Posted on 04/02/2007 6:36:38 PM PDT by SandRat
KHAN DARI — On March 25, three improvised explosive devices went off here. Soldiers from Company E, 2nd “Lancer” Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment entered the village in an attempt to find the assailants. “We know if we can continue getting information from anyone who can help us clean out insurgents here and find weapons caches, we’re making this a safer place down the line for the [citizens of the community],” said Staff Sgt. William Stone, a squad leader from the regiment. “All the people here say the same thing, they want our help, they want safety and they want the insurgents to go away.”
While asking the citizens about the IED strikes; Soldiers collected information about terrorist cells operating in the area, and inquired about the welfare of the people.
On their first stop, an Iraqi family greeted U.S. troops by offering them tea as a sign of friendship. Later an Iraqi man thanked the Soldiers for their help, telling them he felt safe when they were patrolling his neighborhood said Sgt. 1st Class Anthony Pluhar, Co. E, platoon sergeant.
“When you meet people like that you really feel like (you’re) doing some good,” Stone said.
While the mission did not yield much information about the three IEDs, the Soldiers said, it was a success because the trust and cooperation of the villagers led to information on other insurgents.
“It’s a great feeling to know we’re contributing to getting insurgents off the streets so the people don’t have to live in fear from someone killing their children or hurting them,” said Spc. Michael Evans, Co. E mortarman.
As the Iraqi Police and Army stand up and take the lead being able to protect the lives of Iraqi citizens may be considered a rewarding mission.
“I’ll be coming away from this with a lot bigger appreciation of life in general and knowing that I was doing something to help (both) the Iraqi and American people, so what happened on September 11th never happens again,” he added.
Nice story.
Excellent story. Too bad stuff likes this gets buried by our press. God Bless our troops!
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