Caledonia Argus

Brownsville woman was ësaw gunnerí in Iraq

Posted: 6/15/04

Editorís note: Adrianne Klug of Brownsville gave the following speech at the Memorial Day program in Brownsville on May 31 of this year. Adrianne, 23, is in the Army 4th infantry, Company 704 DSB. She served in Iraq for nine months. She is the daughter of Tim and Cindy Klug.

Memorial Day Address

By Adrianne Klug

I joined the service for a few reasons. The opportunity to travel, to challenge myself and the chance to serve my country.

The idea came about after my reading of our constitution. I had picked up an old dusty set of encyclopedias from a yard sale - I think I paid a quarter for the whole box - One evening while flipping through the ëCí book, I came across our US Constitution. I found it absolutely brilliant. The freedoms it gives all persons to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Wow! What other nation is built on such noble intentions?

Through this document and amendments you can see the growth of the American nation. I wanted to do my part, give my time to our country, so I joined the Army.

On April 19th, 2001 I rode my 1st flight ever- to basic training. From April through July I learned among other things to fire a weapon, dig a foxhole, treat the wounded, rappel and I went through the dreaded gas chamber. July - September I went to school to learn about what would be my job for the next three years a diesel mechanic. Graduation Day was September 11, 2001. After our ceremony I arrived back to the company area saddened with the thought of having to say goodbye to those I had become so close to. I walked into the TV room; everyone was sitting in silence. Soldiers and parents together stared at the TV. The image on the screen showed the Twin Towers on fire, America had been attacked. We understood the severity of the situation- not only as Americans but also as soldiers. Good-byes were hard that day.

After graduation I came home on leave and was then stationed in South Korea for a year. In Korea I was post Vice President for a program that was created to protect and improve soldiersí living conditions, develop soldiersí programs both for entertainment and travel, and work with the community to build relationships between the Korean civilians and the American soldiers.

We developed a wonderful relationship with a childrenís orphanage we 'adopted' in a nearby town. On a monthly basis we would visit our beautiful children - we brought food, clothing and toys. We developed small tutoring programs to teach English. It was an amazing opportunity to work along side the people of Korea. My Korea tour ended November of 2002. From there I went to Fort Hood Texas to become part of the 4th infantry Division.

I went to Fort Hood knowing it was likely that I would be deployed. We received our deployment orders in January 2003. In the months that followed we prepared our equipment and ourselves for Iraq. We arrived to Kuwait April 1, 2003. We waited in a staging area near the Kuwait-Iraq border to move into the country.

We slept in large tents, which held about 100 cot to cot. It was a permanent staging area used by many soldiers on their way to and from Iraq - so we had some luxuries there - mainly porta potties, showers, and a chow tent. The sand storms in both Kuwait and Iraq were intense and goggles were needed wherever we went. At the time visibility was so poor you couldnít see 3 feet ahead. Finally after a month it was time for us to move into Iraq. We loaded our vehicles and began the 4-day drive. You were supposed to drive or guard. We tried to rotate three to a vehicle so we could catch some sleep, but sleep was scarce and besides 2 to 3 refuels no scheduled rest stops. Normally if a tire blew on a vehicle it was a chance to use the ëbathroomí. Bushes and trees were scarce so you had to make do, what you have in modesty goes out the window.

On the drive up it was about 120 degrees but it was yet to reach the high norm of 135-140. I carried a M249 Saw machine gun which with the addition of ammo weighed over 20 pounds ñ worn with a vest with plates weighing 15-20 pounds, a kevlar helmet on my head and the uniform I am wearing now. After four long days we arrived at our destination, Tikrit Iraq, hometown of Saddam Hussein. Our base was an old Iraqi Air force base. For about three months we stayed in tents in what we called the dust bowl, the name being self-explanatory.

We were rationed two bottles of water and three MRE meals a day. For awhile baby wipes were our means of showers, however after the water sanitation team arrived on post we built a shower - a plywood box with a door and a metal container we had attached to the top which was filled with water daily.

