Jobs in Iraq Info Page 63
Belleville
Reserve unit had no casualties in Iraq tour
Capt.
Mary Kimball is congratulated by Sgt. Kevin Orr after she was awarded the Bronze
Star. And he missed the July 23 birth of his second child, Autumn, because he was serving in Iraq. He held her for the first time Friday as his 14-member unit, the 458th Transportation Detachment, an Army Reserve unit, was welcomed home to its headquarters at the Army Reserve Center in Belleville after a year in Iraq. "My wife says she's not having any more (kids) until we're out of the military," he joked. When Autumn was born, he was in contact with his wife, Michelle, by e-mail and phone. "It was really rough at times," he said. But, Cunningham said, his wife handled the arrival of both their children - and everything else. "She's stronger than I am," he bragged. The unit was based at a compound north of Baghdad and was responsible for coordinating and tracking convoys hauling equipment and supplies to U.S. troops. The unit's soldiers often commuted about 30 miles to a rail head. Cunningham, 27, did a lot of guard duty at the compound gate. Insurgent mortar attacks were part of the routine. "We were averaging 10 to 15 mortar rounds a night," he said. Somehow the unit got through a full year with no one killed or wounded. "We were lucky," Cunningham said. "We were blessed and lucky." The detachment had no connection with the soldiers accused of mistreating Iraqi prisoners, he said. Stories about the abuse filled news reports as the Belleville unit arrived home, and Cunningham said they are already being asked about it. "I think it's ridiculous what they did," he said. A "certain few" stained the image of all U.S. military personnel, he said. "We did a lot of good things over there," he said. "This kind of puts as back at square one with the Iraqi citizens." Cunningham said he was eager to return to his regular job at Hoernis Auto Body in Belleville, working on, as he put it, "cars that don't explode." Sgt. 1st Class Ramona Wohlwend, 43, of Florissant, served as the unit's first sergeant. She was one of four in the unit awarded the Bronze Star for meritorious service. Wohlwend agreed with Cunningham that it was great to be home. "We had some scary nights," she said. "We came back safe and sound. That's the biggest relief right now." The unit was mobilized on Feb. 11 of last year and flew into Iraq on May 1. Wohlwend took satisfaction in her unit's success in re-establishing a former rail head at Taji, north of Baghdad. "It hadn't been run since World War II," she said. That allowed movement of huge shipments by train instead of truck. Not only can more weight be moved by rail, but "it keeps the convoys off the roads," she said. Hauling goods by truck is one of the riskiest jobs in Iraq. Despite working 12 to 18 hours a day, seven days a week, the unit managed to stay in good health, Wohlwend said, even in heat up to 150 degrees, "wearing full 'battle-rattle.'" Asked how the troops in her unit performed, she summed it up with one word: "Outstanding." From:
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/
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Belleville Reserve unit had no casualties in Iraq tour