Hi, My name is Bane Ansley and my dad is Staff Sgt. Christopher Ansley.
He was deployed once more to Kuwait on January 2, 2007 with the 2/319th AFAR out of Fort Bragg, NC. My Mom, grandma and of course me are going to be updating his site for him.
Keep all of our soilders in your prayers. They fight to keep us free. Dad I love you and Miss you.
In
late January, 2003 our leader and faithful President, George
W.
Bush, gave his yearly State of the Union address to members
of Congress,
the Senate, and millions of American viewers at home. As
many American’s
watched he talked of the trouble’s with Terrorism
and what the United
States would do to end this problem. As a soldier for the
United States
Army I too sat and watched his words. I knew as he was speaking
that
this meant a great change for me, my family, and my fellow
soldiers in
1/377 FAR (AASLT), Fort Bragg, NC. The next day we were
all briefed by
our Chain of Command of the possible outcomes of the previous
nights
speech. Shortly after our President gave his speech troops
from all over
the U.S. were being deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom.
My unit waited for our name
to come up on the list.
Upon hearing that the 101st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell,
KY
had gotten their orders we knew, we were going to Iraq.
My unit is one of many unit’s that is assigned to
help the
101st when they get deployed to the many parts of the world.
Upon hearing that the 101st was coming to Iraq, their were
many mixed
emotions among my friends and fellow soldiers. Many of the
soldiers were ready
to go fight for their country and put their life on the
line to
defend what we’ve known all our life. "FREEDOM".
As we prepared to leave
for Iraq, we watched as the war was unfolding in front of
us on our TV screens.
My unit left for Iraq on April
4th, 2003 just four days before
the war would officially end. We sat and waited in Kuwait
for our
chance to cross the berm in to this country very few of
us knew anything
about. On April 20th, 2003. Easter Sunday, while many Americans
were
still asleep, my unit crossed the berm into Iraq, to join
in our part of
Operation Iraqi Freedom. We spent four days traveling through
Iraq,
heading north towards the city of Mosul, Iraq. When we got
to Mosul, we
were greeted by thousands of Iraqi’s eager to see
an American soldier.
Many were shouting cheers of joy that we had arrived in
their city.
My unit’s responsibility when we got to Mosul, was
to clean up all the
weapon caches that the Iraqi army had set up around their
city. In the
first month alone we picked up over 200,000 thousand rounds,
making
Iraq and the surrounding area’s a much safer place
for children to live,
farmers to farm, and family’s to just go outside again.
I am now currently assigned with the 101st Airborne Division
on
what may be the most important job in Mosul at this moment.
I am an
employee at the new VEO (Veterans Employment Office). Our
job here is to
help the Iraqi’s who were formally of the Iraqi army
get new jobs so they
can support their families. On an average we screen 60 –
90 people a
day for jobs and find them work. We place them in jobs ranging
from
cleaning up the town, to protecting facilities that are
around the Mosul
area. The people we are screening for jobs are being paid
more now then
when they were in the Iraqi army. So we have many people
coming everyday
trying to find jobs. We have been here working in this office
for over
a month now, and we have found over 2000 Iraqi’s jobs
in the Mosul
area. Our official grand opening is on Thursday, August
7th, 2003.
I am proud to be here in Iraq helping the people of Iraq
and the
country to achieve Freedom. Though we are still being attacked
on a
daily basis and soldiers are still dieing, I am very proud
of the Iraqi’s
that I work with on a daily basis. Many Iraqi’s put
their lives at risk
by coming to work for us, or coming to the U.S. for work.
I know my
stay here in Iraq will be a long one. We are told we won’t
be going home
to our family or friends until February or March of 2004.
I know that
this is not going to be easy on any of the family or friends
that I and
fellow soldiers have left behind. Many of us have left behind
unborn
children, infants, wives, parents, and some of the soldiers
haven’t
even seen their first child yet. It isn’t easy for
any of us to deal with
this being away but we always remember what we are here
for, "FREEDOM".
We hope that the people of America don’t forget about
us, and that they
remember there are people over 7000 miles away from their
loved one,
defending what they are taking for granted.
SPC CHRISTOPHER M ANSLEY
B BTRY 1-377 FAR (AASLT)
UNIT # 91411
APO, AE 09325-1411