Photo By Sgt. Dennis Gravelle | Residents attended the first-ever conference on developing the environment at the Jin...... read more read more
by Army Sgt. Dennis Gravelle
138th MPAD
DAHUK, Iraq (Mar. 20, 2006) -- Military Historians have a very important role of collecting information so future generations can learn about the history of the Army here in Iraq.
Military Historians visited Dahuk, Iraq and conducted oral history interviews and documents Army operations of the region.
"Our mission here in Dahuk, as well as the Kurdish region was pulled form United States Special Operations Command," said Sgt. 1st Class Patrick Jennings, 126th Military History Detachment from Worcester, Mass., and resident of New Market, N.H.
According to Jennings, Special Operations has a long history with the people of Kurdistan, especially after Operation Desert Storm when the Kurdish people rose up against the Saddam regime and were put down brutally.
"Special Operations came in under Operation Provide Comfort to give humanitarian assistance, which led to the establishment of the no fly zone which has allowed Kurdistan to develop," said Jennings.
According to Jennings at the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom, special operations came back in Kurdistan and helped the Peshmerga drive Saddam's Army out of the area.
"Kurdistan has all this history, special operation historians wanted to see how things are going, that is why we are here," he said.
According to Staff Sgt. Gregory Sapp, combat historian, 126th MHD and native of Lansing, Mich., it's really important to collect military history that is going on right now. That way, people in the future can know exactly what happened here, understand what we are doing, how everything evolved, this is not just a front line battle, it has a lot to do with civil affairs and helping communities rebuild.
"It's great to collect history, it's a little piece of immortality, people are going to be writing about this 15-20 years from now, said Sapp. "Kids will be learning about this in high school, so it's very important and rewarding.
Jennings said it's very critical to collect information now, the information we collect will allow future researchers know exactly where a unit was on a certain day and certain place, they will have the information that we collected for them.
"If I can accurately collect the official history, the pieces of paper the Army has produced and the unofficial views of the Soldiers that were there, then I feel I have accomplished my job," said Jennings.
"This is the best job I have had in the Army, Jennings said, The information I collect will be seen by future Soldiers and will have a better understanding of what Soldiers went trough to make their jobs now easier."
| Date Taken: | 03.23.2006 |
| Date Posted: | 03.23.2006 14:08 |
| Story ID: | 5828 |
| Location: | DOHUK, IQ |
| Web Views: | 202 |
| Downloads: | 116 |
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