Toilets were also a plywood box, a metal barrel, and a toilet seat someone had generously removed form the plane we flew in on! Each morning we took turns waking at 4:30 am to burn and stir ìyesterdays meal.î

As an afterthought I would like to mention some of the critters we encountered daily. Lizards, scorpions, camel spiders, sand fleas, snakes, mice, centipedes, and some unknown ... But I think what we disliked most were the swarms of flies whose favorite spots were the food, our face and atop of the continents of the metal barrels we called our toilets. After a few months into dustbowl, our battalion cleaned up some abandoned Iraqi buildings and moved out of our tents.

This is around the time where attacks became more frequent on our base. Being as we were in a secured perimeter there was nothing we could do but hope they didn't hit us - and thank God they never did. This was also the time when mail became a daily event. We would work all day on vehicles and come back late in the evening hoping a letter or package would be sitting on your cot. It is amazing the joy a letter can bring!

As a female mechanic I lived in a room with 10 men and no other females and also dealt mostly with men on a daily basis. So, I had to work harder to gain their respect. These men were my brothers; I wanted them to know they could count on me. I think this is why I asked to be the 249 saw gunner. There are very few female saw gunners, the only others I saw were military police. As a gunner I was sent on more missions off post. Basic security missions and bi-monthly shopping trips to downtown Tikrit. As the saw gunner it was my duty to go into the building first to insure that no one was hiding inside waiting for us. Once the building was cleared I would escort and guard the officers as they bought needed supplies. One day while we were downtown we were fired upon. I was sent out of the shop to see if our men had been hit. The silence the seconds before we knew was deafening and the relief to see that it had hit an empty street behind us is indescribable.

Now honestly I could go on and on about stories from Iraq, but donít worry I wonít. I want to say living conditions improved. We began to get food from the chow hall, they brought in porta-potties, AT&T built a phone center to call home, and a store was built to provide some of the things we needed and some of the things we didnít. These luxuries raised soldier morale and created jobs for the Iraqi, Lebanese, Indian and Turkish people.

You know when I was asked to come and speak on Memorial Day, honestly I didnít want to. I thought, how could I stand in a room with veterans from WWII, the Korean War and Viet Nam? These men who I am so, so grateful to and whom I respect so deeply. But they told me people are curious. They just want to hear your story. So this is my story in a nutshell. A sliver of a sliver of the story they call war.

I know mine is mellow compared to most, and for this I thank God. Our company had a saying before we left to Iraq ì108 people going to Iraq 108 coming backî and we did, we all made it back alive. However Memorial Day isnít a day for those who served and lived to tell their story. We have Veterans Day for that purpose. We all come together today to honor those who gaveÝALL in service of our nation.

We come together today and wear red poppies to ensure the sacrifice of soldiers past is never forgotten. In 1915 Monia Michael wrote: ìWe cherish too the poppies red, that grow on field where valor led. It seems to signal the skies that blood of heroes never dies. So today we remember those heroes whose deaths allow us our life- our liberty and our pursuit of happiness.î

So please go today; honor those who have fallen in your pursuit of happiness. Thank You

Sidebar:
Let me tell you about my favorite mission - the one you donít hear about on CNN - it was called Operation Pencil Box. We took a convoy of 4 vehicles to two local schools to deliver needed supplies to the children and build play areas and fix any damage to the school building itself. Also prior to other off post missions we would bring candy saved from our meals and apples smuggled from our chow hall to the children who waited for us daily to pass them by the gate. I was also lucky to work with not only some Iraqi civilians but also Indian, Lebanese, and Turkish people who were brought onto the post to work. Though my Arabic consists only of a few needed phrases and their English was little, we still managed to communicate and joke around. When I look back at my time in Iraq these experiences are the ones I want to remember. The relationships we as American soldiers made with the Iraqi people. The examples we showed as Americans - and they observed us, they saw when we gave - when we helped - when we smiled. They watched and some grew to respect us. In that way I think we made a positive difference. John F. Kennedy said, ìPeace is a daily, weekly, monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers, and quietly building new structure.î This is our hope for Iraq. We are all peacemakers. Your roleÝas supporters of American troops are as important as that of a soldier. Your letters and your prayers are what gave us our strength.

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