Word: beared
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American Staff Sergeant Richard Bear is in Iraq to stop men like Ahmed. It was a desire to do something significant with his life and gain notice that put him on the path that would eventually lead him to Fallujah. "Right after the first Gulf War," he recalls, "I was driving back from my job at Wal-Mart when I saw a busful of reservists returning home. People were clapping and cheering and honking their horns. These guys were heroes. I thought to myself, That's what I want--recognition, a sense of accomplishment." And so he enlisted. Trained...
...jobs as their duty. Both pray each time they head out on a new mission. "They have their way of fighting, and we have our way of fighting," says Ahmed, who fingers amber-colored prayer beads as he talks. "Everyone wants to defend his country and his honor." Says Bear: "I want my wife and family to be proud of me because what I am doing is protecting them...
...soldiers of the 1-505 are on the alert for people like Ahmed at all times. Bear and his colleagues patrol the streets and highways around Fallujah and try to provide security for convoys whenever soldiers travel to another base. In September, Bear was in the last humvee of one such convoy crossing a bridge over the Euphrates when a roadside bomb blew up in front of him. The convoy stopped and within seconds was taking light arms fire from three directions. "We did what we are supposed to: we all faced out, said, 'This is my wedge...
...Bear tries to keep thoughts of mortality at bay, not an easy thing to do when comrades are dying daily: 16 U.S. soldiers in Fallujah perished last week when a Chinook helicopter carrying them was shot down by what American military officials believe was a surface-to-air missile; six more soldiers died last Friday when their Black Hawk helicopter was brought down, apparently by a rocket-propelled grenade; an additional 10 soldiers died in other attacks over the course of the week. "It's not all-consuming," says Bear of his fears...
Despite the risks, Bear doesn't second-guess his mission. "Why do I think that I'm here? The answer is, to help the Iraqi people," says Bear. "I don't believe that we're part of any rogue U.S. government plot to take all the oil. We don't want to turn this into a little America. We just want to help people." Bear says he wants to "make sure Iraqi kids have some of the opportunities my kids have." The walls of his quarters are decorated with drawings from his two children back home in Fort Bragg...