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Life on the Iraqi front: reading lists, ideals, and plans to stay alive
The Black Lions battalion, part of the new US 'surge' force, finds a new kind of front line in Baghdad.
By Sam Dagher | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitorfrom the March 27, 2007 edition
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BAGHDAD - Before heading to war last month, Cpl. Jon Dorsey hid 20 books in equipment that he was charged with shipping to Iraq.
Along with titles on quantum physics, he sent General Patton's memoirs, Plato's "The Republic," and Kerouac's "On the Road."
The young soldier from Strong's Prairie, Wis., calls himself a student of history and takes a broad view of his mission as the war enters its fifth year. For him, and a handful of others in this battalion called the Black Lions, it's about shaping the future and spreading US ideals.
But as his unit digs into the new front lines of Baghdad, their views and outlooks, already being tested, will be challenged at every turn.
As part of the Baghdad security plan in two of the city's toughest neighborhoods, Al Amel and Jihad, they are bound to face fierce opposition. Already, the unit has suffered casualties. Last week, three soldiers died in roadside bomb attacks, just days after setting up combat outposts.
To be sure, not every Black Lion in his unit, known as the 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment, shares Dorsey's idealism. Others just want to get the job done and make it back alive to their loved ones.
The 1-28 was initially supposed to spend its one year in Iraq escorting supply convoys north of Baghdad. That changed when President Bush announced his intention in January to send more troops to the Iraqi capital.
The battalion, based in Fort Riley, Kan., is attached to the 4th Brigade, 1st Infantry Division – the second of the so-called surge brigades to be deployed in Iraq so far this year. It was built from scratch in January 2006, and the majority of its members were junior soldiers just out of basic training.
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