Lab tech says war duty was valuable experience
Staff writer
"It was a valuable learning experience, but I definitely don't want to go back," said Lori Smith of Marion, of her five months in the Persian Gulf as a member of the American military force, effecting a regime change in Iraq, then striving to enhance stability in the nation.
Smith, a laboratory technician at St. Luke Hospital, left in February, first going to Kuwait, then Iraq. She is a carpenter with 226 Engineer Company, part of a National Guard unit based in Augusta.
She flew from Kuwait to Topeka on July 4, spent a few days in debriefing at Fort Riley, then was back in Marion the week of July 6.
Her unit was activated in December. "They attached us to the Fort Hood Heavy Combat Engineer Unit, near Killeen, Texas," she said.
Horribly hot temperatures are one thing that stands out in her memory. The average daily high temperature was 130-135 F., and it got up to 147 one day.
"And it's dry, very arid, with low humidity," Smith said. It got down to the 90s or the 100s at night, which was the only time there was ever any shade.
"There was lots of sand, and no vegetation, in Iraq," she said. Her unit was in the rear of the front combat forces, and their mission was transport of fuel to the front forces.
"It was so sandy — I didn't have to brush my teeth, sometimes. Just smile and the sand would blast the plaque off them."
She said there was a sand storm nearly every day. "Sand facials exfoliated my skin," she joked.
Military MREs (meals ready to eat) were the troops' steady fare. "Some units had a mess hall. We didn't most of the time. We were with a combat unit from Fort Hood. We established our own camp, Camp Kansas. It's gone, now," Smith said.
"We were very mobile, moving all the time, living in tents," Smith said.
Thinking of Bob Hope, whose death was announced Monday, she was asked about entertainment. About the only entertainment she recalled during her sojourn in Iraq was when some celebrities came in to sign autographs.
Actors Gary Sinise and Rebecca Stamos were among those visiting stars. There also were some famous professional athletes.
Now and then, "they sent in a general to give us a pep talk. I don't remember their names," Smith said.
Communications between there and here were inadequate. Troops had no phone, no radios. Sometimes they received mail, sometimes they did not.
Letters from home provided most of the news they got, she said. The news given them by the military was mostly mission-oriented.
The mail system was inadequate, but she wants all those who wrote to her to know that "It carried me a long way. I thank all those who wrote me for their support and prayers. A lot of soldiers still over there still need that support. I definitely could feel the prayer support, that's for sure," Smith said.
Smith has been in the Guard four years now. She also was on active duty in 1988-1992, but stayed stateside at that time, during the first Persian Gulf war.
Her husband, Mark Smith, was waiting for her safe return to Marion, as were her father, Gary Chaput, her grandmother, Bernice Chaput, and many other relatives and friends.
"It's very drab over there. I experienced almost a sensory overload when I got back to the U.S. So much color, so much green! At a gas station where we stopped, I took off my boots and walked in the grass. What a feeling!"
Toilets that flush and an abundance of drinkable water are two more things she really appreciates more here, having been in Iraq.
"It's wonderful not to have to worry about rationing the water," she said.
"We couldn't shower every day, or have the luxuries we have here," Smith said.
"I appreciate everything more. The washing machine is a big thing to me now
