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101st soldiers deliver medicine, build trust in Baghdad

BAGHDAD, Iraq (Army News Service, April 17, 2003) -- The 101st Airborne Division distributed several truckloads of vaccines, medicine and other supplies to four clinics in Baghdad neighborhoods today.

Most of these clinics were running low on medicine because of the fighting in Baghdad and the looting. One of the facilities had been temporarily shut down due to lack of supplies.

Division physicians accompanied the distribution to assess the clinics, the health needs of the residents and to make sure the supplies went where they needed to go.

"We used the opportunity to meet their health care officials, assess their needs and distribute medication, antibiotics, intravenous solutions and casting materials," said Lt. Col. Richard Thomas, division surgeon. "They also need electrical power to turn these clinics into fully functional facilities."

The doctors and medics of the 101st were joined by soldiers of the 431st Civil Affairs Battalion during the mission.

"All the guys who went with us into the city today volunteered because they are genuinely interested in helping others," Thomas said. "It's the American way."

More convoys are planned into the city to provide not only medicine, but also laboratory equipment, officials said.

"We hope this bridges any gaps in trust Iraqis might have with our presence in their country," said Maj. Steve Manley, senior division physician assistant. "Unlike other countries that have raped, burned and pillaged the lands they conquered, we will leave Iraq far better than we found it."

The 101st Airborne Division actually launched its post-war restoration efforts last week in Baghdad, including both peacekeeping and humanitarian operations.

The Iron Rakassans of 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment are working in Area 37, the southwest-central region of Baghdad. They are safeguarding against terrorist and criminal activities.

Troops jumped out of 5-ton trucks into an unfamiliar urban terrain Monday, prepared for the worst. News of suicide bombers during the war, criminals released from prison in the last days of the old regime, and reports of scattered resistance by foreign extremists set their nerves on edge as they began patrolling the streets to demonstrate American military presence. Any car or home, door, window or roof could conceal an enemy, one soldier said.

"The difficulty is in identifying the threat before they have the ability to attack you," said Lt. Col. Lee Fetterman, battalion commander. "Those that are left are dangerous because they are determined."

Weapons are widespread in the city. Within hours of their arrival, soldiers had uncovered caches in homes and at least one school.

Before long, the true mood of the average Iraqi citizen was revealed. Soldiers moving in tactical formations down streets encountered families emerging from their homes to wave, cheer, and offer food and cigarettes.

Crowds formed at command posts and security points as mostly young Iraqis engaged American soldiers not in combat, but in conversation. A teenager named Muhammed declared: "Saddam bad, Bush good."

A local Imaam saw one platoon setting up camp at a bombed out building and invited them to stay at his mosque, Al Tekia Alashnazania, which suffered under the rule of Saddam Hussein. "You are our guests," said Samir, a mosque employee. "As guests of Arabs you can stay as long as you like and we will protect you until death. We only ask that you do not drink alcohol while you are here."

Soldiers played soccer with children in the courtyard and slept on marble Iraq floors.