Climb to Glory

 

1st BSTB, 1-10th Mountain Division

School Partnership Program

 

 

Soldiers of 1-87 INF and 1 BSTB, 1-10th Mountain Division

along with Iraqi Army Soldiers distribute school supplies

OSOT was asked by SGT Scott Sheaffer of Alpha Co., 1st BSTB, 1-10th Mountain Division deployed to Baghdad, Iraq to help the Battalion collect school supplies for the Iraqi elementary schools they had adopted.  Once again, OSOT answered the call!

 

In a letter to his Grandmother, Nadine Gulit, Scott asked for OSOT's help:

Supporting the Troops is a fantastic cause, but in the end we are Americans who will return to our homes and reap the benefits of the American way of life.  These children will be in Iraq long after we leave.  We want to do more than destroy their remaining oppressors. We want to leave them with a brighter future and an appreciation for American generosity.   Let me assure you, the smile of an Iraqi seven year old shines just as brightly as the smile of an American seven year old.

 

I have charged you with a holy crusade, Grandmother.  I need you and OSOT to help me elevate the lives of these children.

 

Your Grandson,

SGT Scott Sheaffer

The soldiers of 1-87 INF and 1 BSTB realized their vision and OSOT helped!  This is SGT Sheaffer's report:

It started out like any other mission.  We prepared the trucks for the often grueling journey through Baghdad.  We ensured we had enough water, ammunition, and fuel.  We checked our weapons for serviceability and proper functioning.  We inspected our protective gear -- ballistic eye protection, ear plugs, gloves, helmet, body armor and faith that our God would be waiting for us someday, though hopefully not this day.  For some, the war was not real, until today.  They had heard stories, written reports, and submitted award recommendations for the actions or wounds of others, but until today they had never seen Baghdad, or experienced man’s capacity for malice.  Undoubtedly, they felt the same way that some of us felt all those months ago, when the war first became real for us.  We had slipped well beyond the pale of reality by that point, existing only in a dream, a dream which would end for some the day they stepped off the plane, and a dream which would never end for others.   What I failed to realize that windy morning was that the war would become real for all of us that day.

 

We stopped at the front gate to load and chamber our weapons.  As I slapped a magazine into the magazine well of my M-4, I contemplated the idea of being killed on this mission, and how in some strange way that would seem fitting.  No good deed goes unpunished in this world.  We pulled out of the gate and headed down the street.  The refuse that was piled high on the sidewalks served as a reminder of some of the simple things that I use to take for granted, though not anymore.  The buildings of the capitol sprawled out over the great desert oasis, the occasional palm tree inserting its relevance into an otherwise colorless and depressing world.  Desert brown isn’t a true color; it’s more of an indication of poverty and emptiness, but the citizens of Baghdad wear it like a badge of honor.

 

We careened through the wide, and then narrow roads of Baghdad.  We passed people who waved, and some who didn’t.  We saw men who looked tired, women who looked hopeful, and children who looked like children.  We passed vegetable carts, and horses and Mercedes.  We rolled along, passing the ugly brown buildings, the veterans flinching as we passed a spare tire, and smiling at the Iraqi people through our armored, television-sized windows.  We reached our destination, a long, bright pink building with a bright pink outer wall separating it from the endless sea of brown which encompassed it.

 

A small shop of some kind was located across the alley from the pink bathed structure, and a group of children stood in front of it attempting to look dangerous as our armored trucks passed.  I stepped out of the truck and instantly recognized the smell.  I had first encountered this smell back in 2002, in the small Serbian village of Zitenje.  It was the smell of a third world country.  It is a strange smell, a smell which lingers somewhere between burning hair, and death.  I do not envy those who are forced to grow up around that smell.  Before long it would permeate the mind, and create the illusion that all of humanity shared that rancid scent. 

 

 We established security positions, and began unloading the cargo truck.  We were in a bad neighborhood; too many lost souls roamed these streets to simply put our trust in the locals, despite our benevolent intentions.  We carried the cardboard boxes through the front gate and past a local man dressed in dirty slacks and a plaid shirt.  He held in his hands an AK-47.  He was not an insurgent; he was a guard, a sentry, charged with protecting the most valuable asset his nation had to offer.  The halls of the building were lined with notebook paper, and crayon drawings, depicting all manner of daily goings on. 

 

We carried the boxes down the hall, and through a double-wide door leading into a small gymnasium-style room with a stage.  A man stood on the stage, and recited something in Arabic.  He would snap a word with more emphasis and volume, and the gymnasium would erupt into an echoed muddle of Arabic, as 100 Iraqi children recited something in perfect unison.  The enthusiasm and excitement generated by these children was palpable, and unmistakable.

 

Once we had finished with the toil of unloading the truck, five Iraqi Army soldiers got up on the stage and filled their hands with the packets of school supplies.  They looked as young as some of the students, and their proud smiles beamed just as brightly.  The children filed by the soldiers, who were still armed, but completely defenseless.  The children took the pencils, paper, erasers, and markers and thanked the soldiers.  We stood back, and remained spectators, each of us trying to conceal our smile, and each of us failing to do so.  I turned and strolled around the halls of the school, remembering my own days in elementary school.  Although my school lacked armed guards, it shared one thing in common with this school; they both contained the hope and future of an entire culture.

