The World According To Chris Brewer

Onto Thursday…after convoying back to Tallil overnight, we were not able to get out to Camp Cedars II so we decided to hit up the Ziggurat of Ur and make a huge story out of that. I wrote a previous blog post on that. After we came back from the Ziggurat we chilled out for the rest of the day, hit up the chow hall, watched Star Wars Episode II on my laptop and called it a night. Thursday was pretty light.

Friday we were back at it again, up and at ‘em early to go shoot our final set of footage…this time with members of the convoy we rode down with. They were basically taking their humvees into the shop to work on them and tune them up, so we hung out and interviewed them there. Before we knew it we had to gather at a staging point at 3 PM to catch a convoy ride back to Baghdad International Airport (BIAP).

It was pretty much the same story on the way back…hurry up and wait. After 11 hours of roadtripping across Iraq back to BIAP, we waited all night until 7:30 AM for our helo ride back to the IZ. Then it was all over….I slept Saturday off and went back to work yesterday.

So here I am now, and I anchored the newscast today. I’ll be sure to show you that soon. Gotta run for now, but you all be good out there.

So I’m back in the IZ and I realize I actually don’t want to be here for too long at a time. Ever since I went and shot video at Scania and Tallil over the past few days, I’ve realized life outside the IZ is so much better than life inside it. Which really shouldn’t be the case, but it is thanks to the immaturity of many of the folks I’m deployed with, and the politics of our job. I’ve already talked about the immaturity of the people here before (basically, if people around here would act their age, which is at least twenty-something, their unit’s morale wouldn’t be down and it wouldn’t be affecting people like me)…but shoot, the folks around here entangle you in so much red tape that the times you feel like you’ve something worthwhile in this office are few and far between.

This week was one of those times, thankfully. I got to go down to CSC Scania and Tallil Air Base, as you may have read in my prior articles. I was hanging with the Coalition Press Information Center’s first sergeant and some members of the 48th Brigade Combat Team from the Georgia National Guard. Not only did I gain a lot of respect for the first sergeant, but I also went out and saw Iraq firsthand and shot five news stories.

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I’m back, safe and sound!!!

Lots of experiences to tell you about, but I am not on my own laptop so I will have to share them tomorrow. God bless!

After an interesting convoy ride at night from Scania, we now find ourselves today at Tallil Air Base in south eastern Iraq and about a six hour convoy from Baghdad. Once you get out of Baghdad, a lot of the forward operating bases (FOBs) and military support sites you see are out in the middle of nowhere, protected by a bunch of concrete T barriers, and most serve as refueling stops for convoys passing through. Except for Tallil…this place has Air Force and Army operations inside it, and there is also an Italian base close by.

Also, right outside of Tallil lies the historic (and I’m talking Old Testament, book of Genesis historic) city of Ur, where the Chaldeans and most importantly, Abraham, was born and lived until he moved on to Canaan land. Today we went on a tour of the site, exploring the great Ziggurat of Ur, which the Chaldeans had built as a monument to their “moon god.” Near the Ziggurat was the house of Abraham himself and also royal tombs that once held remains of ancient kings and rulers of the Mesopotamian region.

It is interesting to note that the Iraqi tour guide referred to Abraham as “Prophet Abraham” because he is the father of Ishmael, pretty much the father of Islam as we know it today. Abraham is revered in Christian, Islamic, and Jewish circles as a great prophet and the “father of many nations.”

Today was a once in a lifetime opportunity to experience some wonderful Biblical history…just wait until I post the video. I’ll be making an AFN News story and also a personal 30-minute documentary on the experience as well.

Tomorrow, my time with the 48th Brigade Combat Team from the Georgia National Guard will be drawing to a close. It has been a great experience so far, and I will be shooting one final story tomorrow on a day in the life of a 48th BCT convoy soldier. I’ll try to update more then.

Be good out there, everyone.

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!!!

I have been in humvees all night and day, and now find myself at CSC Scania, Iraq.

Don’t have much time to type, so Google it if you need more info.

That is all! Thanks for prayers for safe travel.

I am out of here in less than three hours. But I’m posting now so I can get it out of the way.

Be good out there while I’m gone. I’ll try to update when I can, at least just to let you all know I arrive safely.

God bless!!!

Sorry the blog hasn’t really been too interesting yesterday, but suffice to say that the thought of me riding in a convoy to a place far from Baghdad tomorrow kinda weighs heavy on my mind. Just because I’ve never done it before, that’s all.

Of course we all know the danger our troops face being here in Iraq, and convoys are where a large part of injuries and deaths among the troops occur, thanks to foreign insurgents placing IEDs (improvised explosive devices) in the road. But I have faith in two things:

The Lord told me He’d keep me safe wherever I went. I have a real peace in my heart about leaving tomorrow. I really have no problem with it. I keep praying about it and God gives me peace…so if I’m not worried, there is no reason you all should be either.

The people I will ride with go out on convoys all the time and know what they’re doing. These guys are professionals and I am proud to entrust my life to them. They will do whatever it takes to ensure themselves and the people with them make it where they need to go safely.

At the risk of stealing this phrase from Uncle Johnny (but it’s so true), I covet your prayers. Please pray for not only me but everyone going on this trip (someone else from my shop and all the soldiers in the convoy). Pray that God grants us safe travel with no incidents of any sort.

So now onto some really interesting news.

Today I gained a whole new respect for Aftan, if that’s even possible. Not only did she make me a blanket and send it on down my way, but she got her digital camera and has been taking photos of random stuff and herself. The random stuff I don’t care so much about, but the photos of her…WOW. Serious. She’s just like I remember her in our good old Rainier High School days — trust me fellas, our senior year, she was pretty hot — but something really strikes me about her now, and I realized what it was today.

Even though she hates me telling her that she is the best woman I know (she hates being called a woman), just by looking at her photos you can tell there is this awesome sense of maturity about her. You can call me crazy, I don’t know how I find that in a photo but I just did. She just has this natural mature beauty that comes through in all her photos (check her MySpace profile in my links section below to see what I am talking about).

Kinda odd, because I liked her all through high school but I never told a soul. Even my mom and dad, when I told them that, just gave the standard “yeah, right” response. But it’s totally true. I met her our freshman year, back in 1998, and liked her ever since. What a wonderful woman — er, I mean girl (that correction’s for you, Aftan). Man, I can’t wait to see her in July. Four years without seeing her is four years too long. And today my desire to just spend as much time as I can with her intensified so much. AHHH MY HEART HURTS!!!!! OWWWWW.

Anyhoo….that’s it for this update. You all keep it cool and play nice out there. I will update tomorrow before I leave. God bless!!!

(…and God bless Aftan….whoo hoo.)

Good news first since I’m sure you all are wondering how I am doing health-wise.

This morning I woke up and most of the congestion is gone. I’m still coughing and blowing my nose a bit, but not nearly as frequently as yesterday. Suffice to say I feel a little bit better. Thanks to all of you who have been praying for me, it is much appreciated.

As for the other news…

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Pray for me. I have a head cold that has walloped me.

I’m outta here until further notice.