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 "PRIDE
OF THE DAKOTA’S DISPATCH"
Hello from Iraq: The Pride of the Dakota’s, 2nd Battalion 147th Field Artillery keeps rolling along. It sure doesn’t seem like it has been two weeks since our last news letter, so time seems to be flying bye. We are really getting settled in at our base camps and the soldiers are continuously working on position and mission improvement. Our soldiers are continuously looking for ways to do things better, and when they make a mistake; they work hard to identify what went wrong and correct the problem. Our spirits are high and the soldiers are motivated to accomplish our mission. Contrary to what you may hear on the news, the Iraq people are friendly and want our support and are very appreciative of the help we give them. Your soldiers are making a difference for the Iraqi people! We are very proud of and supportive of the many South Dakota National Guard units that are home or on their way there. They did an excellent job over here and deserve to be home with family and friends. To quote Governor Mike Rounds, "They are the Best of the Best!" We are also happy to serve with the other South Dakota units were deployed along with us. Brothers in arms, we will do our best to make sure we accomplish our mission and bring everyone home as soon as possible.
SSG Wes Walker (HHB Supply Sergeant) (left) and CW3 Johnny Dosch (BN Property Book Officer)(right) stand in the 2nd Battalion Motor Pool at Camp Cedar II next to the infamous sign that indicates the distance to many of our home towns. Living Conditions: Your soldiers are working hard to make things comfortable for themselves, especially in their tents where TV’s, Game Boys, CD players and other luxuries almost seem common place. Other big items are old and or discarded homemade furniture left over from a unit that is departing for home. We sure appreciate the support you provide us from home. The amount of mail we receive is amazing and those care packages are sure making a few of us gain weight instead of losing it. Again, thank you all for your help and support! Weather: The weather has been very nice the past couple of weeks. The longer the temperature stays under 100 degrees the happier we will be. We have had a few days that have felt extremely hot and you can tell the sun is much more intense here than back home. But, when the sun goes down it tends to cool off and affords us a cool evening. We generally have a moderate breeze that helps keep the gnats off but makes the highways and motor pool a dust bowl. The forecast for the next few days is stay in the upper 80’s to lower 90’s, so it really isn’t all that bad…..yet! Rumor Mill: Once again, we would like to remind you to be considerate of other soldiers and family members and keep the rumors to a minimum. If you hear of good news or bad news, please let the soldier or soldier’s family go through the proper, military channels to pass the information. One of our soldiers, SGT Sean Lessin, was seriously injured this past week. By allowing the proper military channels to deliver the news, correct and accurate information was provided to Sean’s wife by appropriate military officials. And, if you do have questions, please direct your calls the battery rear detachment personnel. Web Site: Our web-site is now operational! There isn’t a lot of information on the site at this time, but there are a few pictures and you can even check out the local weather conditions. We will continue to improve the site as time allows. Our web site is: www.DakotaSteelRain.com. Mail: Mail can be sent to your soldier at the address below. You can expect it to take 7-14 days for your mail to get picked up by the battalion. Then we must deliver it to the units in their various locations when we deliver other supplies. The mail address for each unit is listed below:
Battalion Commander’s Corner: LTC Jeffrey P. MarletteHi everyone. I hope this note finds everyone at home doing well. Things continue to roll here in Iraq. We are staying very busy and the soldiers are working very hard. They are very professional in the way they go about their duties and you would all be very proud of the excellent job they are doing. To date we have driven over 125,000 miles. This past week, 2/147th had its first serious accident. SGT Sean Lessin was struck by a handle while attempting to assist an Iraqi driver secure a ramp on his truck. SGT Lessin was immediately treated by our unit medics and was quickly evacuated by air to the nearest hospital. From there he was evacuated on to Baghdad for further treatment. SGT Lessin’s condition is serious, but continues to improve daily. We ask that everyone will keep Sean and his wife Jessica in their prayers. This is a very helpless time to have a loved one injured and be so many miles away. Thank you to all who have been there to help Jessica and Sean’s family through this time. This brings me to a very important point, the notification of family members in the event of an emergency. I want to stress to you that it is imperative that this notification come through official channels. One of the worst things that could happen would be for a loved one to hear about an accident by way of the rumor mill. Equally bad would be for several family members to be aware and the actual family of the injured soldier to not yet be aware. When an incident occurs, the Battalion immediately goes into a communications blackout to prevent the unofficial notification of family. The Battalion Headquarters will call back to the 147th FA Brigade in Sioux Falls to let them know that an official notification message has been sent through channels. Once that message is received, they will be the ones that notify our family members. I want to stress that any phone calls or in person visits a family receives, will be done by a South Dakota National Guard member. It is hard to believe that someone would take pleasure in such an act, but there have been many cases of people calling a family and telling them that their deployed soldier has been hurt or killed. This is a very sick prank, but it has already happen to one of our sister Battalions with us here in Iraq. Please be very leery of anyone calling you. If in doubt, immediately get in touch with the rear detachment personnel for your unit. Our soldiers are very focused on their mission and have done a wonderful job of staying safe as they go about their duties. I continue to applaud you for your efforts at home to handle things. It is through you that we draw our strength. Thank you for all you do.
