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Week of Thursday, November 27, 2003Home from Iraq By PETE HEYN They took the yellow ribbon down at North American Tae Kwon Do in Ypsilanti after their friend Lance Cpl. Pascal Hall, United States Marine Corp Reserves, arrived home in late October after serving a tour of duty in Iraq. Hall shipped out from Selfridge Air Force Base aboard a chartered jet on March 17. Boarding the plane was an unusual event for Hall as all of the soldiers were fully armed. "It was strange to look around the plane in these days of heightened security and see all of the M-16s and sidearms." said Hall. "We were treated very well; everything was first class on the trip" Hall, who has traveled extensively, had never before been to a true desert region. "Everything is extreme; there were days when the temperature was over 130 degrees," said Hall. "To be in full combat gear in heat like that was rather uncomfortable." "Iraq is a nation of stark contrasts; the desert is a hole, just nothing there, but there are other areas that are extremely beautiful, true oasis areas. Even though the desert is extremely dry there were areas that were so humid that our rifles would rust," said Hall. First stationed in Kuwait, Hall was able to call on his martial arts experience (Hall has black belts in both Tae Kwon Do and Hap Ki Do) to impress a small South Korean contingent by saying hello in Korean. Hall entered Iraq on March 23 and was assigned to a sniper squad involved in convoy security and guarding an ammunition supply depot. After Hall’s first experience with battle he saw his first casualty of war, an Iraqi soldier. Hall recalled, "As I stood looking down at his body, I thought that just a few weeks ago I was working on a term paper for school when I got a phone call, and now I’m here." Hall said that staying aware of his surroundings was crucial to the security of both the convoys and the supply depot. "We had to rely on the other Marines in the squad for our security, and I felt responsible for their security." "We had to rely on our training, we always had our guns at our side, day and night," said Hall. "It is legal in Iraq for citizens to carry arms, which makes it very tense at times. There were people we would see during the day that were probably going to be shooting at us that evening." Especially tense were the times when the convoy had to travel through cities and towns. "People would try to stop the convoy so others would have a chance to steal from the trucks," said Hall. "Of greater concern was the possibility of an ambush in the close quarters of the towns." While stationed at the supply depot, Hall had the opportunity to "send some messages" in the form of sayings on some of the ordnance that was to be used. Hall said the soldiers felt somewhat isolated from the rest of the world while in Iraq. "We were able to get some news from Stars and Stripes, but our primary source of information was in letters and correspondence from home," said Hall. Hall was able to interact with the Iraqi people and particularly enjoyed the Iraqi children. "Many of the Iraqi adults are very set in their thinking, but the children are the future, and they seem to appreciate the help the United States is trying to provide." said Hall. |
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