America’s military involvement in the Middle East ranged from the quick victory over Saddam Hussein’s Iraq in 1991, to the decades long struggle to combat terrorism following the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
Though part of an overall strategy called the Global War on Terror. The initial hunt for Al-Qaeda perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks led to an occupation of Afghanistan for more than two decades. The quick initial campaign into Iraq deposed Saddam Hussein, but led to new and brutal new terror entities like ISIS terrorizing civilians and soldiers alike.
The men and women who served during this period often faced multiple tours of duty, sometimes abruptly transitioning between deployment and civilian life. Many of them still carry the physical and mental scars of wars that came to an unceremonious end.
While on security patrols outside American air bases, Chris Edgerton was impacted by how the children of Northern Iraq interacted with American troops, and how Americans helped alleviate the conditions near a devastated Republican Guard base.
Chris Edgerton
Flying an F-16 in the Gulf War didn’t isolate Pat Hanlon from the reality of combat on the ground. The sophisticated communications between his airplane and infantry units made him aware of how important his missions were for their survival.
Pat Hanlon
After the initial invasion of northern Iraq in 2003, Americans needed supplies, and to build relationships with the local population. J.P. Malboeuf was involved in the efforts to contract with Iraqi vendors and serve both of those needs.
J.P. Malbeouf
Army medic Mel Plett treated wounded soldiers in the field with the units she embedded with in eastern Afghanistan. When the situation was serious, help was often just a few minutes away and the speed of medivac meant the many soldiers could be saved that would have perished in earlier wars.
Mel Plett
Before the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom, engineers had to construct brand new facilities quickly to support the mission. David Wilder tells how important it was to have these new bases ready for operations.