Battalion Executive Officer’s Corner: MAJ Jerald Somsen Hello to you all. It is hard to believe that another newsletter is ready to be sent out. MAJ Carter and I decided we would alternate writing to the newsletter so we do not duplicate our efforts. I hope you all find this newsletter informative and helpful. We have a strong desire to keep the families back home involved and informed. Last newsletter, I mentioned that I would keep you up to date on our Rest and Relaxation Tours (R&R). So far, the Battalion has been authorized one slot for a soldier through the month of April. This one slot is not a disappointment as our battalion could only start our R&R leave on 30 April 2004. We are working hard to get our May allocation from higher but we have not received it as of yet. These last few weeks have brought out many emotions in the soldiers of 2nd Battalion. We had the benefit of seeing many of our fellow South Dakota Nation Guard soldiers come through our base camp on their way home. The smiles on their faces were priceless and they gave us hope that we will all be home soon. If you see a citizen soldier at home, thank them for their service. They truly did an outstanding job and are worthy of the recognition. We also had the low of seeing a fellow soldier severely injured in an accident. These incidents made many of us think of our families back home. We thank you all for the support you have given us.
Chaplain’s Corner: MAJ Lynn Wilson 1 Peter 5:7 "Leave all your worries before Him, for He cares for you". This verse accurately applies to what we in the 2nd/147th have been feeling lately over a soldier-Sean Lessin-who was recently injured in a freak accident. Sean went to help one of the civilian drivers of a truck, and an accident in sued which caused Sean to be seriously injured and taken to Baghdad for surgery. Many from B Battery where Sean is from, and many of the rest of us in the 2nd, have been worried about Sean and concerned for his wife Jessica. The Bible tells us that we are to leave our worries and fears before God. The reason as to why we should do this is given as well: "for He cares for you". Jesus Christ cares for Sean and for his wife Jessica. Jesus cares for all our soldiers and families, and for you reading this back home. This Easter 2004 leave your worries before Him, for the Bible tells us why: He cares for you. Chaplain Lynn Wilson Battery News Bravo Battery: CPT Frank Sullivent/1SG Wayne LaBelle Hello Bravo Battery. In the last 2 weeks, we have had 2 great events from back home and a terrible one from here. We have increased our battery size by 2 more people with the births of SGT Shaun and Trishia Stanley’s baby boy and SSG Jerry and Emily Shepherd’s baby girl. Congratulations from all of us here in the desert. Know that Shaun and Jerry have been strutting around camp like the proud fathers they are. I tease them about this because we all know that Trisha and Emily did all the work. This makes 3 new additions to the Bravo Battery Family as SPC Joseph Clark was also blessed with a son about 4 weeks ago. I am very sad to report that SGT Sean Lessin was seriously injured in a non-combat accident. Sean was flown to Baghdad and underwent medical treatment for a head injury. He has since been flown to Germany and will soon be back in the states for more medical treatment. Sean is a great guy and a fighter. I have no doubts he will pull through this OK. Our prayers go out to his family. I need all of you to know that Sean’s accident has affected us all but we all understand that we have a responsibility to our families to come home safe and so we are focused on our missions and our safety. Our mission has not changed in the last 2 weeks and we continue to escort trucks back and forth. I want to close this segment with some insight we have gained since being here. Regardless of whether or not weapons of mass destruction were or are here, our presence and the job we do everyday has a profound impact on the daily lives of good Iraqi citizens. This can be evidenced by a recent news article were a group was denouncing the US and wanted all coalition forces out of the country. They spent a whole page talking about self-rule government and in the last paragraph, they commented on the fact that they have never, in the last 40 years, been able to openly discuss politics. They stated "It is starting to feel like a democracy". It was the US led coalition that secured that privilege for these guys. We are securing a safer, better place for these people. Another reason we are here is to defend our nation and our own families. It was not very long ago, on September 11th 2001, that we all saw the horror that unfettered terrorism can bring to our homeland. I would like to quote a fierce fighter of freedom from our own history: "The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil constitution, are worth defending against all hazards: And it is our duty to defend them against all attacks." Samual Adams. SGT Sean Lessin and the rest of our soldiers are all heroes. Contacts: Alpha Battery
Bravo Battery
Charlie Battery
HHS
FAMILY SUPPORT
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