In Country With Out Troops ~ God Bless You & Keep You Safe

2-8 Cav Troops Uncover Cache, Detain Seven
By 1st BCT, 1st Cav. Div. Public Affairs
CAMP TAJI, Iraq – Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers uncovered a cache of weapons and detained seven suspects near here Jan. 8.
Soldiers from Company A, 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division found the weapons during a cordon and search operation at a site known for insurgent activity.
Weapons found at the site included three AK-47 assault rifles, a sniper rifle, an Russian-made machine gun and a buried 55-gallon drum containing a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, four RPG rounds and three RPG accelerators.
The seven suspects were detained for further questioning.

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Coalition forces killed three and wounded one terrorist as they transported and attempted to emplace improvised explosive devices in the vicinity of Ramadi Sunday.
The individuals have been linked to a weapons cache Coalition forces located and destroyed numerous warheads, rockets, missiles and missile launchers in the area just south of Lake Thar Thar previously the same day.
The terrorists were killed by a Coalition air strike about six miles northeast of Ramadi before they could complete their activity.
The weapons cache was located less than 15 miles from the site where the terrorists were digging a hole to place an IED

Former Bosnian joins Army, supports adopted home
AD DAWR, Iraq – Americans join the military for many different reasons, but for one man it became a chance to show his loyalty to his new home. After Sept. 11, Spc. Mladen Sudarevic, now from Aurora, Colo., stepped forward with mixed emotions of loyalty, honor and outrage as he enlisted to the 324th Psychological Tactical Company, U.S. Army Reserves.

“I joined the U.S. Army Reserves so I could give a little back to the country that gave so much to me,” Sudarevic said. “I felt compelled to defend my adopted country after the 9/11 attack.”

Sudarevic endured the civil war in Bosnia and Herzegovina and moved to the United States when he was 17. After the attacks, he felt like his country was under siege once again.

“I wasn’t old enough to serve in the military in Bosnia during their civil war,” Sudarevic said. “I am old enough now, and I feel American these days.”

“I think all Iraqis will look back on this experience and understand it was for the betterment of their country,” Sudarevic said. “They will eventually understand, although painful, it was a better part of their history.”

Sudarevic thinks the military is a great experience. He feels that he is serving his new country to the best of his ability.

“I was lucky that the United States let me come in as a refugee of the war,” Sudarevic said. “I came to Colorado and the people were great. I had awesome sponsors that helped me transition into society.”

Sudarevic came over with his mother, his only living relative and very few possessions.

“We lost everything in the war,” he said. “I didn’t speak English very well but I was able to bring over a translation dictionary. I tried to learn ten new words everyday.”

As Sudarevic was learning English, he was working hard to become independent of the assistance the system was giving him.

“I heard that you could go from one business to another turning in applications so I did this — by the third day I had a job at a popular fast food restaurant,” he said. I worked there for a year, long enough to learn English and to take another step up the ladder, he said.

His personal records were also lost so he had to test out of high school. Soon after, he received a scholarship to Colorado Mountain College and received an associate’s degree in Liberal Arts. Now, when Sudarevic isn’t working with the Army Reserves, he’s making a six- figure-income working in the computer fraud and security industry.
Even though his friends were able to get assistance in different countries, he does not feel they have had the same opportunities he’s been given in the U.S.

“I didn’t need any hand outs,” said Sudarevic. “I just needed an opportunity to help myself, and that’s what the United States gave me. I did it with my own hard work.”

“I believe the United States is the land of opportunities,” said Sudarevic. “Those who are willing to take advantage of them have a good chance at succeeding in life.”