Harbor Country Living

First Sergeant Mike "Brownie" Brown

BACK FROM IRAQ
"I can't believe it's been a year already since I shipped out, but it sure feels good to be back home on leave for a couple of weeks," Brown says with a smile. "My mom recently had hip replacement surgery and I was hoping to be back in time for that but it didn't quite work out. She's doing well though, and it's been wonderful to be able to spend some time with her and to see family and friends before the holidays."

U.S. Army First Sergeant Mike "Brownie" Brown of Three Oaks recently reflected that Veterans Day has always been a very solemn and special occasion for him. That date has taken on even deeper significance since he was called back to active duty on November 11, 2002. From Three Oaks he traveled to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, McDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, Washington, D.C. and then back to Florida again before he was deployed to the Middle East in January to take part in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

"I was hoping that when I got back here to Three Oaks the weather would be cool so I could experience what it's like to feel cold again, and I sure got my wish," he laughs. "The first night back in my house the heat wasn't working and it got pretty chilly. I didn't mind though. In fact, it felt pretty good.

"I'm currently stationed in the country of Qatar right on the Persian Gulf and the temperatures there can be tough to deal with, especially during the summer months. It can get up to 130 - 135 degrees, and there's plenty of humidity too. Even the local residents try to get away and go someplace cooler during that time of year. But right now it isn't too bad. We hit about 100 during the days and it gets down to 85 at night." Brown experienced a whole different kind of heat in April when his Special Operations unit was called upon to cross the border into Iraq and head north to Baghdad.

"We traveled up into Iraq and joined in the operations that were taking place at the big airport in Baghdad and then we moved out from there," Brown says. "Our next stop was one of Saddam Hussein's summer palaces known as the `Perfume Palace' where he was supposed to celebrate his birthday last spring, but I guess too many uninvited American guests showed up to crash his party so he decided not to show up.
"I also got to see one of the palaces that belonged to Saddam's son Uday, and his pet lions were still on the property. The local people were happy to see us. They told us that Uday actually fed those he considered to be his enemies to the lions, so you can see why the Iraqi people were in such fear of the Hussein family and the ruling Baath Party.


Their way of dealing with dissidents was to do away with them, so you can understand why the people were afraid to rise up against them before we came in."
"I think the Hussein family had over 80 very opulent palaces built around Iraq, yet right outside their gates were people living in horrendous poverty. The leaders weren't wanting for anything while most of their citizens were wanting for everything.
"We're offering $1 million for information that leads to the capture of Saddam, but that kind of money is beyond the comprehension of most of the common people there. I think we might be better off and get better results if the reward was a lifetime of free food in exchange for their cooperation."


"It's really hard to see us still losing some soldiers in Iraq every day," he continues. "It hurts, but we all knew when we went in there that it wouldn't be easy and it wouldn't be quick. Right now technology is allowing our military to accomplish more using less people than has ever been possible before, but it's still war and it's inevitable that soldiers are going to be injured and killed. What people back here need to realize is that for each setback we suffer there are many more very successful missions that never make it on the nightly news.

"The modern technology is great, but sometimes it hurts our cause not to be able to have a soldier stationed on every street corner like we were able to do in other places like Kosovo. But Iraq is as big as California, so it's impossible for us to have that same kind of physical presence there." "Things are definitely getting better there for everyone. Businesses and schools are being rebuilt and reopened. During all of this the Arabs are getting educated to our ways and we're getting educated to their ways, and that knowledge is a good thing. The tendency is to look at all the small pictures of what's going on over there, but hopefully more people will be looking at the big picture and how things will be five or ten years from now."

Brown wasn't able to be home for the holidays this year, but he knew that he woouldn't be forgotten by those in Harbor Country. "I'm single with no children, so it's really not a stretch to say that I'm married to the Army right now," Brown says. "We're at war and I feel it's my duty as a soldier to be over there doing my best. I volunteered to stay and I'm glad I did, but I do appreciate how hard it is for those who are serving who have wives and husbands and children back home and are so far away from them, especially at this time of year when families gather together."


Brown said that he'll be able to get turkey in the mess hall for the Holidays and the Army will do its best to help the troops celebrate. "I'll miss being home, but I'll continue to be very busy over there," Brown says. "I'll go back to Qatar where I've been organizing the rebuilding of our camp facilities there. With my construction business background that assignment has been a real good fit for me." "While I've been overseas the support I've gotten from everyone around here has been fantastic," Brown continues. "In camp they call me the `Box Man' because I get so many packages from back home. Everyone gathers around when I open them up, and if they happen to contain candy or cookies, they're gone in a hurry.


"All of my buddies at Three Oaks American Legion Post 204 have been great too," he adds. "And the very best feeling is to receive letters from the local schoolchildren and to read their heartfelt words of support for what we're doing." Brown was happy he came home for a visit just in time to attend the annual Veterans Day Dinner at American Legion Post 204 where he's the sergeant at arms. "It was good to see everyone there again and to tell them what I've been doing for the past year, how things are going, and to let them know that there's nothing wrong with the morale of the troops currently in service over there," he says. "Basically I'm just very proud to be following in other veteran's footsteps who did so much for me and our country, and I'm trying to do as good a job for them as they did for us during their time in the armed forces. I'm sure future generations will continue in that proud tradition. Each generation has their heroes who are willing to step up to the plate and do what needs to be done. That's the American way."

November 2003, John Gunner Gooch - South County Gazette, Used with Permission

Previous editions of Harbor Country Living are in the Archives