Posted on 12/26/2003 8:06:01 AM PST by Molly Pitcher
Akron TV anchor reports home from duty in Iraq Guardsman with family for holidays shares story he says we're
Not many people go from reporting the news to making it. Even fewer would want to -- at least not if they found themselves in Eric Mansfield's boots.
Until January, the veteran television journalist had spent 17 years moonlighting with the National Guard. He joined so he could afford college and he stayed because he liked it.
When all hell was about to break loose in Iraq, Capt. Mansfield was called up to active duty. Suddenly, he went from sitting behind the anchor desk at Akron's WVPX (Channel 23) to fighting a war.
There's not much difference between the two jobs.
Well, other than the constant threat of mortar attacks.
Other than land mines.
Other than living among red scorpions the size of your fist.
Other than outdoor latrines.
Other than the fact that anything you touch could be booby-trapped -- even dead animals.
Other than the relentless sand fleas.
Other than the weather -- highs of 130 in the summer and lows this month in the 40s.
Other than a major pay cut. (He's earning $150 a day.)
Other than the rats that crawl on you when you're in bed. (Actually, it's a cot, not a bed. A 6-foot-long cot for a 6-foot-3 body.)
Other than the huge camels that run by, wild, in packs.
Other than the omnipresent sand, which, lifted by winds as high as 50 mph, stings your skin as if you're standing in front of a sand-blasting machine and winds up in every crevice of your body.
Other than the absence of beer. (Heck, even water was hard to come by for a while.)
Other than being away from the four things he values more than anything else in the world: his wife of nearly 13 years, Lisa, and his three sons, Joshua, 9, Jacob, 6, and Teddy, 2 ½.
Nearly a year later, Mansfield is home. He's in the midst of a two-week R&R stint that will last through New Year's Day.
Mansfield had to spend his own money -- $1,200 round trip -- and fly for 24 consecutive hours, across eight time zones. But he considers that a small price to pay to spend the holidays with his family.
He has missed a year's worth of birthdays and holidays. His youngest son has nearly doubled in age.
The family is ecstatic to have him home, however briefly. And we are the beneficiaries of his journalist's eye for detail.
Colors of the desert
``Everything over there is green, brown or tan,'' he muses. ``Everything. Even the food.''
Mansfield, 35, is a transportation officer for the 371st Corps Support Group. He works in a tent on the Kuwait-Iraq border and tracks troops and equipment with laptop computers that are fed information from satellites.
``It's really pretty cool,'' he says, ``because we can send an e-mail right to the cab of the truck out there in Baghdad. Tell them, `Don't take this road, it's flooded.' `Don't take this road, there's bad guys.' `Don't take this road, there's mines.' ''
The convoys can e-mail Mansfield, too, providing information or requesting help.
That was not the case when he first arrived in in April. Communications were a mess.
``I was monitoring dozens of convoys and I didn't know where they were,'' he says. ``It was the first time we were testing these types of systems and they just didn't work in the desert. Regular radios didn't work. Cell phones didn't work. It was a helpless feeling.''
What we're not hearing
Predictably, Mansfield, a North High graduate who had been anchoring the 6:30 p.m. newscast on Channel 23, hasn't lost his journalistic instincts. And he is amazed at some of the stories the media are missing.
Those stories are falling through the cracks, he implies, because most reporters would rather sit around at base camps and use material supplied by the military instead of venturing into the dangerous desert.
The biggest story we're not getting, he says, is the huge number of successes the U.S. military has enjoyed in foiling terrorists.
``We had a small ship try to ram one of our cargo ships right before I left. If it had hit and blown us up like the USS Cole, then it would have made news. But our guys were alert enough and shot the thing 75 meters off the bow. I didn't see anything (in the news).
``We've got this terrorist stuff every day. We're stopping package bombs, car bombs, people with bombs strapped to them. We're taking caches of weapons away from people. Is it just me, or isn't that news anymore?''
Another story flying under the media's radar is a technological breakthrough.
``We have this new, fancy technology called a Warlock system. Without telling you how it works, it basically knocks out the systems of the bad guys so they can't detonate anything when we come by. We're just now putting them into trucks. That's a great story!''
