In Their Own Words.

Source: Washington Post

The war in Iraq from the mouths of the soldiers who served there:


Sgt. Tonya Shelley

"One time, I was on the phone with my child and there was a mortar attack and she asked me what the sound was, and I had to think of something to tell her."


Cpl. Brian Onieal

"It sucked over there. There were times I was up for 3 or 4 days straight. But it's my job, it's my duty to be over there. As much as things sucked, seeing the dead bodies and smelling them, I can't really find a real negative experience. That comes with the territory, it's part of my job."


Sgt. Chris Arndt

"I think I'm a better friend and a better son and a better citizen of the world because I went over there, because I gained that appreciation for what really matters in the world. You don't know if tomorrow will be here. You don't know how long you have. You have to be the best person you can, while you can."


Pfc. Michael Gillis

"They wanted their country to be like ours. They want their country to be free. To have what they want, the freedom to exercise their own religion. To walk around their own town without worrying that someone will tell them they're doing something wrong. They wanted to have their farms and feed their wife and kids."


Staff Sgt. Chris Bain

"Everything was like slow motion. I saw a medic. He was going, 'What hurts?' I couldn't hear him but I read his lips, saying 'what hurts?' I said, 'My finger, it's killing me.' He said, 'Your finger? Have you seen your arm?' I said, 'What's wrong with my arm?'"


Staff Sgt. Benedict Iheanacho

"Seeing wounded from Fallujah, dealing with it, you try not to think about it, you try to get involved in escapist activities like reading. Go to service, go back to rediscover faith, find it if you don't have it."


Sgt. Lisa Dunphy

"There would be a generator broken. We'd have soldiers that could fix it, but they couldn't touch it because they would void the contract. So we couldn't fix our own stuff, would have to call and put in a work order with [Kellogg Brown & Root]. It just seemed like a big bottleneck for almost everything you needed or wanted to do. You wanted to fix a road or building, you couldn't do it."


Sgt. Michael Kelly

"I remember one day this guy came in and pulled up his robe and his intestines are hanging out. I'm like, he's walking! I had never seen something like that before. I said, 'What's wrong with you?' They said he was injured. I said, 'You need medical attention.' He said, 'No, I need a job.'"

I have to say that politics aside, I'm reminded that there is a human element to this conflict. Real people behind the uniforms with friends and family back home who care about them.

Tags: [war in Iraq], [Iraq], [war on terror], [stories from those who have served in Iraq], [soldiers' stories]