Life is an adventure, so live it to the fullest.
You are currently browsing the Emails From Iraq category.
Free Press, June 2006
Cindy in Iraq: A Civilian’s Year in the War Zone
It’s one of the least covered stories in the Iraqi war. Now, the writer of the popular “Cindy in Iraq” blog narrates her harrowing experiences during a year driving trucks as a civilian contractor for Halliburton.
Cindy Morgan was on the front lines of Iraq––not enlisted in the military, but in a job just as dangerous: as a convoy commander leading groups of fifteen to thirty trucks through perilous territory. Having promised her three sons that she would always tell them the truth about what she was experiencing, she started her blog “Cindy in Iraq” as a way to stay in touch with family and friends back home. “Cindy in Iraq” soon became a valuable resource for families of contractors, and those thinking about becoming contractors, as well as a telling story of the disturbing realities facing brave civilian workers.
Here, we see Cindy’s story in full detail—how, after thirteen years’ experience as a truck driver in the U.S., as well as orientation by Halliburton, she still was shocked by what she faced. Unarmed, with virtually no training, one of the only female truck drivers, she became a moving target for insurgents, constantly at risk of being ambushed, shot at, kidnapped, or executed.
Cindy’s journey in Iraq also became a voyage of self-discovery. Having left an abusive husband, she went to Iraq because she was “tired of surviving her life and not living it.” She went to Iraq to find out “who I am and what I am made of here….Honor, integrity, pride and humanity can all be discovered.” As Cindy relays her experiences, both she and the reader are transformed.
Cynthia I. Morgan drove a big rig across the U.S. for thirteen years before venturing into Iraq in 2003, where she was a civilian convoy commander in charge of up to thirty trucks delivering supplies to American bases throughout the war-torn country. After seven months back in the U.S., she returned to Iraq. She lives, usually, in Tennessee.
September 2006
Free Press
Biography and Autobiography
6 x 9, 256 pages
8 pages of black-and-white photographs
Carton quantity: 20
EAN: 978074328640452500
0-7432-8640-5
$25.00 hardcover
$34.50 in Canada
Yesterday was one of the days that makes this boring job worth it. With the border being shut down for several days due to the elections, mail has backed up a bit. The soldiers in the couple of camps north of the border that we run to, have not had mail for 3 or 4 days. The camp I went to yasterday is a small camp and we usually only need a 20 foot trailer to ge the mail to them. With Christmas coming and the shut down, we took 2 40 footers! One was nearly full and the other was 1/4 fill.
We rolled up to the APO and they were happy to see us. Now, lots of times I get out there and help unload, the three of us tat did the run yesterday had planned on givng them a hand in unloading since there was so much mail. But, we didn’t have to. They had volunteers waiting. So Steve, Eric, and I went to lunch.
You should have seen the place when we came back. We walked around the corner of the building and all around were humvee’s, gator’s, and soldiers, soldiers, and more soldiers. Everyone was helping everyone else get their mail and get my trailer reloaded. There was a great energy buzzing around the area. I had to stop and just watch it for a few minutes. I have complained about my job being the most boring job over here. All I do is drive to a camp, back in, sit all day, and then drive back to the yard once reloaded. There is noting to do. But I have to say, yesterday, put things back in perspective for me. I still have a VERY boring job, but I have a very meaning full job, I deliver the mail to the troops. That is so very cool!
It has been brought to my attention that I may have offended some people with the following statement in this post. “Not to mention we only go north as far as Cedar. That is the boring part of Iraq. Nothing to get excited about.” Let me say this, as most of you know me and have read my post for the last 2 years, you know that I am an adrenaline junkie. But for those that do not know that about me, now you do. The roads from Kuwait to Cedar are boring to me due to the fact that there isn’t much that goes on, on it. It is a long, pretty much straight stretch of road with nothing on it. The only town you go through is right at the border and once through it, the rest is boring. Any driver here will tell you the same. But.. to those that feel that I have offended or demeaned the sacrifice that those that run out of Cedar have given, I wish to give my apologies. I should remember to write my post for those that do not know me. The sacrifices that the soldiers and contractors give are great. And the roads NORTH of Cedar can be very dangerous. For those of us that have run them and now only run SOUTH of Cedar only, the adrenaline rush is just not there. It is a great adjustment for some of us. Actually it is driving me nuts. I like to be in the thick of things. But due to a promise I made my son, Kenny, when I came back this< time, I am limited to Kuwait and southern Iraq. As most of you know, Kenny is a soldier and was in Iraq for 10 months. First in Taji and then in Baghdad. When I told him I was coming back to Kuwait after IAP’s contract ended, he had a fit. He didn’t want me running the roads through Baghdad in a truck any more. “Mom you can’t bull shit me any more about how things are there. I know how it is first hand”, that is what he said to me. So I choose a job that would keep me in a safer zone. Safer, means boring to me right now. As many of you that have had you DH’s come home to stay, after riding the gauntlet through Baghdad several times, they get board easily. I am still here and going through the same thing. The adjustment is not easy and will take time. So please forgive me if I sound a bit flippant about the runs I make now. I DO NOT mean any disrespect.