 

I looked out a floor to ceiling window at the courtyard which contained two rusty soccer goals, and more brown sand.  It amazed me that these young children went to school, and learned, and dreamed in a place like this.  How many terrible things had I seen within a few short kilometers of this place?  How many gunshots had I heard?  How many explosions?  How many tanks had rolled past this school?  It was at that moment that the war became real for me, not combat, combat had become my reality, but the struggle became real for me that day.  The struggle these people had been enduring for the past three decades, the struggle which I was now a part of, the struggle to allow these children to run, and play, and succeed, and imagine.  The imagination carries far less importance in the third world than it does in America.  The less fortunate consider it a hindrance, opting instead to focus on necessities, like food, shelter and water.  Many children in Iraq do not attend school, where their minds are allowed to explore the vast, open planes of their imagination, far away from the harsh realities they face daily.  The children that we helped that day would go to sleep that night with a different understanding of how the world works, and the boundaries of their minds would be forever altered.  Perhaps someday their thoughts will materialize, and they can bridge the gap between their imagination and reality.

 

I cannot begin to express my gratitude to OSOT for answering my call to help the children of Iraq.  With your help, we truly made a difference in the lives of these children and in the lives of the Iraqi soldiers.

 

Thank you.

 

SGT Scott Sheaffer

A Co, 1BSTB, 1-10th MTN DIV

These are pictures Scott shared with us:

 

 

And this report from the Battalion:

Combined 1-87 Infantry, 1^st Brigade Special Troops Battalion

and Family Readiness Group Mission Delivers School Supplies, Renovations to Iraqi School

 

The Al Hudabiya Elementary School in the Ghazaliya District, a neighborhood in western Baghdad, received a facelift, some major renovations, and school supplies for all 500 students thanks to the hard work of Soldiers from Task Force 1-87 Infantry and the 1^st Brigade Special Troops Battalion (BSTB) and also to the generous support of 1^st BSTB’s Family Readiness Group.

 

Many schools in 1-87 Infantry’s area of operations are in disrepair, but Soldiers identified Al Hudabiya as particularly dilapidated and in dire need of supplies.  Al Hudabiya is also in a sector of the Ghazaliya believed to harbor a significant amount of insurgent activity, so a civil affairs project was a perfect opportunity to make inroads within the community and attempt to “win hearts and minds.”

 

In December, 1-87 Infantry’s Civil Affairs Team conducted an assessment of the school’s needs, secured the necessary funding, and hired local contractors to do the work.  The renovations included new bathrooms and plumbing, new doors and windows, retiled floors, improved lighting, and a restored playground and soccer field.

 

Meanwhile, the 1^st BSTB’s Family Readiness Group started collecting school supplies in December as well, which began with just a word of mouth with families and friends.  As the word spread, the FRG was soon receiving a constant flow of packages from a number of groups across the country such as churches, schools, a radio station and Operation Support Our Troops.  To date the BSTB has provided and helped distribute over 2500 school kits through 1^st Brigade Combat Team units for schools in western Baghdad.

 

By April, the project was complete, and the school celebrated its “reopening” on the 23^rd, when a combined patrol of 1-87 IN, 1^st BSTB, and Iraqi Army Soldiers delivered a truckload of supplies for the students.  The supplies were acquired and sent to Iraq by 1^st BSTB’s Family Readiness Group, and the individual packs were put together by 1^st BSTB Soldiers.  Each student received a backpack filled with pens, pencils, notebooks, and even some candy. 

 

The students were very excited to receive the backpacks and also to have US and Iraqi Soldiers in the school.  When asked for their favorite improvement to the school, almost all the students replied, unsurprisingly, that it was the new playground and soccer field.

 

The Soldiers felt the mission was an overwhelming success.  “We feel good about accomplishing missions like this,” said 1LT Casey Dalrymple, a platoon leader from B Company, 1-87 IN.  “It provides needed humanitarian assistance to the community and reinforces our message that we are here to help the Iraqi people.”

 

SPC Alayabis Constanza, a personnel clerk with the 1^st BSTB who spent many hours building the school kits, believes that the school support missions are “one of the top 5 missions we do” and that supporting the schools shows we care about the education and future of Iraq’s youth.

 

SGT Scott Sheaffer, A Co, 1^st BSTB Engineer whose normal duties include finding and destroying IEDs, said, “It was a good experience; it provided an opportunity to show another aspect of our service. We are not in Iraq to conduct offensive operations only, we are here to help Iraq, offer a brighter future, and a more productive life for these children. That future must start with education. An educated middle class is the cornerstone in any democratic society.”

 

“The Soldiers, both Iraqi and American, seem to really enjoy missions like this. Helping the kids, building a future here for them is really what it is all about”, mentioned 1LT Chris Haymon, Support Platoon Leader, HHC 1^st BSTB.

 

The Iraqi Army also saw it as a great opportunity to reach out to the local community. 

 

“It’s great to have days like this,” said an Iraqi Army lieutenant.  “We like to show the people and the children that we genuinely care about them and that we are not just imposing authority figures.”  The lieutenant gave a speech to the students about living good and honest lives and brought the ceremony to a close by leading the school in a lively rendition of Iraq’s national anthem – an appropriate ending to a ceremony marking progress, national unity and an intense hope for a bright future in the world’s youngest democracy.