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Show Page Two - The Pyramid - August 28, 2003 30rerjgI3EMEI We strolled though the carnival. We were careful to walk quickly past the "barf zone" of the Zipper ride. (Sorry, but I had to say that.) I asked my wife if she wanted to ride the Ferris Wheel. Fair report Yes, its true. My Danish Ball Head cabbage DID win a purple sweep-stakribbon at the county es fair. And yes, its also true; that was a blue ribbon on the pumpkin I entered in the fair. Imagine that; two entries, two "home runs." In all the years Ive lived in Sanpete, this is the first year that Ive entered anything in the fair. Ive been missing out on a lot of fun. I talked to Wanda Robbins at the Exhibition She and her Building. husband, Kay, are in charge of much of that part of the fair. I got the idea from her that she wishes more people would bring things in for the fair. One category which needs more especially participation is flowers. If you and I will remember that for next year, well bowl Wanda over with roses and gladiolas. Entering items is simple. Bring it in. Fill out a tag. Done. When you stop and think about it, Sanpete throws quite a county fair "party" for more than a week. I think youd be to find a county of our size which could rival the schedule we put together here. I didnt make it to every event. That would be impossible. But I did hit a few things and heard about some of the others. There was something for everyone. Tuesday night I attended the Barbershop Music There was a program. good sized crowd in the seats. We showed the performers that Sanpeters know how to clap, whoop and holler, even when its not bull riding. The singing was very professional and several groups performed including hard-press- "Maxim" ed "What and Four. " Part of the program was done by a chorus of about 30 men. The oldest guy in that group was 88 years old. Many of his fellow singers appeared to be not all that far behind him e. and well They sang it was a real "kick" to see age-wis- older these gentlemen having such a good time entertaining us. We took our annual walk through the animal barns. I paused at the Barex Dairy entries of milk cows. I love that they display all the main breeds of milking cows. The Ay shire lady" looked like she could use some relief, so I had to prove to my daughter that I still knew how to milk a cow. (Its like riding a bike.) LmnIIii Nawipapar THE She 365-58- 0) (USPS Utah, 84647 didnt need answer verbally. She has The month of July came and went and everyone here is very busy. Missions were scattered throughout Baghdad and were quite varied. Third Platoon, Price, with some of our equipment operators continued to give support up in the northeast portion of the city with force piotection and community a semi-regular- ly . their thing." There was lots of tire squealing, smoke and little kids with their hands over their ears. It was lots of fun. That night there was a special "cruise in" night at the Basin Drive In. It was a special of screening "American Graffitti." I believe Harrison Ford film. in that debuted Ybung actors Ronnie Howard, Cindy Williams, Richard Dreyfuss and other notables also had roles in that old show. It was a fun step back in time to see the classic cars all lined up at the drive-in- . I indulged in the Basins famous double cheese burger and a bucket of buttery popcorn. Yummy. (It was worth it, even though I considered taking a double dose of Lipitor later.) Sanpete is lucky to have a functioning piece of Americana in the form of a drive-i- n movie. Take the family to the drive-i- n for a movie occasionally. Its tons of fun and its a way of going to the movies that kids will remember forever. I have great memories of the old Rich Drive In which used to be in Richfield. And thats the thing, most drive-i- n theaters are "used to bes." Like I say, were lucky here. Most of us, myself included, have little clue as to how much work goes into the organization and implementation of the county fair. A big thank you to all the hard workers who made the fair a suc- cess... Merrill A good way to judge people is by observing how they treat those who can do them absolutely no good. 49 West Main Street Telephone: Dear Editor: to look which communicates a three word rhetorical question which she uses with me. The look asks, "Are you nuts?" Its become "a thing" with me to always ask her if shed like to go on the Ferris Wheel whenever we She does see one. nt care for them because of the sensation of falling which she gets as the car comes over the top on each rotation. Its a sadistic joke, but it always gets a reaction. Of course, she gets me back sometimes. She likes the "Roundup." I, on the other hand, am not a fan of it and usually want to lie down with my eyes closed when I come off that ride. I skipped the Derby and Rodeo this year, but I sent family representatives. Friday night I watched the car show cars show off on Main Street in Manti. They closed down the street and let some of those high performance cars "do PyRflmiD Published Weekly ot Ml. Pleasant Merrill Ogden projects. Second Platoon, Tooele, built an inlet rogation facility International on Baghdad . ; Richard Rigby 1457th sends news from Baghdad Dear Editor: I am interested in writing to you and I have anticipated writing to you in response of our companys missions here in Baghdad. 1 would like to let the folks back home know how Alpha company is and some of the projects weve been working on while on our tour of active duty, here in Baghdad. We arrived in Raghdad on May 28 and have, basically, since gone non-stoOne of the first projects we helped with was, of course, the Saddam Dig" site, where we helped supply five-to- n dump trucks. was Charlie company doing the actual digging and Alpha company h'dp to the rubble in search spread for Saddam. We then spent the next two weeks tunning the zoo clean-u- p project. It was great to have the additional help of Charlie company lor the couple days they were with us. We had the responsibility of cleaning up the zoo, removing a lot ot blown up cars and rubble, in anticipation of rebuilding and reopening the zoo to the generp al public. It was sad to see how many of the animals were missing from the zoo, as well as seeing how many weie dead that once occupied the cages we helped to repair. We also spent many days covering up old fighting positions that the Iraqi soldiers used during the taking of Baghdad. Some history of the zoo: the zoo used to be a training camp for the Iraqi soldiers 30 years ago and housed many prisoners that rebelled against the president of that era. After the zoo, we did some work actoss the street, helping the city make a MEPS Enhance (Military Processing Station) parking lot. We had a lot of help from all the people in the Alpha company line platoons providing