It was the spring of 2008 and the end of my second trip to Iraq. With the U.S. and world economy slipping into the abyss, I held in the back of my mind the notion it could also very well be, my last trip to Iraq. I had funded all these journalistic endeavors myself.
If all went well, there would be one last "taxi mafia" run from the last city in Iraq to the Iraqi/Turkish border. Up in that area I had run into Assyrian people. They are Christians from a long lost civilization. I found them running hotels and beer shops. This day in question, one was my driver. He was a tall and well-built 40 years old. He had wavy blondish hair like in a 1960s Hollywood movie. Of course his pointy shoes were polished shinny black. The mandatory cigarette hung from his lips. The culture of men's hair salons, cigarettes, and shoe stores was ubiquitous in Turkey and Iraq. The Assyrians were not immune from that regional culture. This man spoke a couple of words of English.
Suddenly, this driver veers toward -- Syria. "Syria better," he said and smiled, responding to my nervous movements.
I had been through the mountain route enough to know he had made some kind of deviation. Of course my heart sank. Here we go again, another in a long line of lunatic drivers. I thought for a couple miles and then tried to figure out his madness with the couple of Kurdish words I now know.
"Syria good," he said and took a drag on his cigarette.
In the mean time cars disappeared off the lonely road and we went though some unfamiliar checkpoints. We left the safe mountains and emerged into an open desert-scape. We passed some conical Yazidi roofs, some Kurdish flags, and busted out into the plain beneath Zakho, Iraq. The car whisked along the Syrian barbed wire border fence. The periodic Syrian guards glowered at our lone car; their AK-47s at the ready.
"Syria good, Syria good," he said again; and then added, "Family from Syria."
My mind raced.
These taxi guys were replete with tricks and short cuts. Could this fool actually get into Syria to take a short cut? Or worse, sell me down the kidnap chain? I thought of that Vietnamese driver of mine that strayed into Cambodia, another place I had no Visa for. The mind does funny things when you are on the precipice of panic. I had no Visa for Syria, it was true, and Syria of course, was at the time, basically an enemy of the United States. If caught there, I could be tossed in jail as a spy, or worse.
That was it: I would jump out the door before we crossed the Syrian border. I held my breath and inched my hand toward the door handle.
And as quickly as my panic arrived..., it subsided. There before us was the Iraqi border crossing buildings.
As it turns out, he was trying to tell me it was an easier drive along the Syrian border rather than going through the mountains. He was right, it was a better ride - albeit longer. Good thing I did not jump out of the car some where before I figured out what he was really up to.
I would have had some splain'n to do to the Kurdish militia guys that would no doubt have picked me up wandering around the border, and stumbling with a limp and broken arm from my plunge out of the car at 50 miles per hour.
Note: This blog "Fate Fairies" Category does not list the brushes with fate chronologically - I write about the experiences as they pop up in my memory and I often revisit an older event. Go to the Cooldadiomedia Web site and the Fate Fairies Page for an ordered chronology.
Note: This blog "Jobs of Bob" Category does not list the jobs chronologically - I write about the experiences as they pop up in my memory and I often revisit an older job. Go to the Cooldadiomedia Web site and the Jobs of Bob Page for an ordered chronology.
Wisconsin Military Service Person Special Mention of the Week
(each week Cooldadiomedia mentions a Wisconsin service person killed in Iraq or Afghanistan)
Army Sergeant First Class Lance Scott Cornett, 33, London, Kentucky (family connections in Pulaski, Wisconsin), died on Friday, February 3, 2006 near Ar Ramadi, Iraq. He was killed when his unit engaged in a firefight with enemy forces. Sergeant First Class Cornett was assigned to Special Operations Team, Headquarters Company, U.S. Army Special Operations Command, based out of Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
The Wisconsin Department of Veteran Affairs notes Cornett's mother, Karen McMullen, resides in Pulaski, Wisconsin. The Web site iraqwarheroes.com quoting from a military press release indicates Lance Cornett was born on July 11, 1972, in San Diego, California. He graduated from Laurel County High School in London, Kentucky, in 1991. He entered the Army that same year of 1991. Some of Cornett's specialized training includes the Air Assault Course; the Basic Airborne Course; the Sniper Course; the Sapper Leader Course; the Ranger Course; the Pathfinder Course; the Static Line Jumpmaster Course; the Basic and the Advanced Noncommissioned Officer Courses; the Special Forces Diving Supervisor Course; and, the Military Freefall Jumpmaster Course.
Some of Sergeant First Class Cornett's military awards and decorations include two Bronze Star Medals with Valor Device; the Joint Service Commendation Medal; three Army Commendation Medals; nine Army Achievement Medals; the Joint Meritorious Unit Award; four Army Good Conduct Medals; the National Defense Service Medal with Bronze Service Star; the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal with Bronze Service Star; the Iraqi Campaign Medal; the Global War On Terrorism Expeditionary Medal; the Global War On Terrorism Service Medal; the Noncommissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon with numeral three; the Army Service Ribbon; the Ranger Tab; the Sapper Tab; the Combat Infantryman’s Badge; the Expert Infantryman's Badge; the Pathfinder Badge; the Military Freefall Jumpmaster Badge; the Master Parachutist Badge; the Air Assault Badge; and, the Special Operations Diver Badge. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal for valor, the Purple Heart, and the Defense Meritorious Service Medal.
At the time of his death Sergeant First Class Lance Cornett was survived by his wife Sandra Cornett; daughter Brandy Rudy and her husband Sergeant Benjamin Rudy; grandchildren Logan Scott Rudy and Taylor Nicole Rudy; his son Christopher Hart; his daughter Brianna Cornett; his father Rhudell Cornett; his mother Karen McMullen; his sister Cristal Chestnut and her husband Jimmy; and, his grandmother Mary Lou Egan.
Sergeant First Class Lance S. Cornett is the 99th military service person that has been identified by Cool Dadio Media as having Wisconsin connections and that has died in Iraq since the Spring of 2003.
As of this blog entry's posting date:
103,746 Iraqi civilians have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003 (actually documented).
10,125 Iraqi Security Forces have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
4,486 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
1845 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
318 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
970 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
1 American/Coalition casualty in Libyan "Operation Odyssey Dawn" since March, 2011.
32,224 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
592 Wisconsin military service persons have been wounded in Iraq since Spring 2003.
14,837 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
192 Wisconsin military service persons have been wounded in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
107 Wisconsin military service persons have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
36 Wisconsin military service persons have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
3 Wisconsin military service persons have been killed in the U.S. related to "The War on Terror" since September, 2001.
150 journalists (several nationalities) have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
22 journalists (various nationalities) have been killed in Afghanistan since September, 2001.
5 journalists (regional and independents) have been killed in Libya since March, 2011.
Wisconsin military service person special mention of the week, military casualty, and journalist casualty information sources: Committee to Protect Journalists; cnn.com; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; washingtonpost.com; thehighground.org; Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs; iraqbodycount.org; www.defense.gov/news/casualty.pdf; and, icasualties.org .
