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Show A letter from THE SAN JUAN RECORD Baghdad (Editors note: Monticello native Craig Lance, the son of Norma and Reed Lance, recently wrote this letter to his parents. Norma Lance brought the letter to the San Juan Record and we thought our readers may enjoy it.) Just a note from Baghdad to let you know how Im doing. I am here to pursue Iraq reconstruction work for URS and will be here for as long as a I on December adventure year. started my 30, 2004 when I flew out of Anchorage to Minnesota-St- . Paul and then on to Heathrow Airport in London where I had an overnight layover. I arrived at approximately noon on December 31, 2004. What a long flight, especially for someone with long legs like mine. I was advised to take the subway (or underground as they say in the UKm) since taxis are so expensive there. Gasoline is between $7 and $8 gallon. Wow, we thought $2 per gallon was high! Well, I listened to that advice and took my two suitcases (weighing around 70 lbs. each) and my carry on (not light either) and headed for the underground. Getting on and off the train lugging two suitcases and a carry on was a challenge. The underground was crowded and the sliding doors didnt give me a lot of time to get on and off, either. After I got off the underground I discovered that one of my suitcases wheels had collapsed, leaving a hole into the suitcase, let alone roll along nice and smooth (Im afraid that suitcase isnt coming back from Iraq). On top of that Im on a busy street in downtown London (blocks from Buckingham Palace) and I m not sure which way to walk. Luckily, the direction I picked turned out to be correct. The lady at the Heathrow information booth said it was a short walk to my hotel from the underground. I walked and drug the suitcases what must have been a good mile. That one experience was enough for me. I took a taxi the next day back to the airport. In London I met up with my personal security provider (Ken) who would escort me into Baghdad. Yes, Iraq is still a dangerous place and my company provided me with security and training. Ken is retired from the Army Special Forces and has been a security contractor in the Middle East for the past 17 months. And yep, he does carry a weapon while in Iraq. Of course, everyone does in Iraq, whether you are military or not. The next leg of my trip was a direct flight to Amman, the capitol of Jordan. Here I again had a layover. Ken took this time to start my anti terrorism training. However, we still had several days before my flight into Baghdad so we went sightseeing. But first, a little bit about Amman. Amman is built on a series of step hills much like San Francisco or Seattle. I found Jordan to be very westernized, including fast food restaurants (McDonalds, KFC, etc.). Most men and women wore western style clothes, but there were also traditional dress as well. Signs are in English and Arabic and most people spoke English everywhere that we went. I never felt unsafe in Jordan and everyone was very polite. With so much Islamic extremism in the Middle East, I wasnt sure what to expect, but I would certainly go back to Jordan again. Our first trip sightseeing was to Petra, which is about 300 kilometers south ofAmman. Petra, which is Greek for rock is located in a series of sandstone canyons much like southwest Utah, where I grew up. Petra is an ancient city dating back well before the birth of Christ. Some of its earliest inhabitants were the Nabataeans who were heavily influenced by the Greeks and Romans. I cannot begin to explain to you what an unbelievable city this must have been in its prime and what is left for us to see. They had designed and constructed irrigation and drinking anti-terroris- m SAN JUAN HIGH SCHOOL Blue & Gold Excellence Awards Gold These students had a combined GPA and CPA (Citizenship Point Average) of 3.5 to 4.0 andor a combined average improvement of 1.0 or higher. Wednesday, February 23, 2005 - Page 7 water systems into the city. The drinking water was carried in clay pipes much like you see today!! There was also a Roman style theater carved out of the sandstone rock that held 6,000 to 8,500 people. If you have seen the movie Indiana Jones (the one with Sean Connery), then you have seen Petra. Remember where Harrison Ford and Sean Connery found the holy grail and then rode their horses through the collapsing building and canyon walls? That was Petra. Next, we visited two Roman outposts (ruins), one in the middle of Amman and the other just north of Amman. The Roman General Pompey conquered this area in 63 BC after which he set up his capitol in Damascus, Syria. He then constructed outposts throughout Syria and Jordan. The first Roman city we visited Was in the middle of Amman and believe it or not was called Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love - hmm, I know of another city with that name. Philadelphia was located on the highest hill overlooking what is today, Ammans city center. The second Roman city we visited was Jerash, 45 kilometers north of Amman. Jerash is the larger