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Bladen Soldier Headed Back To Iraq Cory Cox

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Posted 10 October 2003 - 01:32 PM

http://www.bladenjournal.com/articles/2003...news/news04.txt

QUOTE
Cox said the soldiers still fighting the war are often angered by what they see in newspapers and television news about the coverage of the war. The soldiers also "don't much like" the lack of support they see in statements by people opposed to the war. "We believe in what we're doing," he said. "We're fighting over there to keep from having to fight the terrorists at home. Why can't people understand that?"


Bladen soldier headed back to Iraq



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By JEFFERSON WEAVER Staff Writer
A soldier from Bladen County was one of those lucky U.S. servicemen to get a two-week furlough recently.

"It was good to come home," Cory Cox said, "but I want to go back and get this thing finished."

Cox, is the son of Mike and Sandy Dove of Center Road, near Bladenboro, was deployed to Kuwait in January. He had just finished his training as a heavy vehicle mechanic when his unit, the 183rd Maintenance Battalion of the Third U.S. Army, was sent to the front.

In February, the Third Army moved into Iraq. Cox and his fellow soldiers were the ones called whenever a vehicle broke down or was damaged.

"During the move on Baghdad," he said, "the Army was moving so fast you wouldn't believe it."

When the main fighting was over, Cox said, his group still regularly came under fire, from guerrillas and regular Iraqi troops. The unit set up operations in Camp Adders, Kuwait, an Air Force base.

Buildings in the area still showed the evidence from the last Gulf War, when Cox and many of his comrades were still in grade school.

"There was a lot of destruction," he said. Unexploded ordnance was a constant hazard, he said. Everything from bombs to ammunition lay strewn about he landscape in some places.

In Iraq, Cox said, his unit spent some time at a warehouse that showed extensive damage from the first Gulf War.

"It had been hit pretty bad," he said. "It made you think how many other places were torn up just as bad, if not worse."

All along the path taken by the Third Army, Cox said, soldiers saw evidence of previous conflicts along the Iraq-Kuwait border. Tanks and other vehicles destroyed by Saddam's forces in 1990 and American forces in 1991 were common sights-along with more recently destroyed equipment.

"There was a lot of stuff left behind by the Iraqi army," Cox said, both in Kuwait and Iraq. "Much of it looked like they'd dumped it and run."

Many of the enemy soldiers, Cox said, didn't run.

"When a vehicle broke down," he said, "we were called out to retrieve it."

The soldiers in Cox's unit were armed with grenade launchers, medium and heavy machine guns, and M-4 carbines.

"We were engaged almost every time we went out," he said. "There was a lot of resistance."

After Saddam's forces were officially defeated, Cox said, soldiers still sometimes had problems with some Iraqis.

"Most of the people are glad to see us," he said. "They applaud when we come by, or try to give us things...but some throw rocks, and hit our vehicles, that type of thing."

Too many people have the idea that all Middle Easterners are the same, Cox said.

In Iraq, hostility toward Americans isn't uncommon, although many welcomed the troops as liberators.

In Kuwait, however, it is a different story. The member of the first graduating class at West Bladen High School said the Syrians and Egyptians working on contract with various government agencies "have been real friendly."

"There's no aggression toward us there," he said. "The Syrians and Egyptians we've met are nice people-they've got good jobs, and they are friendly and open. They try to give us food and stuff-they're very generous people."

The recent trip home wasn't Cox's first leave since the beginning of the war. Improvements in transportation, and new morale rules used by the armed services allow Cox and his comrades occasional trips into Kuwait City, where they can shop, enjoy American restaurants, and even ride jet skis.

"It's kind of cool," he said. "I learned to snow ski in Colorado, and rode a jet ski on the other side of the world."

His return home for a 15-day furlough was frantic, he said.

"There were a lot of phone calls, and people coming by to welcome me home," he said. "It makes you feel good."

The young soldier is not ashamed to admit he loves and misses his family while he was deployed.

"I miss my brothers, Mom, my girlfriend-everybody here," he said.

His brother Jeremy Cox, 18, attends Fayetteville State University. His youngest brother, Holden Dove, is in seventh grade. Diana Hester, his longtime girlfriend, lives near Cox's family home on Center Road.

"It was great when everybody was here to welcome me home," he said. "You learn to value your family when you're away."

Cox said the soldiers still fighting the war are often angered by what they see in newspapers and television news about the coverage of the war.

The soldiers also "don't much like" the lack of support they see in statements by people opposed to the war.

"We believe in what we're doing," he said. "We're fighting over there to keep from having to fight the terrorists at home. Why can't people understand that?"

"The Dixie Chicks thing-that hurt a lot," Cox said. "People don't understand how some things they say can affect the soldiers they're talking about. We're proud of our President, and the Army."

Almost everyone at home that he's spoken to face to face has been supportive of the troops and the war, Cox said.

"People are all the time just walking up to me and saying, 'thanks, you guys are doing a good job, we're praying for you'," he said. "People saying stuff like that, and sending us letters and care packages-that really means a lot."

"One of the best things you can hear in a case like this is that people care about you and are praying for you, even people you don't know," Cox said. "I can't say thanks enough for that."

Cox plans to attend Bladen Community College next summer, attending classes with his mother, Sandy Dove.

While Cox said he enjoys being a soldier, he's not sure he'll re-enlist when his time is up.

"I'm weighing my options," he said. "It's a good job, and we're making some money right now, when a lot of people don't have jobs. I've learned a lot, and gone to some new places. I've got a while yet to decide."

"All of us want to see this through, though," he said. "We want to see this war finished for good."

--30-


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