RIDING SHOTGUN ALONG THE HIGHWAY OF DEATH

We finally broke away from Camp Victory, where 8,000 troops are stationed north of Baghdad. After asking repeatedly to go into Baghdad and away from relative safety, Central Command (CENTCOM) relented, and we were on our way.

Thus began a trip to Iraq sponsored by Move America Forward to tell the story of war on terrorism directly from the men and women serving in our armed forces. With five other talk show hosts, we were determined to get the truth out without the normal liberal bias that seems to cloud coverage by the mainstream media.

CENTCOM clearance to move into Baghdad came only because of the direct intervention of Captain Daniel Green, a quirky cigar-smoking Atlantan with a quick wit, who enlisted the aid of his Commanding Officer Lt. Colonel Robert Roth. Roth cut through all the red tape because he’s angry at the obvious disconnect between the situation on the ground in Iraq and what is coming out of the mainstream media. He wasn’t hesitant to say so for the record. He wanted us to tell the world about the good works his troops are doing and how the Iraqi army is making dramatic strides in training with U.S. forces.

Captain Green choppered into Camp Victory to meet us personally, and escort us back to Camp Prosperity in Baghdad, which is actually one of Saddam Hussein’s many palaces. It’s called the Four Headed Palace, because there were four marble heads of Hussein, perched on top of the marble turrets, visible for miles. All were blown off in the bombing of the palace during the onset of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

We shot pictures of the headless Husseins lying on the palace grounds.

We bonded instantly with the garrulous Dr. Green, one of only four surgeons assigned to the Iraqi theatre. All medical aid is generally given by medics and PA’s, or Physician Assistants. The most badly wounded (including Iraqis) are given life-saving treatment and then flown immediately out to Germany where the wounded receive state- of-the- art medical care.

We set off for Camp Stryker, the staging area where the military shuttles contractors, army personnel and other visitors into the Green Zone. Those of us who opted for the ride into the Green Zone were subject to intense security precautions, including a frightening middle-of-the-night, high speed, lights-out ride in heavily armored buses along the Highway of Death.

Our convoy leaves in the middle of the night to reduce the chances that suicide bombers or sniper fire will kill us. Our convoy was lead by HumVees, manned by soldiers barely 20 years old. These young men were making life and death decisions one minute and playing X-Box games the next hour to pass the time.

Our transport buses motored to a stop at a security checkpoint. We all got a chance to use our satellite phones to report back to the United States as we drove into the sleeping city of Baghdad. Next, we hopped into an open- air truck where I did a live report at 7:00 a.m. (6-p.m. California time) for my radio station in San Francisco, KSFO, as the wind cooled us from the 105-degree temperatures.

With little sleep and intense heat, I found the tactical control room to nap for an hour on a couch. Giant video monitors straight out of a Star Wars set displayed all the ‘hot locations’ in Baghdad and computers hummed away, directing patrols and gathering intelligence. As fascinating as this room was, it didn’t discourage me from getting a little rest.

The company Public Affairs Officer, Major Alayne Conway, soon shook me awake. She assigned me to accompany an ‘up-armored’ HumVee patrol.

An up-armored vehicle is a HumVee that has been re-fitted for extra steel plates on the underside and outside to protect the soldiers inside.

The HumVee is the next generation Army Jeep from World War II, never designed for the kind of war we are fighting in Iraq where cowardly terrorists blow up people, mainly their own countrymen, innocent civilians.

Congressional critics and the “Blame America First” crowd made big headlines months ago- for criticizing the Army’s lack of ‘up-armoring’, However, we find this yet another myth the mainstream media is perpetuating. No patrol is allowed to leave base without the extra protection. It’s the rules and the rules are strictly followed.

The truth is that a remarkable job was done to turn the “21^st century jeep’ into an armored vehicle in short order.

My fellow talker Michael Graham of WMAL in Washington, D.C. headed out with another HumVee patrol. Our destination: Route Irish, also known as the Highway of Death.

