NG in Iraq Stunned By Katrina Devastation

[steve2470]

http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,76325,00.html


Associated Press | August 30, 2005
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Normally, it is the families of U.S. soldiers serving in Iraq who worry about their safety. But since Hurricane Katrina roared ashore, it's been the other way around: National Guard troops from Gulf coast states sit glued to television sets in Iraq, worried about families and friends back home.

"It's a significant emotional event. Their families are on the forefront of the disaster," said Lt. Col. Jordan Jones of the 141st Field Artillery of the Louisiana National Guard.

"They're all watching TV and some have seen their neighborhoods completely submerged in water," said Jones.

Much of the Louisiana and Mississippi coast have been devastated by the storm. Water has been rising in New Orleans since Tuesday morning, apparently because of a break on a levee along a canal leading to Lake Pontchartrain.
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[Reverend_Smitty]

1. it must be terrible for the guardsmen over there

they basically signed up for situations just like Katrina, and now they are half way around the world worried sick about their families and unable to help their neighbors. Not to mention how much their neighbors need them right now

[Ian David]

8. I think bout 3,000 more guardsmen will be voting Democrat in 2006 n/t

[hippiechick]

2. How frustrated they must feel ...

... that may have been many of their original motivations to join the NG - protecting at home, as it were ... and now they're stuck in a sandbox halfway across the planet, chasing George's folly, while their friends, families and neighbors suffer.

:(

[Not_Giving_Up]

3. And they say WE are bad for troop morale!

How about those poor men and women stuck a world away, not knowing if their families are safe, and not able to get there to help, which is what they are supposed to do.

[Lars39]

4. They need to let them come home.

Worrying about their families will only result in death by distraction.

[louis-t]

5. Let's watch as the neocons spin this

"The soldiers are safer in Iraq than they would be at home"
I can smell it coming.

[doublethink]

6. Bet some shit is going through those guys minds about right now.

... signed up for tne 'National Guard' to serve in situations like the one unfolding after the Hurricane ..... and here they are in Iraq fighting a war based on lies, deceit, plunder, spreading 'democracy' helpless to help out at home. Wonder if this will change any bush-bot supporters over there ...? Peace.

[RamboLiberal]

7. “It’s the perfect f--ked-up ending to a perfect f--ked-up war

MSNBC/Newsweek site actually had the guts to print this LA Guardsman comment from Iraq.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9131097/site/newsweek/

Three soldiers from the Louisiana National Guard sat Monday in one of the many chow halls on Camp Liberty, eyes glued to the widescreen television in the corner that bears witness to Hurricane Katrina’s battering of their home state. “The eye of the storm went over my parish,” said Staff Sergeant Chris Nappier, 28, from New Orleans. “It’s passing over the hospital where my mom works. She’s a nurse. She’s still there with her patients.” Spc. John Basco, also in his 20s, shook his head. “I had to get emergency leave on the last squall to go home to fix the flooding in my basement. I can’t imagine what this is going to do.” On TV, a Fox News reporter gets blown across the screen; the weather map keeps up a nasty white swirl. Staff Sergeant Ken Carrigee, 26, leaned back in his chair, grinning. “People back home constantly worry about us,” he said. “Now we get the chance to worry about them.”

With only eight days left before their tours' end, the biggest worry on these soldiers’ minds is 10,000 miles away. “We were going to have a homecoming,” said Carrigee. “Now we don’t know if we’ll have homes to go home to.”

The men are with the 1st Battalion, 141st Field Artillery unit based out of Jackson Barracks in New Orleans. The unit has been in Baghdad since October 2004, part of the 256th Brigade of the Louisiana National Guard. The 256th has been deployed for close to 17 months, running missions outside of Camp Liberty, including patrols on the hazardous Airport Road. It’s been a year of steady harassment and seven-day work weeks. On the 141st’s first day in Iraq, their convoy was attacked by mortars. In June, a rocket slammed into the trailer next to their barracks, killing a civilian contractor and injuring a number of troops.

A quarter mile away, about a dozen other soldiers in the unit spent the black, dusty evening behind the 141st’s Tactical Operations Center waiting for news. The makeshift headquarters has a few rows of picnic tables out back under a canopy. The unit’s nickname, “The Baghdad Headhunters,” is on a sign out front. They talked amongst themselves Monday, trying to piece together from the Internet, broken cell-phone chats and cable news what’s going on. “It’s the perfect f--ked-up ending to a perfect f--ked-up war,” said one soldier.

[BootinUp]

9. seems like

those from the devastated areas should be given some leave time to get their families taken care of.