Heart of Darkness

“Catastrophic! Catastrophic!” It was a radio call meant to get everyone’s attention, and it did. Michelle and I had just arrived at Combat Outpost (COP) Steel in the Ta’Meem district of Ramadi, and we were sitting in a dingy room in a house seized by U.S. forces, talking to three soldiers there who make up part of a Military Transition Team (MiTT), advising Iraqi Army soldiers working in the area. I was listening to the radio traffic out of one ear and the small talk out of the other. I was frustrated and I felt I was wasting time, wishing I could get out on some day patrols and find some good pictures, when I heard that a weapons cache had been discovered near our location. But I was stuck in that little room, thinking to myself that I should be out there, making pictures, when that haunting call came.
“Catastrophic” means that a military vehicle has been completely destroyed, usually by a roadside bomb. It often means that soldiers are dead. We all sat helpless and dejected, listening to the radio calls. We listened for hours. Units responding, trying to help, being routed around more roadside bombs, looking for the “triggerman”, but there was no help for the two soldiers that were killed by the bombs buried near that cache.
Since arriving in Ramadi, Michelle and I have done a lot of stories. We covered the Friday Night Smokers boxing tournaments that allow soldiers to blow off a little steam. We went on a river patrol with a Marine Dam Security Unit. We ate meals with Iraqi Police and the PiTT team soldiers working with them to secure their communities. We went on patrols around COP Falcon in south-central Ramadi, a place one commander called “The Heart of Darkness.” I got my chance to photograph soldiers on day patrols, finding weapons caches and returning sniper fire. I even tried in vain to shoot pictures in complete darkness as COP Falcon was attacked and U.S. gunners fired back from the roof as tracers zipped by overhead.
In between it all we stood around with little groups of soldiers, waiting and smoking and telling stories of home and of war. Listening to their plans and their dreams. We watched movies, made plans for achieving world peace, and laughed at jokes few other civilians would understand. Now we’re back in Baghdad, waiting for our next embed. I’m sitting here trying to catch up on a blog, wanting tell you what it is like out there, thinking I should tell you about these soldiers’ successes, their fighting spirit, their lives and their sacrifice. But what keeps coming through the static is that call of desperation, “Catastrophic! Catastrophic!”
Here are the links to three multi-media stories from Ramadi:
Police Transition Teams
DAM Security Unit 3
COP Falcon
Michelle's Stories can be found here: Army Times In Iraq