Soldiers break Ramadan fasting with locals

Photo By Sgt. Joshua Risner | Spc. Zachary Barrett (left), from Hawkins, Texas, assigned to Company B, Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Bde., 82nd Airborne Division, and Staff Sgt. Dwayne Jarrett, from Brooklyn, N.Y., assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Co., 2nd Bn., 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 3rd Bde., 82nd Abn. Div., enjoy some traditional Iraqi cuisine at an Iftar dinner, Sept. 18.  

BAGHDAD, IRAQ

09.20.2009

Story by Sgt. Joshua Risner 

Multi-National Division Baghdad

BAGHDAD — Handshakes and chai were had all around at an Iftar dinner, which breaks the daily fast of Ramadan, outside Combat Outpost Cashe South, Sept. 18.

The dinner, hosted by Iraqi Federal Police of 3rd Brigade, 1st FP Division, featured sheiks from the surrounding area and U.S. Soldiers.

The theme for the dinner was reconciliation, according to Lt. Col. Bruce Hoover, assigned to Human Transition Team IZ-8, 3rd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division.

"It's reconciliation for anything and everything," said the Decatur, Ill., native. "This is about bringing together people from different backgrounds, religions, government agencies, so we can basically get together and talk."

Soldiers at the dinner got the chance to sample traditional cuisine.

"It was good but it's a little different eating with my hands," said Spc. Zachary Barrett, from Hawkins, Texas, assigned to Company B, Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Bde., 82nd Abn. Div. "I work with [unmanned aerial vehicles] so I don't usually get outside much. This is my first real mission outside the wire and it's great to get out and see the sights."

Food aside, the dinner was more about brotherhood and togetherness, according to Hoover.

"We sat down with Sheik Ali Hussein and talked," he said. "We just made small talk about our families; about the schools our children were going to — he told us his kids would like to go to college in the U.S."

As festivities started to die down, Americans and Iraqis parted ways with smiles, kind words and handshakes. They left in the same spirit that they entered — the spirit of togetherness.

• Date Taken: 09.20.2009
• Date Posted: 09.20.2009 05:00
• Story ID: 39034
• Location: BAGHDAD, IQ