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Recollections of Operation Iraqi
Freedom
In mid-September, 2003, Christopher
Reese ’96 returned to the United States after more than two hundred
days on active duty in the Middle East. A staff sergeant in the U.S.
Marine Corps, Reese had a tour of duty that included about fifty days in Iraq.
He faced incoming missile attacks and malaria-carrying mosquitoes; met
generals, Congressmen, and celebrities; took a dozen flights in CH-46 and
CH-53 helicopters and C130 airplanes; and managed to shoot over three
thousand photographs. He provided Web Extra with this exclusive
report:
In September, 2003, I returned to the United
States after participating in Operation Iraqi Freedom. It had been a long
journey for me, physically and mentally, and the memories will live inside
me forever. In February, I was packing boxes and preparing to move into my
first house when I received the phone call. Within a week, I was in
California to process for my eventual work in the Middle East.
I landed in the dark in Kuwait on March 17,
2003, without much of a clue as to where I really was. Everything I would
need to survive for the next year I carried on my back. My mind was no
longer on my new house or my family. I now tried to focus on the war that
had yet to be formally declared.
Within two days of my living in the sands of
Camp Commando, Kuwait, the war was announced and became all too real. A
seersucker missile landed about three hundred yards from our tent and the
concussion shook the ground. Our training and survival skills immediately
kicked in and we ran to the closest concrete bunkers built just for such
an incident. This drill would occur more than three dozen times over the
next two weeks. Only one other missile actually hit the ground as the
Patriot missile batteries beat the odds and shot down nearly everything
the Iraqis threw at us. There were nights when Marines would sleep outside
on the open ground in their chemical protective suits with gas mask in
hand because there were so many sirens going off. Getting acclimated to
three-digit temperatures is easy; getting accustomed to being under
missile attack was not.
After a couple of weeks, the missile
launchers were destroyed and our planning for missions began in earnest. I
belong to the Fourth Civil Affairs Group in Washington, D.C., and our unit
was split up into teams and disseminated among the south central region of
Iraq to support the various battalions in civil military operations. A few
days before departure into Iraq, I had suffered a painful knee injury. I
was placed on the commanding officer’s team and tasked to photograph the
other teams as we went from region to region to check on their progress.
Our road trip was a week and a half long and
we covered over five hundred miles. We visited Diwaniyah, Karbala, Najaf,
Hillah, and Babylon before driving back to Kuwait. In May, we focused our
efforts on sending supplies and mail to our teams. I eventually made
several more trips into Iraq via C-130 airplanes and CH-46 helicopters.
At one point I was introduced to a
lieutenant from First Battalion Fourth Marines stationed in Hillah. His
mission was to purchase video equipment to outfit a team of “news
reporters.” After talking about my video production background, I was
asked to join his team and we traveled to Kuwait City to purchase $10,000
worth of equipment. I later joined him in Hillah for nine days to shoot
and edit some programs and conduct a production workshop. This was my
single most memorable experience of the post-war operations.
The workshop included a dozen Iraqi men with
varying degrees of experience and interest in video production. I had been
an instructor at the Art Institute of Washington for two years prior to
Operation Iraqi Freedom, so I felt comfortable teaching video to this
group. In the single full-day workshop we could only brush the surface of
video production. Everything I said had to be translated by our
interpreter, Mohammed. Every question asked by the group also had to be
translated.
Throughout my time in Iraq
and Kuwait, I grew to understand the Arab culture better. I arrived
with many unanswered questions, received many answers, but left with
new questions.
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A gallery of Reese's pictures
(opens in new window) |
During the nine days I was in Hillah, I
truly felt that I contributed to the war effort. However small my actions
may seem, I understand the power of the media and how messages can be sent
to the masses. However, I never expected the messages to have
life-threatening repercussions. Mohammed was not only our interpreter but
also the co-host of a short weekly show that highlighted many of the
accomplishments the coalition was making in the region. It seems that some
members of the former regime did not see this show as being in their
self-interest, and they visited his home. Their message was clear:
Mohammed was to quit the show or his family would suffer. Faced with this
option, we all agreed that Mohammed would be replaced but would still play
an integral part behind the camera.
I returned to Camp Commando to wait a few
more weeks before going home on what we now called the “Freedom Flight.”
But as the military will often do, I was instead transferred to a unit
back in Iraq. I became the Operations Chief for the First Marine
Expeditionary Force, G3 Future Operations, in Babylon. Since this group
would only be functional until the turnover to the coalition forces on
September 3, I knew that my time was short. My main focus was to assist in
breaking down the camp. My own freedom would have to wait a few more
weeks.
Throughout my time in Iraq and Kuwait, I
grew to understand the Arab culture better. I arrived with many unanswered
questions, received many answers, but left with new questions. Can the
Iraqi people help themselves? Will they be able to put aside tribal
differences for the benefit of the entire country? Can they fend off the
fundamentalist extremists that continue to infiltrate the country and
attempt to undermine coalition progress? Will the Iraqi people be happier
and healthier ten years from now?
My hopes for a thriving Iraqi culture and
economy are not without merit. I have seen the dark side of the country,
but I have also seen the great potential in these ancient lands. Our
government has lifted the passport restrictions to and throughout Iraq. I
suspect that with some investment into travel, safety, and basic
amenities, this region will eventually become a booming tourist spot.
Imagine staying at a four-star hotel
(actually a former palace) overlooking the Euphrates River, with the ruins
of Babylon being excavated by archaeologists nearby. Want more adventure?
Imagine staying at smaller hostels in cities like Al Kut or Nasariyah
where you can canoe down the Euphrates between river banks that look
strikingly Biblical. Looking for trendier spots to vacation? Fly directly
into Baghdad International Airport and walk the capital city streets full
of boutique shops and vibrant architecture.
None of this exists yet, but I believe it
will. Perhaps it will take us a generation to truly understand the
profound significance of Operation Iraqi Freedom. For the time being, I
believe that the country—and more importantly, the citizens—are better off
now than they were a year ago.
Christopher Reese is a 1996 graduate of
the IUP Department of Communications Media. He currently teaches video
production at the Art Institute of Washington and has been a media
production consultant for the past three years. He lives in Alexandria,
Virginia.
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