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Ramadi Madness

When every member of Florida's 124th Infantry returned from Iraq alive, it seemed too good to be true. It was.

A A A Comments (3) By Isaiah Thompson Thursday, Aug 23 2007

...continued from page 5

One evening during his second week in the program, Aris walked off the fifth floor, left the building, and went home, not intending to go back. But after talking to his wife, he decided not to quit. Since then, he's had perfect attendance. Recently he even wrote a poem of sorts. Asked to write three positive things about his life on a piece of notebook paper, he couldn't think of any — not one. On deadline, he began to scrawl:

I am here.

Edouard Gluck

Hubert Aris

A baptism in the Euphrates

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Jason Van Steenwyk 10/29/2010 3:12:00 AM

I am personally familiar with almost everyone listed in this report, and I am honored to call most of them friends. That includes a number of individuals who got a negative write-up in this report. Although I understand the difficulty in reporting a story like this, in each incident I'm familiar with, there are layers and layers of complexity to them that the reporter had no chance of uncovering. War is a tough business, and the commanders mentioned in this story are tough men. While they made some hard, unpopular decisions - not all of them we agreed with at the time, obviously - they also brought every soldier home alive - a feat no other infantry battalion could boast for years. Part of that success wasn't despite the fact that these were Guardsmen, but BECAUSE of it. Our backround as cops, as electricians, plumbers, lawyers, accountants, technicians, engineers and entrepreneurs was invaluable in fighting a counterinsurgency and engaging in civil military operations. And the credit belongs to the amazing citizen soldiers of all ranks who were inventing a new method of warfare. Any other Hurricane Battalion members who come back and read this story - it was a pleasure and an honor to serve with each and every one of you.

Armani 10/14/2007 1:36:00 AM

Dude, Steve, take it easy, everyone has their different story, why don't you give yours?? You're probably some rich jewish kid that wont go to war cause evil mommy n daddy gave their souls up along with yours before your birth to raise you up for the evil cult of satanists aka jews that helped BIG TIME to fund and influence this war like many. F*$&*ng pos murderer, bet you wont fight me i run the city with God, and no one opposes me. Through my city of Miami and God we have reversed the polarity of the evil momentum idiots like you pushed forward.. go get raped by some homos calling them selves soldiers - a real soul jah

Steve 09/03/2007 12:52:00 AM

That story was stupid. I was there and fought with my brothers. We didn't "freak out". Everyone who fought has to deal with war, but you make these guys sound like idiots. Get a new career instead of reporting.