Graham, a former stand-up comedian, dished out all the gallows humor with a rapid-fire delivery… hitting the punch line every time. Our escorts belly-laughed.

It’s a gift.

The guys who took us on patrol are quite simply the most amazing young men I’ve ever met- Sgt. Jay Perkins, PFC Adam Smith, and Staff Sgt. Matthew Miller. Smith is a 20-year old veteran of these dangerous patrols and has been wounded twice, and awarded two purple hearts. Miller was hit twice, too.

As PFC Smith turned the key and warmed the computers, Sgt. Miller announced “Lock and Load”…all rifles at the ready.

Then, panic broke out.

“Where is she? Smith, what did you do with her?”

Miller responded, “did you lose her? You were supposed to watch her!”

Confused, I looked around. Were they talking about me?

“Perkins, what happened to Beaver?”

Now I’m really lost.

Reaching down under the seat, Smith hauled out a stuffed toy, a Beaver.

Everyone had to rub it, including me.

“Our fuzzy Beaver brings good luck. We never leave for patrol without petting her, and that way we don’t get killed”, said Perkins.

The fuzzy beaver lost and now found allowed us to proceed.

When we turned out of the gate from Camp Prosperity, we headed north and back the way we came in only hours before.

The mercury had now soared past 125 degrees. We rolled along slowly, with the gunner swiveling his weapon in the turret in a continuous sweep through the hot desert air.

I peppered my patrol escort with questions about whether it was worth it—the cost of lives, the excruciating heat, the time away from their families. I demanded they give me bad news—I wanted to know how they really felt about their service.

To the man, all were proud to be doing the job they signed up for. I couldn’t trick them into any criticism of the War on Terror. All were re-enlistees.

They explained to me they want the American public to understand that if ‘we find and kill insurgents here, we won’t be fighting this kind of war at home where all of our families would be at risk.’

Just a short way into the ride, I could hear small arms fire. And then a bus of Iraqi men broke down in front of us. That’s when the talk stopped, and everyone went on heightened alert. Sirens blaring and yelling through the loudspeaker, Sgt. Miller instructed everyone to get off the Highway. “Do it, do it, do it now. I’m having a FINE Wednesday and I don’t want to have to shoot y’all.”

The HumVees ahead and behind did U-turns in an evasive action, in case the Iraqi’s were planting IED’s, or improvised explosive devices.

Miller and Perkins jumped out of the vehicles with rifles ready to shoot anyone who made a suspicious move. After securing the area, they jumped back in and we started rolling again. Every bump to the undercarriage made my stomach lurch. Was it a rock, or a bomb?

The patrol seemed to last forever, although we were on the road for an hour. We pulled into our Forward Operating Base where the ride was over -for now. Petting the Beaver seemed to have worked again.

BLONDE ON BASE

The word spread quickly that I was in the area. Suddenly soldiers were everywhere, talking to me and telling me their stories. When a member of the California National Guard Unit arrived, he asked me to walk over to NightStalker, the Guard’s headquarters.

Lt. Cameron Murphy of San Jose, California rushed over to shake my hand. He thanked me profusely for coming. His wife e-mailed him about the “Voices of Soldiers” Truth Tour, and he e-mailed all of his troops asking them to come talk to me.

Everyone had something important to say. Poignant, searing and thoughtful insights about why they are here to fight, die and make peace.

The California National Guard has the highest rate of casualties of all Guard Units. Many of these men had friends who are now dead, crippled or recovering from their wounds.

A wall-sized map of Baghdad was displayed in the conference room. A list of humanitarian projects was posted next to it, with the dollar amount spent on each re-construction effort. The list was too long to remember, but I do recall the total spent in their area of responsibility--$1.3 billion dollars.

Sewer systems, bridge repair, hospital improvements, electricity, and more made the list.

Not sexy headline news for the mainstream media, but it made a deep impression on me. Our military was actually improving and stabilizing the economy, healthcare systems, schools and the everyday lives of Iraqi’s, just as the critics of the war had demanded following the early success of the war effort.

