Student efforts eased soldier's year in Iraq
Army pilot from Millstone returns from base near Baghdad
BY JENNIFER KOHLHEPP Staff Writer
Ayear of uncertainty when lives hung in the balance of every chaotic moment living in a war zone recently came to a close for Gary Amatrudo.

ANDREW MILLER staff Gary Amatrudo presents a slide show of information and images from his tour of duty in Iraq to Upper Freehold Regional Elementary/Middle School students Sept. 28.

The 56-year-old U.S. Army pilot from Millstone Township visited the Upper Freehold Regional Elementary/Middle School Sept. 28 to express his gratitude to students who, under the direction of school district administration and community volunteers, sent supplies and well wishes to Amatrudo and his fellow troops in Iraq last year.

"Your efforts made things very manageable and bearable to me," he told the students. "I thank everyone for everything they did. I hope you remember this forever because it will be important to me for that long also."

Amatrudo, a member of the U.S. Army Reserve, said he needed to take the time to visit with students who are helping make the ordeal in Iraq easier for troops living through it. He explained some of the hardships that soldiers experience.

ANDREW MILLER staff Gary Amatrudo checks his watch before giving a presentation about his tour of duty in Iraq to Upper Freehold Regional Elementary/Middle School students.

The trip to Iraq from the United States takes more than 24 hours, he said. Soldiers fly on planes crowded with 350 to 400 people, he said, yet they still feel alone because most don't really know one another.

"When I finally got to Iraq, I was up for at least 24 hours," he said. "It was very dusty, and it smelled of dirt. I never knew the smell of dirt until I got there."

Amatrudo said he missed his family and friends and realized quickly that he would have to make new friends to make it through the full year.

"I was afraid when I first got there," he said. "I was a little apprehensive until I realized I could fall back on my training."

A member of the 25th Infantry Division called "Tropical Lightning," Amatrudo first lived in Iraq in what he called "tent city," which was nothing but a makeshift military base filled with tents and dirt, he said.

"There were 40 soldiers in a tent with cots," he said. "You can't stay up late. There's no TV."

When he moved out of "tent city," he moved into Camp Streicher, a base measuring 4 square miles in Tikrit, which is 80 miles north of Baghdad in Iraq. To help students put the country's size into perspective, he told them that Iraq is approximately two times the size of Idaho and 85 percent "nothing but barren desert."

He and another soldier called an 8- foot-by-10-foot shipping container in the camp "home" for the remainder of the year. Amatrudo worked with pilots, mechanics and administrative personnel.

"People from all over the country and all walks of life are army reservists," he said.

Amatrudo worked 12-14 hours a day, seven days a week, flying Black Hawk helicopters and electronic surveillance airplanes.

"One of the things I did was I flew a reconnaissance airplane to find the bad guys and then called in an attack and had the airplanes take them out," he told the students.

While he took to the skies, other soldiers in his unit used large trucks with leaf blowers attached to them to blow garbage away from the sides of the streets in order to search for bombs. Other soldiers drove trucks with robots that operated via remote control to investigate, take apart and/or detonate items discovered along transport routes.

"There was a lot of technology over there," he said. "A lot of guys used it to do different things."

Besides dealing with the grueling life-or-death situations they faced in the war zone each day, Amatrudo said troops also have to deal with the dangers of the desert, which include unbearable climates and biting creatures such as scorpions and snakes.

Noting that temperatures in the desert can reach up to 140 degrees, he said, "It gets very hot, especially when you have to wear your full uniform, 50 pounds of body armor, a helmet and weapons."

The uniforms have front pockets for portable air-conditioners, he said. Amatrudo also said it helped him to drink plenty of water each day, not only to keep cool but to keep illnesses at bay.

The war did not stop in sandstorms, according to Amatrudo, even though the storms sometimes lasted for days.

"Everyone continues doing what they are doing," he said. "We needed to wear goggles and something over our noses and mouths to keep the sand out of our lungs. The worst one went on for four days."

When it did rain, the ground would get extremely muddy.

"It was like walking in marshmallows," he said, adding that soldiers used a system of planks around the camp.

Despite the discomforts of daily living in the desert, good morale and camaraderie helped soldiers on their mission, he said.

"Everyone has mutual respect and concern for each other," he said. "That's one of the reasons people survive. There is tremendous cooperation among soldiers."

Amatrudo and his fellow troops were also always pleased to receive tokens of affection from home. He said he was thrilled one day when he had to pick up more than 35 boxes from the mailroom.

"Shortly after, I got a hernia operation," he joked.

He continued, "We had over 100 people in our company, and everyone thoroughly enjoyed every letter, DVD, football, video game and piece of candy, down to the right sock that was sent," he said. "It meant a lot to me and to my friends in Iraq."

Amatrudo told students that he learned the most important "F" words while serving in Iraq.

"Friends, family, forgiveness, forever and freedom," he said.

Amatrudo said troops make sacrifices each and every day while serving in Iraq. He said they miss birthdays, holidays and important family events such as proms, graduations, weddings and funerals. Others make the ultimate sacrifice, he said.

"Keep these sacrifices in mind when you see something on the news or hear [that] a friend or relative is going to Iraq," he said. "Some might not be coming back."

Amatrudo, who joined the Army in 1968, will continue to serve in the Reserve.

"On Oct. 15, I'll go back to my regular job of flying electronic test equipment for the Army one week a month," he said.