Seoulstriker
12-16-2003, 03:55 PM
From: Press Service <afisnews_sender@DTIC.MIL>
Subject: 4th ID Troops Express Jubilation Over Saddam's Capture
To: DEFENSE-PRESS-SERVICE-L@DTIC.MIL
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Dec. 16, 2003 -- It was the height of
irony.Soldiers from the Army's 4th Infantry
Division [http://www.hood.army.mil/4id/] were huddled around television screens in
Saddam Hussein's opulent palace in Tikrit, Iraq, watching
the Dec. 14 announcement that a task force from their
division had pulled the former dictator from a hole in the
ground beneath a hovel just nine miles away.
As the news broke, cheers and applause thundered through
the marble corridors of the palace, now headquarters for
the Fort Hood, Texas-based division.
"It was an unbelievable feeling," said Sgt. Billy Atkinson
from the 124th
Signal Battalion [http://www.hood.army.mil/4id_124thsignal/] "I couldn't believe it until I
actually saw it on the news."
Most of the troops watching coalition and military leaders
describe Saddam's capture had little or no advance warning
of the news. But many said they knew that something was in
the air — something so major that it warranted a
communications blackout at the headquarters preceding the
announcement: no telephone access, no TV, no e-mail.
"Nobody knew for sure what was up, but we knew it was big,"
said Sgt. William Doyle from the 418th Civil Affairs
Battalion, an Army Reserve unit based at Staten Island,
N.Y. "We figured that we'd either gotten him (Saddam
Hussein) or (Izzat Ilbrahim) al-Duri (vice chairman of
Saddam's Revolutionary Command Council)."
"We had no official word," agreed Sgt. 1st Class Marshall
Meyer from headquarters and headquarters battery, division
artillery. "But we had an inkling that something very big
was going on."
Capt. Duane Patin from the 2nd Infantry Division's Stryker
Brigade, which is attached to the 4th Infantry Division,
learned of Saddam's capture shortly after it occurred. "It
was simply a matter of being in the right place at the
right time," he said.
But keeping the news a secret until Saddam's identify was
confirmed and the announcement made "was really tough,"
Patin said. "It took about 18 hours until the official
announcement came out."
In the division's intelligence office, 1st Lt. Natasha
Howard, too, learned of the capture before the press
conference. "At first I didn't believe it," she said. "The
first thing that went through my mind was, 'Is this a
double, or is it really him?'"
When Howard's office got confirmation that the former
dictator had, in fact, been taken into custody, Howard said
she and her coworkers resisted the almost irresistible urge
to celebrate — or even talk about it among themselves. "But
it was a really happy atmosphere," she said. "People had
smiles on their faces and were even whistling."
Perhaps the greatest feeling, she said, was learning that
when Ambassador L. Paul Bremer III [http://cpa-
iraq.org/bios/index.html] announced
in his press conference, "We got him," the "we" he referred
to was her own division.
"Everyone was happy that it was us — the 4th ID — that
actually captured him," she said. "That made everyone feel
really great."
Howard said most 4th Infantry Division soldiers haven't yet
descended from exuberance over the capture, and the role
their fellow soldiers played in it. "People are still
excited," she said. "The initial excitement hasn't dropped
yet."
When Howard spoke to her 8-year-old son the day of the
announcement, he told her that he had good news and bad
news. "The bad news is that you're not home yet," he said
from his grandmother's home in New York. "But the good news
is that you guys caught Saddam," he said, asking, "Did you
know that?"
Howard said her son then went on to verbalize the same
thought that many 4th Infantry Division soldiers admitted
went through their own minds when they learned of Saddam's
capture. "So that means that now you can come home," he
said.
But like many of her fellow soldiers, Howard acknowledged
that Saddam's capture doesn't necessarily mean that their
mission will get any easier or that they will get to return
home any sooner.
"There's still a lot of work to do here," she said. "But in
the meantime, this news is a great Christmas present for
all of us."
Subject: 4th ID Troops Express Jubilation Over Saddam's Capture
To: DEFENSE-PRESS-SERVICE-L@DTIC.MIL
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Dec. 16, 2003 -- It was the height of
irony.Soldiers from the Army's 4th Infantry
Division [http://www.hood.army.mil/4id/] were huddled around television screens in
Saddam Hussein's opulent palace in Tikrit, Iraq, watching
the Dec. 14 announcement that a task force from their
division had pulled the former dictator from a hole in the
ground beneath a hovel just nine miles away.
As the news broke, cheers and applause thundered through
the marble corridors of the palace, now headquarters for
the Fort Hood, Texas-based division.
"It was an unbelievable feeling," said Sgt. Billy Atkinson
from the 124th
Signal Battalion [http://www.hood.army.mil/4id_124thsignal/] "I couldn't believe it until I
actually saw it on the news."
Most of the troops watching coalition and military leaders
describe Saddam's capture had little or no advance warning
of the news. But many said they knew that something was in
the air — something so major that it warranted a
communications blackout at the headquarters preceding the
announcement: no telephone access, no TV, no e-mail.
"Nobody knew for sure what was up, but we knew it was big,"
said Sgt. William Doyle from the 418th Civil Affairs
Battalion, an Army Reserve unit based at Staten Island,
N.Y. "We figured that we'd either gotten him (Saddam
Hussein) or (Izzat Ilbrahim) al-Duri (vice chairman of
Saddam's Revolutionary Command Council)."
"We had no official word," agreed Sgt. 1st Class Marshall
Meyer from headquarters and headquarters battery, division
artillery. "But we had an inkling that something very big
was going on."
Capt. Duane Patin from the 2nd Infantry Division's Stryker
Brigade, which is attached to the 4th Infantry Division,
learned of Saddam's capture shortly after it occurred. "It
was simply a matter of being in the right place at the
right time," he said.
But keeping the news a secret until Saddam's identify was
confirmed and the announcement made "was really tough,"
Patin said. "It took about 18 hours until the official
announcement came out."
In the division's intelligence office, 1st Lt. Natasha
Howard, too, learned of the capture before the press
conference. "At first I didn't believe it," she said. "The
first thing that went through my mind was, 'Is this a
double, or is it really him?'"
When Howard's office got confirmation that the former
dictator had, in fact, been taken into custody, Howard said
she and her coworkers resisted the almost irresistible urge
to celebrate — or even talk about it among themselves. "But
it was a really happy atmosphere," she said. "People had
smiles on their faces and were even whistling."
Perhaps the greatest feeling, she said, was learning that
when Ambassador L. Paul Bremer III [http://cpa-
iraq.org/bios/index.html] announced
in his press conference, "We got him," the "we" he referred
to was her own division.
"Everyone was happy that it was us — the 4th ID — that
actually captured him," she said. "That made everyone feel
really great."
Howard said most 4th Infantry Division soldiers haven't yet
descended from exuberance over the capture, and the role
their fellow soldiers played in it. "People are still
excited," she said. "The initial excitement hasn't dropped
yet."
When Howard spoke to her 8-year-old son the day of the
announcement, he told her that he had good news and bad
news. "The bad news is that you're not home yet," he said
from his grandmother's home in New York. "But the good news
is that you guys caught Saddam," he said, asking, "Did you
know that?"
Howard said her son then went on to verbalize the same
thought that many 4th Infantry Division soldiers admitted
went through their own minds when they learned of Saddam's
capture. "So that means that now you can come home," he
said.
But like many of her fellow soldiers, Howard acknowledged
that Saddam's capture doesn't necessarily mean that their
mission will get any easier or that they will get to return
home any sooner.
"There's still a lot of work to do here," she said. "But in
the meantime, this news is a great Christmas present for
all of us."