A day of independence for troops leaving Iraq

By John Daniszewski
Los Angeles Times

JIM MACMILLAN / AP The U.S. Air Force 732 Expeditionary Civil Engineering Squadron and the U.S. Army 28th Signal Battalion compete in the 1st Cavalry Division Hoop-It-Up 3-on-3 Tournament at Camp Victory in Iraq.

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Yet U.S. soldiers in Camp Victory made the most of the Fourth of July yesterday in what for many was a light day of work: shopping at the PX, lifting weights and running on treadmills, lining up for ice cream, and in one soldier's case, curling up in a vinyl chair to watch "Finding Nemo".

Morale officers arranged special events such as volleyball, basketball and video-game tournaments. A rendition of Atlanta's Peachtree Road Race drew more than 100 runners, who gathered at 5:30 a.m., when the temperature still was down around 80, for a 10-kilometer race that took them past a former palace of Saddam Hussein's.

A female rock band, which seemed to specialize in AC/DC cover tunes, was brought in. Contract cooks from Halliburton subsidiary KBR made sure steaks, burgers and hot dogs were plentiful at their air-conditioned chow halls. At least one cherry pie with a red-white-and-blue frosted crust was spotted.

But for the Army's 1st Armored Division, which has seen 15 months of continuous duty in Iraq, longer than any other military unit, this Independence Day took on special meaning.

These 20,000 soldiers were getting ready for a ride home that was three months overdue.

The morning began with a "casing of the colors" ceremony overseen by division commander Maj. Gen. Martin Dempsey. The lowering of his task force's flags marked the official end of its mission to provide security in and around Baghdad — and recently, to lead the battle against Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's militia in Karbala and Najaf.

The tank division, which was formed a year before the U.S. entry into World War II and known as "Old Ironsides," was packing up to return to its base in Germany in April. But the outbreak of parallel uprisings in Fallujah and Najaf created an emergency for the already stretched forces here, and the Pentagon delayed the exit.

At the departure ceremony, held in the shadow of a vast Iraqi hangar, Dempsey recalled the 136 troops from his division who died in Iraq — about 16 percent of the U.S. death toll of 858 — and the more than 1,000 who suffered serious wounds.

"We have learned a lot about the price of freedom," he said. "We learned that people experiencing freedom for the first time may not understand how fragile it can be and how much sacrifice may be required to earn it and preserve it."

Quoting Thomas Jefferson, he reminded the troops that the "tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and of tyrants."
 
"We did our duty, nothing more, and certainly nothing less," he concluded. "Well done, Iron soldiers."

One of the tank officers going home, Lt. Col. Randy Lane, originally from a suburb of Cincinnati, was watching his troops make final checks of Abrams tanks loaded onto the back of flatbed trucks for the 24-hour drive to Kuwait.

"I feel pretty good about it," Lane said. He said he is looking forward to joining his wife and children in Germany. "It's Independence Day for the country and independence day for us — that's a double blessing in one day."

Except for a lone rocket fired into the base, it was a quiet day at the camp, extending the calm that has persisted in the six days since the handover of authority to the interim Iraqi government. No one was injured in the rocket attack.

Soldiers who are staying on at Camp Victory, however, wondered how long the lull would last. "I am optimistic that we're at a turning point," said Sgt. Manuel Melendez, 37, of the 1st Cavalry Division. "But this could also be the calm before the storm."

Material from Knight Ridder Newspapers and The Associated Press is included in this report.