Minnesota Soldiers Build School, Business in Southern Iraq

Defend America News ^ | Spc. Brian D. Jesness

[SandRat]

Minnesota Soldiers Build School, Business in Southern Iraq
Village children had no school available since before 2003.
By Spc. Brian D. Jesness 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) Logistical Support Area Anaconda Public Affairs BALAD, Iraq, June 4, 2007 — Minnesota Army National Guard soldiers opened a new school and a truck stop with a restaurant, May 10, in the village of Um Eneej in southern Iraq. "We insisted the contractor hire local help. He had to hire at least 10 [local] workers, and he hired 20." U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Stephen Sarvi “The village elders told us a school was the most important thing they needed,” said Sgt. 1st Class Stephen Sarvi, 1st Brigade, 34th Infantry Division Troops Battalion field civil-military operations officer sergeant. “They said, ‘We need our children to be educated, because that is the future.’” “As of now, less than 10 percent of the village is educated,” said 1st Lt. Josh Fjelstad, the battalion’s field civil-military operations officer. Spc. Nathan Reynolds of 1st Brigade, 34th Infantry Division Troops Battalion, hands out bags of school supplies to children of the new coalition forces-built school in Um Eneej, Iraq. The supplies were donated by Community Connection of Sauk Center, Minn. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Brian D. Jesness	U.S. Army National Guard 1st Lt. Robert Grutsch and Maj. Martin Sayre of 1st Brigade, 34th Infantry Division Troops Battalion, hand out boxes of school supplies to children of the new coalition forces-built school in Um Eneej, Iraq. The supplies were donated by Community Connection of Sauk Center, Minn. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Brian D. Jesness Fjelstad and Sarvi of Watertown, Minn., worked with local elders for more than six months to build a relationship with the village and create projects to better the community and enhance the local economy. “We insisted the contractor hire local help,” said Sarvi. “He had to hire at least 10 [local] workers, and he hired 20.” The school can educate 300 to 500 children daily. Before, these children had no local alternative. The village hasn’t had a serviceable school since before 2003. In addition to the school, Fjelstad and Sarvi wanted to make the local highway safer and provide an ongoing source of income for the village. So a truck stop was designed to accommodate the 100 to 200 truck drivers passing by Um Eneej daily on their way between Basra and Baghdad.

[SandRat]

FR WAR NEWS!

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All the News the MSM refuses to use!

Or if they do report it, without the anti-War Agenda Spin!

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

Minnesota ping.....

[P-40]

You mean there is more to Iraq than Baghdad? /sarc

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

Having never seen this story from any of the local news outlets, I’ve forwarded it to a couple of them, just to see if they’ll report on it.

We’ll see.......

[P-40]

I got a couple of good books on the basic infrastructure that makes a modern society tick that we are currently either building from scratch or repairing over there and I must say that in gaining some understanding of it all....our troops are working miracles.