Dear Everyone,

Oops – I need a disclaimer for my website but my lawyer hasn’t sent me one yet.  So here it goes:  GI Jill in Baghdad is not an official DOD, DA, MNF-I or any other alphabetic acronym site.  It is solely my point of view, my experience, my ground truth, and nobody else’s because there ain’t no other 50-year-old Chicago female alabaster white strawberry blonde Public Affairs Officer in Iraq.  I swear to God.   

Now, that we have satisfied the lawyers…I have made the move from Baghdad to Camp Victory.  I have moved from the Republican Palace to the Water Palace:  so much more my style!  Actually, we are preparing for the State Department to arrive shortly and the American Mission will be the largest one overseas and they are moving into the Republican Palace until their embassy is built.  Therefore, the military is moving 13 km outside of B-town.  It also fits our plans of a less American presence in the big cities as the Iraqis start to take control. 

Some pluses and minuses out to the move out here.  Plus, I get my own trailer – it is the white one near the Bat Tower. Minus:  it isn’t near a pool. Plus, I live near the bat tower and they like to munch on mosquitoes.  Minus, the mosquitoes like to munch on me and leave ugly itchy welts.  Plus, the air conditioner in the trailer works.  Minus, it reached 116 degrees today so summer will soon be here.  Eek for the white alabaster skin.  Plus, the food is so much better here.  Minus:  the gym is teeny tiny- with only four jogging machines for thousands of soldiers – anybody see a problem with great food, teeny tiny gym?  Plus, the palace is lovely and roomy and I get my own office. See the picture. See the view from our office balcony!  Minus, I haven’t found a cigar night or Colonel Bubba group yet.  Plus, great security exists at Camp Victory (unlike the Green Zone where an Improvised Explosive Device was found at the Convention Center today).  Minus, too much security or: how to piss off a Colonel at 0545 hours when she shows up at the Water Palace in PT clothes after working out at the teeny tiny gym because that is the only time besides the middle of the night to get a machine and she left her uniform in her office to save time so that she can do the 0630 briefing to the Commanding General but Noooooooo, she can’t come in because bad guys are buying PT clothes and trying to sneak on bases, so no one in PT clothes may enter the Palace even though the good Colonel has three, count them three, military ID cards and is strawberry blonde and has skin the color of alabaster, and looks nothing like Zarqawi or Al Sadr, and therefore demands, “Write me up, escort me in, but let me in NOW!”  I finally won because two other officers in desert U’s showed up and they hadn’t heard of the new rule either  and they weren’t leaving until I was let in. Teamwork is great!   I had to hurry in to dress and prepare for the briefing while the Marine Major stayed at the gate to remind the guard that regardless of the rule, he still salutes a colonel – pt clothes aside.  Thanks for letting me vent!

Someone said to me today that public affairs personnel are really earning their money with all the news about Iraq.  I answered, “Yes, but I don’t think we’re going to get any bonuses.”  You’ve seen the news.  This peace has been so fragile.  And now with sovereignty coming rapidly upon us, violence is escalating.  We are having more suicide car bombers, more attack on government officials, more attack on convoys moving essential supplies for the nation.  I just don’t get the suicide bombers.  Especially after watching the Al Qaida training tape where the Dad is beaming proudly because his son is wearing explosives.  I really don’t get it. 

I have to convoy more as I go between the Green Zone and Camp Victory.  I have a great Brit driver, Niel.  He drives like the proverbial bat out of hell and keeps me safe.  I sit shot gun with my weapon loaded, cocked, round in the chamber checking rooftops, bridges, garbage on the road, cars coming too close, etc.  No time to read or nap in the car! 

But there is still good news.  Our Soldiers and Marines keep reaching out to the Iraqi people.  You know about the bad stuff about Fallujah but there are positive things too.

Staff Sgt. Rodney L. Pfeifer, a Marine motor transportation mechanic, speaks to an Iraqi child during a visit to a village near Fallujah in the Al Anbar province of Iraq April 22, 2004. Members of the battalion made the visit to the village to provide the children shoes and school supplies, as well as give them basic medical check-ups. The shoes and school supplies were donated by friends and family members of the battalion's Marines and sailors. The battalion provides security for the 1st Force Service Support Group at Camp Taqaddum, Iraq, and has conducted several visits to surrounding communities in hopes of building a positive rapport with the local population.

On the same visit, Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Stanley M. Duing, gives a check-up to an Iraqi child, who is complaining of a sore throat

For Memorial Day, I was asked by Woodlawn Cemetery to send a letter.  Here is what I sent:

Woodlawn Cemetery

Dear Memorial Day Participants,

Ladies and Gentlemen:  Over the years at this ceremony, you have watch me go from Major to Lieutenant Colonel to Colonel, serving in Forest Park to Bosnia to Waukegan to Baghdad, from Battalion Commander to Deputy Chief of Staff to Brigade Commander.  You, more than any other community, have watched me grow as a military member of our great nation.  You have always made me feel special.  Today, I serve in Baghdad, and I never forget that it is American Communities like ours that I serve, so I strive to serve with honor and duty to you, to America, and to God. 

After the horrible day of September 11th in 2001, I entered North Elementary School in Des Plaines to pick up my daughter. I was in my uniform.  What happened that day almost made me cry.  Children saw me and lined up to get my autograph. Kids missed the school bus to talk to me. Teachers and parents thanked me for protecting them.  I almost cried that day because when I entered the military during the Vietnam War, I never expected to be treated like a hero.  I was simply a patriot. 

Today, you have taken your precious time to remember others who never expected to be heroes, just patriots.  The children of Illinois served with honor in world wars and peace campaigns.  They serve with honor in Afghanistan, Iraq, Kosovo, Bosnia, Africa, Asia and the Americas.  They are patriots and they are heroes.  Today, we honor many, too many, fallen heroes from Illinois. We honor today the ones who died for us because they answered our nation’s call.

Thank you for taking the time to remember our band of brothers and sisters who gave their lives so that we may stay free and others may have freedom. 

God bless you and bless our great nation!

Sincerely,

Colonel Jill Morgenthaler

Finally, from the point of a fifty-year-old alabaster-skinned strawberry blonde gun-toting American lass, as terrible as the news can be, there is still beauty to be found.  Enjoy the sunrise picture I took the other day.

Have a great weekend.

Never forget – freedom isn’t free.

Keep the prayers coming.

GI Jill