Iraqi villagers dig through the trash from the Oregon National Guard
“We make sure they don’t get wire, so we burn the wire and make sure they can’t take them and make IEDs or sell them to somebody that makes IEDs,“ says tank commander Spc. Justin Fox, 21, of Roseburg, Ore. By Cali Bagby for KVAL.comCAMP KOREAN VILLAGE, Iraq -- Their faces swathed in cloth to avoid the putrid smell of rotting fruit and spoiled milk, the men charge into the pile of trash like starving children to meal. Multimedia
“We chat with them everyday, and we’ve become kind of friends with them,” says tank driver Spc. Josef Lewis, 36, of Monmouth, Ore. “We think we have a good rapport with them.” The men live outside of Lewis’s base, Camp Korean Village. Every day Lewis and several other soldiers from Charlie Company, 1-186, 1st Platoon, 2nd Squad of Oregon’s 41st Infantry watch as the men pick through the rubbish. Other items the men uncover, like an extension cord, are thrown back into the pile to be burned later. “We make sure they don’t get wire, so we burn the wire and make sure they can’t take them and make IEDs or sell them to somebody that makes IEDs,“ says tank commander Spc. Justin Fox, 21, of Roseburg, Ore.
Thirty minutes after the garbage truck arrives, the men have lost interest and carry their finds to the edge of the trash pile. The soldiers pour gasoline over the remaining trash and set it on fire. The men carry off their loads as plumes of black smoke form a formidable backdrop. Lt. Matthew Branstter, 34, of Silverton, Ore., made an agreement with the Rupas city council allowing 10 villagers to collect up to four truckloads of refuse a day. The locals gather at 8 a.m. when the soldiers arrive in their armored vehicle. The men greet the soldiers with firm and enthusiastic handshakes. Saf, a boy of 11, is eager to toss a football with Fox but soon loses interest.
The boy is found an hour later squatting with several others in the dirt playing a game similar to tic-tac-toe.
The other men talk with Lewis using the bits of English they have learned. Soon everyone is tired of talking. The sun beats down and the men pull up buckets for sitting, making sure Lewis has a seat. Several miles away a flock of nearly 100 sheep cluster in the sandy terrain. The men care for the sheep, but spend most of the day waiting here for the garbage truck’s load that comes twice a day. The food waste is the most abundant take away, but wood is the most valuable. One Iraqi says that they use the scrap wood mainly for cooking at their homes, but none is found this day. For the soldiers, their job is not as difficult as digging through other people’s waste, but the day is long and the scene rarely changes. The soldiers see exactly how much food, plastic and other goods are tossed aside. Watching men arm deep in refuse is an eye-opener that makes the chow hall seem like a five-star dining establishment. As for the men, some take small bites in private from apples dug out of the garbage as if to avoid the soldiers’ eyes, but others eat causally in the open. They all smile, their hands sticky with dirt and garbage. They smile as the soldiers drive away, and they stand staring out into the flat never-ending sand.
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February 4, 2012
- Roseburg, Oregon
Fingers overturn cardboard covering leftover noodles and smashed vegetables in fly-infested, vomit-like mounds. The treasures of the day are quietly revealed: a bottle half full of caramel sauce; a carpet; two intact oranges; a pair of socks; and piles of half-eaten food.
Cali Bagby embedded with the Oregon Army National Guard from the 41st Infantry for KVAL.com. Her work has been published in the Washington Post and the Eugene Weekly.