security for us. After that project, we did another project making a spot for a future road near the A1 Rasheed Hotel, which was one of the onlv buildings that did not get wrecked during the bombing of Baghdad. We did some more engi- missions where neering Saddams son, Uday, lived and where he housed some of the lions from the zoo. We are currently working on a mission for the First AD (First Armored Division) rebuilding a tank range. We are doing a lot of berming around the perimeter (approximately 30 miles worth) we are being assisted by the 203 ECB out of Missouri and the Second ACR out of Fort Polk, LA. They are providing security (Second ACR) while were berming and making firing spots and other ranges for smaller weapons. The task to rebuild such a large area is difficult and time consuming. While we berm and make the positions for firing, the line platoons from Mt. Pleas ant, Price and Tooele, blowup UXO (unexploded ordinances) that have been here from when the Iraqis occupied this space. Doing all this work in extreme heat makes the task that much more difficult. The average temperature here is between 120 to 145 on any given day, with night time ranges between 90 to 100. In closing, I would like to express sincere appreciation to The Pyramid in providing the paper. We always enjoy hearing about our other life back home. For the record, the paper is a hot topic whenever someone gets it sent to them by a spouse or friend. Alpha company would also like to express appreciation to the community for its support of our troops and also in support of our families at home. It means a lot to us. Brian Estey, SPC Mt. Pleasant resident serving with A Company 1457 Baghdad Aiiport (B1AP). First Pla- toon, Mt. Pleasant, participated in a handful of projects, mostly on BIAP, which was a nice change for them from being all over the city. I he platoon, support e cry where, did a big project in which they leveled an old in the Today cv it outpost middle ol the city so that Iraqi contractors copld come in and build a market place for the locals to sell their goods. , Bash-allylast month each of the platoons were off executing theit own missions. We cm rent y have a unique oppot (unity to be pet forming a company mission. We have been given a task to reate the gunnery range fot the First Armored Division It has turned into a pretty big deal So far in a week, we have been visited by a dozen or so colonels and twmjseneials. The regular army takes their gun ranges very seriously and everyone is stopping by to see what we are doing. The range is in a very desolate and barren portion of the deseit outside of Baghdad. The range itself is a very large project. In addition to the range, we had to build our base camp. We had a pretty good plan in place before we hit the ground, so we hit the ground running. In the first 72 hours, we installed three kilometers of standard concertina triple installed and wire, protective sandbagged two towers, put c in latrines, set up showers with drainage systems, cleaned out three gutted buildings, set up about a half of eammo netting, set up 12 tents, built Boors lor the tents, ran electrical wire to all buildings and tents and now have power, set up a kitchen, set built two up maintenance, vehicle checkpoints and spiead about lour acres of gravel. I he plan was to secure our LSA quickly and get ourselves moved in quickly. We were really crammed into wlrat we had, but considering where we started, everyone was relatively comfortable after 72 hours. Now we have set up more tents and everyone is basically moved in and pretty comfortable. Security has always been my main concern. Quite honestly, I feel safer working out here than I did in Baghdad. Right now, the equipment operators are heavily tasked au-acr- to put up the berm. They are, as always performing admirably. It is hot and dusty work but their platoon leader has worked out a rest plan and ensures they are drinking enough water. We have had no soldier go down in the support platoon with a heat injury. Third Platoon, Price, has volunteered to stay with me out here until completion of the mission. I have tasked them to clear the route for the equipment operators as they build the berm as well as clear other areas of the range for ordinance. It would be an understatement to say line platoons love demo. Third Platoon is out there everyday blowing up ordinance left behind by the Iraqis and loving every minute of it. f now some of you may worry about dealing in explosives, but these operations are always supervised by an officer and NCO and all 1 measures are obsafety served. I went out with them the other day on a clearing project and participated in the demo missions. I think many of you would be pleased at the level of professionalism even the newest of our soldiers exhibits on these missions. First Platoon, Mt. Pleasant, is switching out with Second Platoon every other week. They were out here this last week also performing demo missions and route clearing missions. They are also responsible in large part for setting up all of our living quarters. I dont know what we would do without SFC Andersons in expertise electricity. Second Platoon, Tooele, just arrived yesterday. They spent the first few days here helping to set up our base camp and spent last week at BIAP. You all have reason to be very proud of your son, father, husband, or otherwise loved one out here. They continue to exceed the standard and impress all individuals and units we come in contact with. We usually get visitors out here every day. I usually walk them through all that we have done and our progress to date. Then I tell them we have been out here a week. love the reaction I get. is absolutely stunned at what your loved ones have accomplished out here. Colonel Marich, the Colonel in charge of all the in Baghdad, is engineers our battalion encouraging commander to submit a packet to the army-wid- e competition for best engineer battalion. He thinks it would be an easy win for us. When you get right down to it, it comes down to the individual effort of every soldier out here in the field you are supporting. Everyday brings us closer to coming home. 1 Everyone Captain Jason Reading, Commanding, A Company 1457th ECB (435)462-213- 4 FAX: 462-245- 9 pyramidavpro.com Craig Conover Publisher Cheryl Brewer Managing Editor Evelyn Chlorson Office DeAnn Houghton Office SUBSCRIPTION - t- r ' RATES jf (In Advance) $20 per year-50- ( per copy $23 per year outside Sanpete f sP f. 4; :y, i v County CORRESPONDENTS Barbara Gordon Benton Petersen Doug Johnson Roy LaFollette 436-876- 0 9 NSHS Sports 462-216- 1 Send change of oddress to The Pyramid, 49 West Mai n Street, Mt. Pleasant, UT 84647. Periodical postage paid at Mt. Pleasant, UT and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: i Frank Estey, Rick Gustamontc ) |