May 23, 1991: Visit to Camp 1 and Nazdour

Steven Dutch, Professor Emeritus, Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Wisconsin - Green Bay

Thu 23 May

Corrigan and I went back to Zakho and check in and run errands. I visited the food site in Camp 2 to find that operations were running smoothly. In fact most days the place shut down early in the afternoon. The Kurds were running most of it. Nobody missed me at all, a fact that suited me just fine.

One of the things I did at camp was get a set of maps, so I can plot geology on them. LT Jeff Ponkratz also caught me and taped me for the company video, something I'd feared I'd missed out on. The current word on redeployment has us leaving for Turkey on June 1, convoying our vehicles to Iskenderun, and leaving for the States by June 15. Except for the convoy part, the info was nearly on target, but nobody dared believe it.

We also got our mail. It had been getting critical. I was in the mountains, surrounded on all sides by targets, and running low on ammo. Then - salvation! A FILM RESUPPLY! Six rolls from Mom, and nearly as valuable, a package of spearmint leaves. I tried to call home on the satellite link but got no connection. From camp we went to the border post so Corrigan could try the commercial phone; that too was a no-go. This was the first chance I had to see Zakho, which is a generally grubby and nondescript town. My only previous visit was the first night we were here, in the dark.

When we got back to camp, we heard the real story on the rowdy party, which will live forever in unit lore as The Mother Of All Bonfires. It got a bit out of hand. The MP's came by because they could see the fire from headquarters several miles away.

At the British Camp

Begova

The Road to Zakho

Camp I Revisited

Zakho

We got back to the British camp about 1400, only to find Haney had gone up to Kani Masi. So Corrigan and I took advantage of the clear day and went up to Nazdour to get better photos. The scenery is truly gorgeous up there.

Early in the morning four British Sea King helicopters arrived. They looked oddly familiar, and I finally realized they looked like giant locusts. After the Marines boarded, they took off eastward to recover the bodies that were found yesterday. They found one man and one woman. There are no clues who did it, and no ID, but the suspicion is strong they are the missing BBC news people. There is also no clue what happened to the third reporter.

Two of the British Marines have this sign on their tent: "You are about to enter a seriously mellow zone".

Nazdour, May 23, 1991

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