I have moved into my flat and it is ok. Even though it is furnished, I have had to pick up a few things. I really don’t like the beds and am thinking about buying one. If I do, I am going to pick something I like. That means that when I come home in August or September of next year for the book, I will be shipping it home as well. Doesn’t that sound lovely?
The job is boring. We go to a camp and deliver the mail, then sit there all day till the APO closes. It is good to bring the mail to the troops and to see their faces when they walk out with that one piece of mail that they have been waiting for. With all the communications we have these days; it still does not replace the hand written letter. I like seeing the soldiers get them, but sitting around camp all day sucks. Not to mention we only go north as far as Cedar. That is the boring part of Iraq. Nothing to get excited about. But I have run into several people that I had lost contact with that I worked with from KBR. Some of them ran convoys with me several times. It is cool to see them and hang out.
Mickey, my guy, and I are going diving the day after tomorrow, I think. I am going to get back into the music group I was in, when I was here with KBR. They meet on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of the month. So I may have a conflict this Wednesday if I go diving and one of the dives is a night dive. Don’t know if it will be yet or not. I have also found a Dojo that teaches Aikido and am looking at going there to get some self-defence. I have not checked that all out yet.
The book is going good. I got the cover design for the book the other day. I don’t know if that is how it is going to look in the end, but it is what they have come up with for now. The title is “Cindy in Iraq” with a subtitle of “A Civilian’s Year in the War Zone”. I think it is cool and I think ya’ll will like it.
Well, it is that time, time for bed over here on the beach. So I say my good nights to you all and hope to hear from ya’ll soon.
I thought I would let ya’ll know that Kenny is home. I am in Malaysia right now on my way back to Kuwait for 2 days then on home myself. My mom sent me an email and said that she had heard from Kenny and that he had made it home safe and sound. I am so glad to hear this after what little news I have seen while on vacation. I know from seeing Kenny in Iraq the two times I did and from the emails we shared, that it will be a while before he is truly all at home. I have heard the anger in his voice and have had it come at me several times over the last few months. I am relived that his tour of duty is over, now I have to figure out how to help him deal with his feelings and PTSD as well as my own. This is going to be another hard one for me. I solved my PTSD last time, by going back. Granted, that was not the only reason I went back, but I know it was one reason. With him having been a soldier and me a civilian contractor, I know our experiences are different, but yet the same. How do I help my son deal with the shock of coming home, when I could not deal with it totally myself? I guess for now, I will be just glad that he is home in one piece physically. Anyway, I just thought ya’ll would like to know that my son is home and that I am a happy and proud mom.
Well, yesterday was the last day of work. What use to be my room, my home, is packed in footlockers and mailed home, or is in a 4x3x3 metal box sitting in the living room waiting to be picked up for shipping back home. Four stark white walls that used to be decorated with tapestries, pictures, and a couple of hand painted wall fans, are now bare. The mirror that I had special made when I got here, because the only one in the flat was in the bathroom and that held the pictures of my boys, is laying in the forayer, wrapped in a blanket and waiting for me to finish building the box around it, in hopes that it will make it home without breaking. I have only my computer, the desk it sits on and a packed suit case sitting open, in the floor, left in this room that has been home to me for the last four months.
I stand at the window that looks out over the Persian Gulf and watch the sun rise as it has for every day that I have been here. It is a beautiful, colourful scene. I am on the 17th floor and have a great view of the Gulf. So much has changed inside this room, but it still looks the same outside. Will I miss it? Yes! Am I glad to get out of here? Yes! I, like many others have mixed feelings about the next few days. Home phone numbers and email addresses are being exchanged with the promises that we will keep in touch and we will let the other know if we find another contract job here or somewhere else. Many guys are calling the wife back home almost every day in preparation of their homecoming. Some are making their plans and finding flats because they have new jobs, or are going to stay a while and look for one. And still yet others, like me, have made plans to go on a vacation before going home and are making the final arrangements for that.
The contract has ended. The job is over. But I, like many other here, will never forget what I’ve seen and done, where I’ve been and who I’ve met. Unlike KBR, that has mostly American workers, IAP has had a multi-national force here. The United States, Great Britain, Australia, Wales, New Zealand, and South Africa are just some of the countries that we all come from. Despite the differences between us, we came together, did a job and did it well. I have loved meeting all these people and have become friends with several. To learn a little about other countries and their people, has been great. But the down side to that is some of these people I will never see again. Some that I would like to say, I can call friend, I won’t have the chance or hope, that I could just bump into them somewhere after I get home. Oh, I am sure, that if I stay doing contract work in foreign countries, I will run into one here and there, but ya never know about things like that. So for now, I have a few phone numbers, a few email addresses, and the hope and promise that we will stay in contact with each other, to hold on to. It has been a great four months! I will miss my new friends!
First off, I want to say that my son, Kenny, is ok and I talked to him this afternoon. He is pissed, as well as I am, but he is fine. Now let me tell you the story of my last few days and how cruel some folks can be.
