Security, Safety Concerns Worry Workers In Iraq
Contractors Return Home After Attacks Grow More Hostile

HOUSTON -- A local man working with linguists said war zone dangers helped him decide it was time to come home.

Martin Lehman's family has been worried about him since fighting in Fallujah began to turn deadly for Americans.

Lehman's wife, Debbie, spends most of her days and nights on the computer, checking e-mail, while keeping a close on the television for updates concerning soldiers and American civilians working in Iraq.

Lehman, who recently retired from the Army after 21 years of service, went to Iraq when the situation was more calm; however, now he is trying to get out.

The former soldier accepted a job with Titan, a company that serves the Department of Defense and other intelligence agencies, acting as a liaison for 92 employees.

Lehman said he thought his job would be safe but recently started wearing a head scarf to help disguise himself.

"He was an American traveling with basically no security, body armor, anything to protect him," Lehman's wife said.

With violence in the region escalating, Lehman decided to come back home after he was attacked.

"In one trip from Baghdad back to Ramadi, his window was shot out as they were driving back. That was the first time they were shot at. He has not told me all of the details but I know it must have been pretty serious because they resigned when they got back," Debbie Lehman said.

Lehman's wife said her husband sent out an e-mail informing workers in Iraq and back in the United States of his resignation.

"Twice in the last two weeks we have asked for help. Today, Titan almost lost two site managers and an Iraqi interpreter to hostile fire," the resignation letter said.

Lehman was at the Baghdad airport Tuesday night, waiting to for a plane headed back to the U.S. Debbie Lehman said he made it to Saudi Arabia Wednesday morning.

The wait for a flight back to the U.S. is three days.

Worker Describes Attack On Convoy That Almost Killed Him

It was an emotional scene at Bush Intercontinental Airport Monday when Halliburton contractors working in Iraq returned home to their families.

After weeks of dangerous duty for Kellogg, Brown & Root, a subsidiary of Houston-based Halliburton, the men safely arrived home.

Many of the workers said they chose to work in Iraq since it was an opportunity to double or triple their salary. But they did not expect the level of danger and violence they faced.

Steven Heering, a Montgomery County resident and employee, returned to Houston Monday after spending four months of his 1-year contract in Iraq.

Heering took a job as a truck driver in Iraq, hoping to make good money for his family.

The worker said Iraqis have become more aggressive and violent in recent weeks. He said they have gone from throwing rocks to taking lives. He was attacked Thursday.

"I had to jump out of the truck while it was exploding and they were chasing us with rocks and sticks, guns. It was just out of control," Heering said.

Heering jumped on another tanker and made it to safety. He received a shoulder injury during the attack, and was treated and released from an Iraqi hospital.

"There have been other convoys that have been hit real bad," Heering said.

Others said they feel fortunate to be alive.

"The good Lord brought me home," said Stacie Clark.

He was in the truck behind Heering's when it was attacked.

"All of a sudden, it was a big ball of fire. As I went around the left side, they threw a grenade between my truck and his -- another one. It hit his drive axles, explodes," Clark said.

"I'm just glad to be home. The last few days have been pretty rough up in Iraq," Heering said.

Kellogg, Brown & Root is a Houston-based engineering and construction company.

Fears Grow For Houstonians Working In Iraq

It has been four months since Dayna Rasberry has seen her husband, Dennis, a contractor in Kuwait.

The truck driver left Houston two weeks before Christmas to drive fuel tankers in Iraq -- a position that promised to quadruple his $28,000 a year salary.

But Rasberry said her prayers were answered recently because her husband was transferred to Kuwait for a supervisory position.

The news came to Rasberry as seven employees of a Halliburton subsidiary came up missing Friday. They joined a growing number of foreigners from at least 12 countries to be snatched in recent days.

Bodies of at least four men believed to be among the seven Kellogg, Brown & Root contractors missing since last Friday were found in a shallow grave Tuesday near the site of the convoy explosion.

More than 70 contractors returned to Houston Monday, saying the human cost became too much for them to continue working in the war zone.

"You have to see it to believe it," Stacy Clark, Rasberry's 36-year-old brother, said after reuniting Monday with his wife in Houston.

Rasberry told News2Houston that the return of truck drivers to Houston could mean her husband could be moved back to Iraq to drive a convoy.

"He could possibly be transferred back to Iraq, but he said he is not going to do it. He said he does not want to go over there. It just isn't safe," Rasberry said.

Rasberry said her husband was told about the dangers of working in Iraq before he took the job.

However, other families said they felt like they were ill-prepared for what they were getting into. Those families said they know it was a war zone and that the situation would be dangerous, but that they had no idea they would be attacked the way they were.

Halliburton spokeswoman Wendy Hall said its workers and contractors are aware from the beginning that the work is dangerous, and that employees depend on military protection.

"Not one of our employees leaves the United States for Iraq without thorough and repeated briefings on the dangers in Iraq. In fact, during the training process, we spend most of our time giving recruits all the reasons they should not accept this job," she said.

The company said it currently has more than 24,000 employees and subcontractors working in the Kuwait-Iraq region. Their duties include extinguishing oil well fires and cleaning oil sites.

"Our work is difficult and in a dangerous environment and we are angered and deeply saddened by this situation," Halliburton said in a statement.

Halliburton declined to identify the six other missing workers or discuss details of the attack in order to protect their privacy, spokeswoman Wendy Hall said Monday. The company said the attacks happened during a routine mission for the U.S. Army Material Command.

Hall confirmed Tuesday that the seven employees were involved in a single ambush.

Dan Senor, a coalition spokesman, said Tuesday that about 40 foreign hostages from 12 countries are being held by Iraqi insurgents, and that the coalition would not negotiate with "terrorists or kidnappers" to gain the hostages' release. He would not comment on efforts to free the captives.

Halliburton, the firm that Vice President Dick Cheney ran during the 1990s, offered workers $80,000 tax-free for working in Iraq for a year, or up to $120,000 with overtime. However, they are allowed to return home without questions.

From: http://www.click2houston.com/news/3004599/detail.html