Lt. Murphy dragged me over to his laptop computer and sat me down. He pulled up these amazing photos of a small girl named Hara. He told me that she was caught in crossfire between the insurgents and American forces. Her sister was killed. She was badly wounded. Her parents took her to Iraqi Doctors who bandaged her and sent her home to recuperate. As her leg wounds healed, they fused together. Back to the Iraqi Doctors who broke her legs, leaving her in searing pain.

He told me how her parents then flagged down his patrol, and they rushed her to American Doctors. These Doc’s gave her the first rate medical treatment she needed, and she began months of rehabilitation with some of the finest Physical Therapists America can offer. She is slowly learning to walk again. The NightStalkers have adopted her and her family, sending money and hope that her life and that of her family will get better.

The photos showed the American hospital personnel hugging her and crying when she finally was well enough to go home. I cried.

Lt. Murphy, a muscled 6’5 inch trained killer—brusquely wiped his eyes.

I asked him to write a narrative about this story –the kind we don’t read enough about in the elite newspapers of this country—and I promised to post it on our website, (www.ksfo.com) and shout this good news to everyone I can think of.

He pumped my hand up and down in gratitude.

BUSTED

As I gathered my tape recorder, papers and bags to leave, Lt. Murphy’s Commanding Officer came over. A burly guy with a ready laugh and a southern drawl, he started capping on Lt. Murphy. “Tell her, tell her Murph, about your Purple Heart.”

Lt. Murphy turned bright red and shutdown.

The Captain explained that Murphy was out on patrol when an IED exploded under his HumVee, setting it on fire. He dragged the gunner out of the vehicle, badly injured. Murphy received a searing leg burn while saving the life of his fellow soldier.

As we headed out the door, Lt. Murphy asked me for a favor. He explained that he was no hero; the soldier he saved was the REAL hero. His friend is still in rehabilitation, and facing very long odds of walking again. Murph didn’t want any publicity. He practically begged me not to share this incredible story of valor.

Reluctantly, I promised.

I owe Murph an apology. Because I can’t keep that promise.

People need to know.

That’s the purpose of the Truth Tour--to report on the stories that you don’t otherwise hear coming out of Iraq. Because these stories of good deeds, of accomplishments and of successes in Iraq are every much a part of the truth as are reports of car bombs and terrorist insurgents.

People need to know the work our military is doing. And why they are proud to be doing it, each and every day.

Seeing the good work our fellow Americans are doing to help make this a safer world, and to make a brighter future for those people whom under Saddam Hussein had no future, changes you.

I am a different person today than when I left 10 days ago. The 14 people who came with me on this amazing journey all are different now, too.

Our group, the talk show hosts, the staff of Move America Forward – the photojournalists, and the documentary film producers, we all have a greater appreciation for the sacrifices that are being made by the people who a few months ago were your neighbors, or the man who stocked shelves at your grocery store or serviced your car at the gas station.

Now those same people wear the Uniform of the United States military and they endure practically unbearable heat and dust storms to serve their country. They risk injury and face the prospect of a violent death, and they see their friends die. Still, they attend to their duties with the highest professionalism you could imagine. And they make these sacrifices because they believe in what they are doing, and they are committed to defeating those who would use terrorism to target innocent civilians and undermine Western civilization.

I am extremely grateful and proud to be an American.

Our sons and daughters are doing what we asked of them, and they do it willingly and with little complaint, and not nearly enough pay.

The troops told me over and over again that they read the newspapers, they see the news, and read the polls of slipping support in this country for their mission.

I think the least we could do is to muster the same patience and endurance as our men and women serving overseas, and offer them support, supplies and backing they need to get the job done.

And trust me—if we give them our backing, these men and women will continue make us all proud and do our world a great service.

Melanie Morgan

KSFO, San Francisco

Chairman, Move America Forward

www.MoveAmericaForward.com

Published: 21 August 2005

2:21:04 PM

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