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An-Safwan, OIF 1, 2003

 

Beggars on the highway,
children in the street.
Bandits only ten-years old,
no shoes on their feet.

Iraqi border town,
overcome by war,
we ride HUMVEES sideways,
with guns out the door.

“Close that distance up!”
“Keep those people back!”
“Stay alert up there!”
“That could be a trap!”

“Don’t stop for nothin’!”
“Keep moving on!”
“Don’t let your guard down
Until we’ve passed Safwan.”

—Maj. Theodore E. Lockwood II
821st Transportation Battalion
Topeka, Kansas

 

 

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March 2023