Army Major Geoffrey Buhlig '89 with his family

Letter from Baghdad
by Geoffrey Buhlig ’89

16 May 2003

Dear Centre Friends,

During my undergraduate days I didn’t have the opportunity to experience other cultures through study programs overseas, but I’ve made up for it as an adult. This is my third trip to the Middle East. We have been here for 64 days and in the country of Iraq for 30. Our mission here has not been to fire rockets and missiles—our normal combat mission. Instead, we have assumed what the military calls a “stability mission.” Over the past 30 days our soldiers and leaders have moved more than 2,000 tons of captured enemy ammunition and equipment from caches in and around Baghdad to storage areas away from the local populace. These caches are not only in bunkers but also in the homes of Iraqi citizens. They were put there by the former regime. It is not a mission for which we normally train. It is, though, one everyone at home should know about.

A typical day begins at 4 a.m. preparing trucks for the mission. By 6 a.m. they are en route to locations in Baghdad. We load two to three trucks at a time, all by hand. After downloading the ammunition at a storage area, we return around 7 p.m. to prepare for the next day’s mission. It’s hot. Today’s high reached 106 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s dirty. There is dust from the desert sand, and oil and grime from the ammunition itself. The artillery and mortar rounds are loose. The rifle ammunition comes in steel cans. Each can or projectile weighs between 35 and 105 pounds. By the end of a mission the soldiers are hot, tired, dirty, and ready to clean up and go to bed. But that is just a typical day for them. It is what they get paid to do, and they are accomplishing their mission to the highest standards. America should be proud.

That is not all that I’m writing about though. What’s more important than what we are doing is why. To say the condition of Baghdad and the country itself are deplorable is an understatement. Outside the city people live in mud-brick homes with their livestock, harvest crops by hand, and enjoy few amenities. But drive just a few miles into Baghdad and you will find one of Saddam’s palaces with 30-foot-high ceilings, wall-to-wall marble and gold inlaid wood. I have seen young children two or four years old—the same ages as my sons—begging for food and water, looking as if they haven’t had a bath in weeks. They are being killed by unexploded ordnance found around their neighborhoods, the same ordnance we haul every day. You have to wonder, how could anyone treat people in this manner?

When you see this daily, you fully understand why we are doing what we are doing and why it is important. Yes, one could argue that many of the same conditions exist in the United States. The difference is, in Iraq the people don’t know any different. If Iraqis ventured close to one of the palaces they were arrested and jailed or killed. This was an oppressive regime. Saddam and his people were cruel and inhumane. The conditions here prove it.

I write this not to seek thanks for our soldiers or me. Yes, it’s hot. The dust is everywhere. A nice long shower and an ice-cold glass of sweet tea would really be nice. No, I am writing to say that regardless of your opinion of our President or his policies, regardless of your opinion about war, this country needed help. We, the United States, were the right country to step in and provide that help. My unit did not fire a rocket or missile against the enemy. We have only tried to help stabilize and rebuild the country in our small way. I would ask you to look beyond the war; look beyond the political landscape and see this situation for what it is. The people of Iraq were oppressed beyond anyone’s imagination. The good we do now can only benefit Iraq’s children in the future. America and its allies are doing good things here.

God bless,
Geoffrey P. Buhlig ’89

Geoffrey P. Buhlig ’89 received the College’s Young Alumnus Award in 2002. A major in the Army, he returned home to Oklahoma in June, 2003, after three months in the Middle East.

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