and the more magnificent of the two. We were told that it once contained over 6,000 of the large, highly sculptured Roman columns in the city. It was very large and contained many temples, two theaters, an open forum, and many colonnaded streets. My flight to Baghdad started at 3 a.m. in the morning, when we got up to take showers, get checked out of the hotel and get to the airport. The flight to Baghdad was an hour and a half long. Our approach into Baghdad International Airport was at approximately 20,000 feet, where we then descended in a tight spiral over the airport before we landed. It was a little bit like a carnival ride. Apparently, this limits ground fire on the aircraft as it loses altitude over the city. Of course, nothing bad happened on my flight into Baghdad. We were met at the Baghdad International Airport by another team from the security provider, Sabre. They were there to take me from the airport to the IZ or International Zone (the IZ is also called the Green Zone). It is approximately seven miles from the airport to the IZ. Getting there was very interesting. Apparently, this is not the safest seven miles so for security reasons it takes three cars to make the trip. I found out this is the way I will travel anytime that I leave the IZ in the future. The first car has Iraqi drivers that drive approximately 700 m ahead of the back two cars. The first cars job is to ensure the way is clear and to radio back anything unusual, roadblocks, backed up traffic, or anything suspicious. The second car is the car I rode in with a driver from Sabre and my personal protection provider, Ken. The last and third car had two more heavily armed security personnel following up the rear and would provide backup in case of trouble (i.e., if my car is disabled, coming up to provide fire support or pick up people in the disabled car The back two cars have armor and make a quick are and the security providers heavily armed. The only exception is the first car with the Iraqis that are not armed or armored. This is because they are to blend into the local community and disappear at the first sign of trouble. Sabres method of travel is to blend into the local community and this includes the armored cars as well. As such, the cars are older models and left dirty on purpose. They hung juju beads from the rear view mirror, and other decorations that you might find in a typical Iraqi car. s that is 1 12 However, the armored vehicles have inch thick including the windshield and rear window. The sides of the cars have steel plate siding. Each car can weigh up to 9,000 lbs. It all made me feel like I was a very important person; you know, like me and President Bush. Now, let me give you a little information about the IZ. It is a section of Baghdad roughly two miles by three miles bordered on one side by the Tigris River. When the IZ was formed, it included about 12,000 Iraqi nationals who continue to live here. The IZ includes local Iraqi neighborhoods, military and private compounds, sectioned off streets and compounds by both military and private companies and .some local businesses. Sabre has one such compound. The Sabre compound is completely enclosed by a brick and concrete wall topped with razor wire. Inside are two houses and a prefab building for office space. There are a contingent of armed guards that patrol the compound 24 hours a day and both entrances and exits have armed guards on duty. This is the same for every compound (both military and private) in the IZ. This is home for the time being. Since I have been in the IZ (almost two weeks now), I have found that Iraqis have never heard of paper towels; they use toilet paper for everything. In fact, I went to a formal luncheon and went to the bathroom. As I was leaving, the Iraqi bathroom attendant handed me a bar of soap to wash my hands and then a wad of toilet paper to dry my hands on. Traffic laws seem to be governed by the law of tonnage, or the biggest vehicle wins and just about everyone here carries a weapon, whether you are in the military or not. The IZ has been mortared twice since I have been here and I have witnessed two Firefights, both about 12 to 34 of a mile away. One was at night where I could see the bullet tracers streaking through the night sky like fireworks. It has all been very exciting so get-away- ). plexi-glas- Blue These students had a combined GPA and CPA (Citizenship Point Average) of 3.0 to 3.49 andor an improvement over previous Cameron Arthur Kenchinthia Charles Karyssa Balch Krista Bayles Kara Bayles Alexander Begay Artie Begay Danaman Begay Heather Begay Jordan Christiansen Willis Begaye Nolan Benally Jennifer Billie Amanda Black Zachariah Black Kimber Blankenship Eligia Boy Beau Bradford Blaine Bradford Keldon Brown Stevie Burtenshaw David Carr Rachel Clarke Gregory Conway Joeanna Cornfield Greg Curley Derrick Davis Heather Davis Christopher Dayish Autumn Drake Cheryl Eyetoo Sarah Fahey Skyann Flavel Jerilyna Fowler Jacob Gardner Carlyle George Chanceallor George Stuart Grisham Chelsea Hansen Krystal Harrison term. far... Craig Lance |