With laughter in the air and smiles on their faces, nearly 600 children greeted the 16 Soldiers of Alpha Battery, 2-146th Field Artillery, 81st Brigade Combat Team and the 18th Combat Support Sustainment Brigade who visited the Tilkabar elementary school in Zakho, Iraq, Jan. 29, to pass out toys, candy and clothing that had been collected by fellow Soldiers over the past few months.
The humanitarian mission was put together by Chaplain Gerald W. Woodford of the 18th CSSB with assistance from a few Soldiers from A Bat., 2-146th FA and Sgt. 1st Class Donald Davis, the first sergeant for Logistic Task Force Alpha stationed at Haburgate. Yahya Sami, the deputy manager of the Hezil Company, made the arrangements with the Tilkabar elementary school for the delivery of the items collected by the Soldiers. For the Soldiers of A Bat., it was the first time they were able to interact with the Iraqi citizens. Surrounded by happy children filled with amazement and admiration, most of the Soldiers found themselves taking away something special from the mission.
"It's probably the most beneficial thing I've done in the Army," said Spc. Kyle Ringeisen of Centralia, Wash. "It was a huge moral booster that will probably hold me over through the whole deployment."
The Soldiers conducted the humanitarian mission during their rest period between convoy missions while at the Ibrahim Khalil Customs Facility in the Haburgate community. During the mission, Soldiers delivered three shipping containers filled with stuffed animals, clothing, small toys, candy, Arabic comic books and other items for the children. Woodford described the mission as a "magnificent display of team work with 2-146th and the Kurdish citizens."
He went on to say: "People were very welcoming and gave us a sense of purpose with our mission of being here. It definitely brought a sense of humility to myself, and I am sure the Soldiers who were with us as well. It was just a joy for me to see the excitement on the Soldier's face and the way they connected with the children and their family members."
Davis spoke very highly of the mission also. When asked about it, he stated: "You guys are helping me foster our relationship with the Kurdish people." He also said he is looking forward to participating in more of these missions. Sgt. Jeremiah Marsh of Grayland, Wash., was very excited about the completion of the mission.
"For me, the mission was a life changing experience and has made the whole deployment worthwhile. The kids were incredible," he said.
The Soldiers who collected the items for the children found people back home were eager to give. Marsh received 76 boxes of goods, mailed to him from citizens of his community. The boxes were sent to him after his wife passed out a flyer at St. Paul's Catholic Church, which they both attend. The church went as far as setting up a processing station to help with mailing the boxes to Marsh. Marsh said he decided to seek donations for Iraqi children after hearing about non-lethal engagements (humanitarian orientated missions) during the initial briefings when he first arrived in Mosul. Ringeisen said he also decided to collect items for the children after attending the same briefings as Marsh. He collected six boxes of clothing, toys and candy after registering on the website, anysoldier.com. Many other Soldiers collected items from friends and family members. Woodford is working on putting together more humanitarian missions to be conducted over the next few months. He advises Soldiers who are interested in participating in these types of missions to contact their unit chaplain.
| Date Taken: | 01.29.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 02.20.2009 09:07 |
| Story ID: | 30226 |
| Location: | IQ |
| Web Views: | 317 |
| Downloads: | 226 |
This work, Spreading joy in Iraq: 2-146th Field Artillery Soldiers bring toys, candy to Iraqi Children, by SGT Blayden Wall, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