A couple of days ago, about 0200 in the morning, I talked to my son in an YM. He told me that he was going out on his extended patrol. I know what that means and where it is. That afternoon, as I was pulling into the yard after doing a local mission, my phone rang. The call went like this…..
Is this Ms. Morgan?……
Yes it is…….
I was told to call you, because no one else will. Your son has been hurt…………….
How bad? Where is he? Is it life treating? ……..
It is not life treating and he is not being sent to Germany……………….
OK, then how bad is it?………
Ma’am, I can’t tell you any more than that. I am not supposed to be making this call and could get into trouble for it………..
Ok, tell me what you can. How do I find out more?………..
Ma’am, that is all I can tell you. You will get a call in a few days.
Then he hung up.
Since then, I have been going nuts. I talked to several military and they said they would see what they could find, but to be leery of calls like that, that are not official. It could be a hoax. I can’t imagine anyone playing that kind of hoax on someone, but I didn’t tell the family back home of this. I didn’t want to worry them, just in case it was. So the last few days have been total hell for me. I have talk to the Red Cross, their computers were down. I talked to military Chaplin, he said it would take him a few days to get me some information, but he would try. I talked to every military person I came across it see if they knew how I could confirm that my son was hurt. I even had one LT check the causality list for me. I have cried, I have screamed, and I have just plain gone out of my mind the last few days. I could not get any information at all. It is going to take time was the best I could get from anyone.
Then today, I walked into my room after my local and clear my screensaver and see Kenny signed on in Yahoo Messenger. I about fell out. I couldn’t get to my computer and type fast enough. I told him what I was told and he assured me that he is fine. Nothing has happened to him. He is going to inform his C.O. and he says that they will try to find out who made the call. I have been sitting here making calls for the last hour to let everyone over here know that he is ok. All my friends here have been such a great support and are relieved to hear that Kenny is ok. I just don’t know what to do with my anger now. I hope I never find out who did this because they will wish they had never known my name. How can someone be so cruel?
Anyway, through all this I have found that this has happened before and not just with soldiers and their families, but also civilian contractors. So please, everyone, if you get a call like this, make sure they identify themselves and get as much info on them as well. There are some very sick people out there. I don’t want anyone to go through what I have the last few days. I am going to go have a good cry now and thank God that my son is ok.
I just thought I would let everyone know that I got the papers yesterday through FedEx for the book deal. I signed them and will be sending them back through FedEx today. There will be a press release coming out as soon as they are received back in the states and everyone has their copies. I will send ya’ll a copy of the press release when it comes out. Terry Golway is my co-writer and we are hard at work on it. I have done lots of writing over the last two weeks. Sometimes it is very hard to do. The first chapter is going to be about why I came to Iraq and my thoughts on the flight over. The next chapter or two will be a history of my life from childhood till the day I stepped on the plane and flew to Houston. That is what we are working on now. At times, that can be very emotionally draining. As with all of us, not all of our past holds the best of memories. For the first time I had to sit and write out what happened the day my now, ex-husband nearly killed me 2 1/2 years ago. Whereas, that has been most difficult, it has also been a bit healing. I have cried and I have laughed in all that I have written so far. I will keep ya’ll posted on the books progress.
We have just received word that our jobs will be ending on the 25th of August. Missions, for us, into Iraq will stop on or about the 15th. They are asking everyone to please stay till the 25th. I for one, plan of doing just that. A couple of my South African friends have invited some of us HET drivers to come for a visit. So a couple of us are looking at going to South Africa for a couple of weeks then going our separate ways. I am not sure if this is going to happen or not, but we are looking at it. The thought is why not go while we have a personal tour guide that can show us the real country instead of all the tourist traps. Hell, if I don’t do it now, when will I? We all know how friendships sometimes fade. So I am looking at taking this chance to see a beautiful country the way it should be seen, from the local point of view. But for now, I am going to be here another month and then take a small vacation and then come to the states. I am looking for something else within the company and with other companies. Right now, I am kind of playing it by ear. I will keep everyone updated on what I am doing as it happens.
Local soldier opts to return to Iraq
By BETTY ADAMS
World Staff Writer
Specialist Kenneth W. Elliott, a member of the 39th Infantry Brigade Echo Troop 151st Cavalry, recently volunteered to stay in Iraq when the 39th came home.
He is attached to Echo Troop 101st Cavalry from Geneva, New York, which is attached to the 256th from Louisiana.
He is the son of Kenneth Elliott of Helena and Cynthia Morgan of DeWitt. Elliott’s mother works as a truck driver for IAP hauling supplies in both Iraq and Kuwait. His father is music director for the Barton-Lexa School District.
While in West Helena, Elliott is visiting close friends, Scott and Lori Williams.
Elliot will be leaving Saturday and will return to Iraq, where he will serve there until September.
Elliott said one of the most awesome sights during his tour of duty was when the elections were held in Iraq.
http://www.helena-arkansas.com/articles/2005/07/08/news/news1.txt