Another untold story, he says, is terrorists' targeting of female soldiers. ``They want to kidnap female soldiers for the shock value of it. (Non-American) females over there don't speak. When (Iraqis) see a female soldier, they are absolutely in shock.''
Mansfield's closest call came in mid-October, when he was working at a camp north of Baghdad code-named Anaconda. In the middle of the night, the base was hit by a mortar attack. If you haven't experienced one, ``it feels like (the scene in) Jurassic Park, when you hear the dinosaur in the distance.''
``The water glass starts shaking. And the sound gets a little louder and a little louder and a little louder....
``I was terrified.''
The problem was resolved by an American A-10 ``Wart Hog,'' which flew in and tossed a couple of 500-pound bombs in the right spot.
Time brings changes
As you might imagine, Mansfield's days in the hostile desert have changed his outlook on life.
``I see all the little things I used to get upset about, used to argue with people about, that don't matter at all,'' he says, sitting on the sofa in his living room as son Josh plays nearby.
``The reality is if you have a healthy family that loves you, you've got a roof over your head, then you've got the whole world.
``Like a lot of guys, I used to get real petty and competitive. Everybody's real success-driven, especially in television. I don't care if I ever get another news story. I want to be the best father and husband I can be.''
Mansfield credits part of his change in perspective to having read the entire New Testament.
As they say, there are no atheists in foxholes. But this soldier is not an Eric-come-lately. He and his wife have been members of The Chapel for a dozen years.
In fact, Mansfield exchanged battlefield e-mails with the chief pastor, Knute Larson. Mansfield wanted some help in figuring out a few Bible passages. Larson accommodated him with detailed responses.
As an emergency backup, perhaps, Mansfield is carrying a lucky silver dollar. The well-worn coin, minted in 1922, has been passed down through four generations of his family.
It originally belonged to his great-grandfather, Max Musser, who acquired it after serving in World War I.
His grandfather, Frank Mansfield, carried it during World War II.
His uncle, Jim Mansfield (who runs the Stonehedge bowling alley on Cuyahoga Falls Avenue), toted it around during the Vietnam War.
Jim, who had no sons of his own, handed it to Eric.
Mansfield clearly is weary of putting his own life on hold. He knew the risk he was taking by staying in the Guard, he says, but he's shocked that people like him -- Guardsmen and reserves -- have been required to serve for such a long time.
``Some of these guys had already done a year stateside,'' he says, shaking his head. ``Then to go a year in Iraq -- and then extend them! You might as well join for two years of active duty!''
He predicts a mass exodus from the Guard and reserves after they return, triggering a need to reinstitute the draft.
``I don't think people realize that Bosnia is almost purely National Guard reservists. So is Kosovo. We were supposed to be out of those places.''
As the American death toll inches toward 500, Mansfield wants civilians to keep one thing in mind:
``This is not action heroes doing this. These are real people making sacrifices. I'm working with teachers, plumbers, college students, firefighters, police officers.... We're all sacrificing. Everybody (at home) can do their part.''
Members of his church completed a treehouse Mansfield had started for his kids and helped with yard work.
If one of your neighbors is serving, he says, offer to rake the family's leaves. Offer to watch the kids for two hours. Call up, and ask what day they want you to deliver lasagna. Take out their garbage.
``Nothing helps me endure the stress over there better than knowing my family is being taken care of back here.''
We've been finding, posting and sharing good news from Iraq daily for over 7 months. We don't get most of it from the mainstream press. We're bypassing the press and taking it to the people.
If you want on or off my Pro-Coalition ping list, please Freepmail me. Warning: it is a high volume ping list on good days. (Most days are good days).
Well, yes. We pay taxes for college and training for these people so that we can use them as necessary. I don't have a whole lot of sympathy for the ones who moan when they have to do what they're trained for.
This guy doesn't sound like one of the biggest complainers, and I know several National Guards who were more than willing to put their training to use.
Most of us commend the career military, and we should also commend the National Guard - I would only except the ones who got their college paid for and whine about living up to their end of the bargain. That's very few, but enough for the mainstream media to generate many stories.
I'd wager another reason the success stories are "falling through the cracks" is that to report them would conflict with the viewpoint of the various reporters' employers, e.g., CBS, NY Times, etc.
Good story, thanks for posting!
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