Star Ledger 9/29: N.J. Unit Brings Joy to 'Adopted' Iraqi Schools

As reported in today's Star Ledger, troops from the New Jersey Army National Guard's 50th Main Support Battalion, based at the Teaneck Armory, have been building relationships with schools (and their students and staff) in the Iraqi city of Tikrit, a city probably best known as the birthplace of Saddam Hussein. Soldiers from the unit are due to return to the US, and to Teaneck, in the next several weeks. See the article in today's Star Ledger or click on http://tinyurl.com/7zzcn for the item at the http://www.NJ.com web site.

N.J. unit brings joy to 'adopted' Iraqi schools Thursday, September 29, 2005 BY WAYNE WOOLLEY Star-Ledger Staff

TIKRIT, Iraq -- The little girl with the peach-colored dress and the Mickey Mouse flip-flops had run to the front gate of the Al Barudy Primary School before the first armored Humvee rolled to a stop.

By now, she knew what would be coming next: soldiers from the 50th Main Support Battalion carrying plastic bags stuffed with toys, and boxes overflowing with clothes and sneakers.

For members of the Teaneck-based New Jersey Army National Guard unit, the little girl's reaction this week was an indicator of the inroads they have made in just three visits to school they "adopted."

When the soldiers made their first visit to the school in February, no one emerged from the stone building to greet them, and the children seemed to relax only when they realized the troops weren't there to search for insurgents.

"By now, they know why we're here and they're glad to see us," said Capt. Richard Aviles, 35, of Rutherford. "Helping the schools was the most rewarding experience I've had here. I feel like I contributed something to this country."

The support battalion's main mission in Iraq is to haul goods, fix equipment and run a medical clinic for soldiers.

But its troops also took on the job of trying to improve relations with the Sunni Muslim residents of northern Tikrit by adopting the primary school and the Al Barudy School for Girls a few blocks away.

Missions like these fall under the heading of civil affairs and are expected of most units serving in Iraq.

The soldiers of the support battalion and its higher headquarters, the division support command of Somerset, say they've been glad to do it. The mission yesterday was the final visit to the two schools before the soldiers are scheduled to begin returning to the United States next month.

"This was the best day I've had in Iraq," Col. William Rochelle of Brick Township, commander of the division support command, said after the 84 soldiers involved in the mission returned to their base.

Most of the items the soldiers have delivered to the schools -- toys, toiletries, clothes and school supplies -- came from donations from around the United States. The most recent shipments bore postmarks from Red Bank, Milan, Minn., and dozens of points in between.

When the soldiers arrived at the first school, they unloaded the bags in a wide courtyard in the center of the school grounds. Chaos soon followed as children spilled out of classrooms and made a mad dash for the goods.

After noticing that one of the teachers was expecting a baby, Master Sgt. Minnie Hiller, the battalion's family-support coordinator, fished through the bags to find a pair of baby shoes and tiny sweater she knew were packed in the pile.

As the children swarmed around her, Hiller said the final visit was well-timed. Ramadan, the Muslim holy month, begins next week.

"To see the looks on these kids' faces is amazing," Hiller said. "For us to be here near the beginning of their holiday is even nicer."

In addition to the delivery of the packages, the support battalion made good on promises they had made to the headmistresses of each school on their first visit.

Both had asked for cabinets to store books and the soldiers arrived with four large wooden cabinets that unit members had made. The soldiers also delivered a swing set and seesaw to the primary school that welding experts from the unit had constructed.

The battalion also brought along a soldier and a defense contractor with the authority to follow through on other promises made on the first visit but that weren't fulfilled because the 42nd Infantry Division, which is responsible for all U.S. military operations in north central Iraq, ran out of civil affairs funds.

The primary school headmistress asked for an additional classroom and the girls' school headmistress asked for a concrete wall to be constructed around its building.

"We should be able to do that," said Maj. Dep Davis, a Missouri National Guard soldier assigned to the Department of Defense agency responsible for reconstruction projects in Iraq.

The troops spent about 20 minutes at the first school delivering supplies before taking a five-minute ride to the second school, where they stayed about 10 minutes.

The neighborhoods around the schools have single-floor cinder-block homes next to opulent two-story homes with colorful ceramic tiles on the windows and balconies.

On the first visit to the schools in February, at least several shots were fired at the battalion's convoy from the neighborhood. They haven't been shot at in the neighborhood since.

After the mission was over and the troops returned to their base, several gathered around a laptop computer and watched a video of the children ripping into the presents.

Hiller, who will return to the United States a few weeks before the rest of the battalion, said she will show the video to the soldiers' families.

"I want the families to see what these soldiers are doing over here," she said. "If they didn't do anything else, they made a difference at these schools."

Staff writer Wayne Woolley and staff photographer Jon Naso are embedded with the 50th Main Support Battalion of the New Jersey Army National Guard.

© 2005 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with permission.

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