Photo By Lt. Col. Michael Humphreys | Sgt. Christopher Kudirka poses with an Iraqi child who just received a new bike from...... read more read more
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By Maj. Mike Humphreys
3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division
BAGHDAD – Staff Sgt. Fernando Diaz almost forgot about the special cargo he was carrying around in the back of his armored humvee, Oct. 12, 2008, in the Sha'ab neighborhood of northeastern Baghdad until he saw a young Iraqi child playing in the dirt.
"The bikes," Diaz exclaimed, in remembering his valued cargo.
Diaz, an El Paso, Texas, native, was leading a patrol of Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, around Joint Security Station Sha'ab as a defensive measure against the deadly threat of improvised rocket-assisted mortars, when he stopped to unload his supply of six bikes to some very happy Iraqi children.
"Our primary mission is to conduct counter IRAM; but, when we can, we convert to the Civil Affairs mission of population engagement," said Diaz, a squad leader in Company A, 3rd Battalion, 29th Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd BCT, 4th Inf. Div.
Diaz, whose company is attached to the 1st Combined Arms Battalion, 68th Armor Regiment, 3rd BCT, 4th Inf. Div., said his patrols often stops to hand out goods and necessities to Iraqi families and children in impoverished neighborhoods. It's all part of an ongoing campaign to maintain popular support, which ultimately makes the community safer for coalition forces and Iraqis.
"It lets the community know how important it is for us to get their help," said Spc. Kevin Narvaez, from Union, N.J., a Paladin crew member in 3-29 FA Regt.
Handing out bicycles in the Sha'ab neighborhood is a rather new tactic for the civil affairs teams in the north Adhamiyah District, which can lead to some confusion. Diaz said children are often nervous or afraid to approach the Soldiers; but once they see the bikes, they become excited.
The battalion's civil affairs team purchased the bikes and provides them to the platoons to hand out on patrols, at schools and elsewhere Iraqi children gather. Diaz said his unit started with 15 bikes and are now handing them out as fast as they come in.
"We've handed out all kinds of CA stuff – soccer balls, food, candy," Narvaez said. "We even help out with micro-grants," he added, referring to MND-B's economic stimulus program to provide small business owners with necessary cash to kick-start their business with essential goods and services.
Diaz said the bikes are special and take him back to his own childhood when his little brother won two bicycles from a local gas station. Now, with his own 6-year-old daughter and a 3-year-old son back home in Texas, he's looking forward to the time he can share photos of Iraqi children with his own kids.
"My little girl is always curious about the kids," Diaz said, "She wants to know what they do, if they go to school."
Narvaez said he understands the tactical importance of maintaining a good relationship with the population. However, it is the feeling he gets in meeting with the children that is the most rewarding.
"It makes you feel good to give something like a bike or even a piece of candy," Narvaez said. "It makes you feel good to put a smile on a kids face."
| Date Taken: | 10.12.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 10.18.2008 09:16 |
| Story ID: | 25173 |
| Location: | BAGHDAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 240 |
| Downloads: | 211 |
This work, Bicycles put smiles on Iraqi chidrens' faces, by LTC Michael Humphreys, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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