The World According To Chris Brewer

So now that I actually have a few minutes to sit down and type, let’s just say today’s been pretty cool. I am sitting down here at CSC Scania (basically an Army convoy stop) and there are a bunch of folks deployed here from a Georgia National Guard unit. They’re why I’m down here…apparently they’re spread throughout southeastern Iraq and I have been the one chosen to come down here and get video of them all doing their thing.

Today I got to shoot some video of medics treating burn victims at a clinic — scratch that, it was basically a trailer — outside the main gate of Scania. Most of the burn victims were Iraqi children and the Americans give them free treatment. Suffice it to say I got a couple of good stories, including one of a soldier who worked at the clinic and had been injured by an IED a couple of months earlier, and begged to come back and finish the time in Iraq with his unit. Compelling story, and you’ll see it here soon.

We also got to ride with a bunch of civil affairs folks through some local villages and towns, checking reconstruction efforts on schools, water treatment plants, and other buildings of interest. That was the highlight of my tour here in Iraq so far…the locals down here are so supportive of the American effort and really treated us like heroes. At one of the villages we went in and checked on a school, and the local sheiks gave each one of us a bottle of Pepsi. New Pepsi in old bottles, I might add. But still they were really nice folks.

During each stop in each village we encountered many children asking for gifts, and whoa…did we ever have some to give out. I shot video of a couple soldiers standing on top of the Humvee and throwing out stuffed animals, soccer balls, candy, you name it to the kids. Their parents were really appreciative, and we carried on conversations with some of the English speaking ones and some of the Iraqi ones through an interpreter. Let me also add that I never once felt in danger while out in the community. The folks here were some of the friendliest Iraqis I have met.

I’ve got a ton of pictures to share, but you will have to wait until I am back at the International Zone so I can upload them. The images and video are compelling, and they tell a story of a people who have been oppressed for so long and are finally free. Wait until you see the video I shot from my digital camera of a local man running a shop, thanking Americans for taking Saddam out of power.

Friends, what we are doing here does have a great effect on the nation of Iraq, and don’t let any liberals or any naysayers tell you otherwise. I am over here, I have now seen firsthand the relationship and community building that takes place here, and I am glad I am on this trip.

I urge you now in closing to please help me get the word out of what is going on here. The national media won’t let you know it…that’s why I exist. I’m here to get the servicemembers’ story back to a nation that needs to hear it, and if we don’t have any help, they’ll never know what really goes on here. Please help me get the good word out.

God bless and I’ll try to type more tomorrow!!!