(Below) Despite the fact that I run patrols in areas where there are people who just don't get the fact that we are here to help and have seen my fair share of IED's this is a different side of Iraq that is only seen by those who are really there. This little girl came up and just wanted to talk. typically kids are always asking for stuff. She was smoothing my hair down and said I had nice hair. Funny stuff. What a sweet little girl though. Her friend tried to get me to take her back to America with me. If I could I probably would

09/10/05 - U.S. Marines from the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit take apart and wash down pieces of an MH-53 helicopter and a Harrier during a flight deck wash down aboard USS Kearsarge (LHD 3) Sept. 10, 2005. Kearsarge and the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit are currently on a scheduled deployment off the coast of Rota, Spain.

A soldier takes a defensive posture after being engaged by the enemy during a large-scale operation in the Sadamia area of Baghdad, Iraq, on July 22, 2004. Approximately 1,200 Iraqi Security Forces, 150 Iraqi National Guard and soldiers with the 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, conducted a large scale operation aimed at the criminal and terrorist stronghold around Talaa Square and Haifa Street. DoD photo by Sgt. 1st Class Johancharles Van Boers, U.S. Army. (Released)

A Florida National Guard UH-60 Blackhawk Helicopter soars over the palm forests of northern Iraq on July 20, 2004. DoD photo by Staff Sgt. D. Myles Cullen, U.S. Air Force. (Released)

Track Commander Sgt. Mike Stacher, U.S. Army, from 6th Battalion, 37th Field Artillery, Bravo Battery, guides his M-270 Multiple Launch Rocket System during a combined training exercise with the Republic of Korea's 3rd ROK Corps.

Pfc. Amaryllis Rivera rappels down a 40 foot tower at the Parks Reserve Forces Training Area, Dublin, Calif.

Airman Jaris Palmer transport GBU-12 Guided Bomb Units across the flight deck of the USS George Washington (CVN 73) on June 28, 2004. Edwards, from Rahway, N.J., and Palmer, from York, Penn., serve as aviation ordnancemen. The Norfolk, Va., based nuclear powered aircraft carrier is deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. DoD photo by Airman Michael D. Blackwell II, U. S. Navy. (Released)

   Sgt. 1st Class Jennifer R. Fowler, left, and Staff Sgt. Jason W. Maynard were selected June 18 as the Army's Drill Sergeants of the Year for 2004.

Army Staff Sgt. Hartl (left) and Spc. Hatch check communications during a groundbreaking ceremony for the Mohammad Mullah Shaheed Secondary School in the Parwan Province of Afghanistan, on June 29, 2004. The Parwan Provincial Reconstruction Team out of Bagram Air Field provided coordination for the construction. Hartl and Hatch are deployed with the 34th Infantry Division's, 1st Brigade, 168th Infantry Regiment. DoD photo by Sgt. 1st Class Sandra WatkinsKeough, U.S. Army. (Released)