Cpl. Kevin Ford, 24, of York, Pa. "You can't even give stuff away anymore."
Marines Turned Away at Gates of Babylon
POSTWAR IRAQ: DESERT DISPATCH
By FRED DODD
AD DIWANIYAH, Iraq -- South Bend Marines left camp Sunday morning to visit biblically historic Babylon only to be turned away at the gates, apparently because an earlier group of U.S. soldiers had tried to pry something off the walls. As a result, the unit was told U.S. forces have been banned from the site.
The Marines were looking forward to the sightseeing trip to give them something to do and to get them away from their bivouac site at Al Qadisiya University for a while.
"I enjoyed it even though we didn't get to go in," said Cpl. Dan Miller, 22, of South Bend. "At least we got to see the palace at Babylon from afar. We saw the outer walls, some cities on the way there, and we got to interact a little with some of the people.
"They seem a lot friendlier than I would've expected. It seems like they're almost grateful that we're here."
The most exciting part of Operation Iraqi Freedom for Miller was when he served as part of the security team that took Iraqi Freedom Fighter Ali Al Emeri back to his hometown after a 12-year absence.
"Having all of those little kids mob us was really cool, especially the way they interacted with the Marines. They really seemed to appreciate our presence."
Saturday night at around 11 much of the company was awakened because a huge pile of packages had been delivered for the Marines. Maj. Leon Bertschy II, 42, of Niles, received several packages. "This is like Christmas, Hanukkah and Easter all rolled into one," he said as he dug through boxes using a flashlight to see what he's doing, since there's no electricity on campus.
"The battalion called us and said you have a bunch of packages," said Sgt. McArthur Davidson, 32, of Ligonier. "We went over there and half the office was filled with packages for our boys."
"It used to be if you had a package you were the man, now everyone has packages," said Lance Cpl. Kevin Ford, 24, of York, Pa. "You can't even give stuff away anymore."
