Active Unit News

20 Apr 2003 13:43:45 GMT
U.S. soldiers in Kuwait think of home at Easter
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By Elizabeth Piper
CAMP NEW JERSEY, Kuwait, April 20 (Reuters) - U.S. soldiers waiting for orders to go into Iraq marked Easter Sunday in a camp in northern Kuwait with prayers and thoughts of the families they had left behind. Dozens crowded around a large cross planted at the edge of one tent camp to pray as the sun rose. Others filed into rows of wooden chairs in the chapel tent, singing and sweating as temperatures soared in the midday sun. "We probably never thought we would be celebrating Easter in the desert, but God is with us and He will be with us wherever we go," Sergeant Major Curtis Davis, a Baptist preacher, told a handful of soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division. "There is a purpose and a reason for why you are all over here," he said. "God has chosen us for a mission. Be strong and courageous." Many soldiers in Kuwait are due to move into Iraq soon, and some are anxious about what awaits them there. The camp is abuzz with reports from other convoys of what lies ahead -- snipers, ambushes or desperate Iraqis besieging convoys to try to get their hands on food and water. Chaplains led Catholic, Protestant and Baptist services throughout the day, and tended to those soldiers scared of the move ahead. "It's a blessing that we might be moving on Easter," Chaplain Kevin Pies, a member of the 64th Forward Support Battalion of the 4th Infantry, told officers at a regular briefing after speaking to many soldiers about their fears. "It's a very good omen." For most, Sunday was a day of work. Making final checks to hundreds of vehicles and organising convoys, some found it hard to find time to celebrate. "I don't want to lose sight of the meaning of Easter just because we are out here, but sometimes it's difficult," said Captain Sandra Chavez. Some said they found little to celebrate because they were separated from their families. "I'm missing their Easter. We bought my daughter a pretty dress, and I will miss seeing her in it. I'm missing them finding their Easter eggs, their presents and their little chocolate faces," said Private First Class Jessica Harvey. A 26-year-old mother of two, Harvey said Sunday had been her worst day since she arrived at the camp just over a week ago, and that it was made even harder by the fact that the wait for telephones was longer than any of her break times. "I'm missing everything that's going on. You miss the funny things they do, the funny faces they make," she said. "I miss my son telling his dumb jokes."