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CENTRAL IRAQ
In dusty desert, a quest for water
By David Kamerman, Globe Staff, 4/3/2003
No one likes change, not even US Army troops, so what was once a standard way of life was now threatened. The troops grumbled. So when we passed an overturned Iraqi trailer with bottles of water scattered everywhere, Captain Karl Asmus and I looked at each other knowingly. After we broke camp at our new location, several of us set off on a mission dubbed "Operation Aqua Freedom." The mission had two main objectives: to procure water and to break the monotony of the daily grind. We rolled up on the trailer and proceeded to fill up our Humvees with bottles. Then we washed ourselves with water from the bottles that had been damaged. Have you ever poured water on your hands and had mud drip off? Thankful for our brief field trip, we headed back to base camp. "Operation Aqua Freedom" was an unqualified success.
This story ran on page A32 of the Boston Globe on 4/3/2003.
n a desert military campaign, the importance of water supplies cannot be overstated. When members of the First Battalion, 27th Field Artillery were told they would not be receiving any more bottled water and would have to refill their bottles from water trailers they tow behind the vehicles, the troops were none too happy.
© Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.
