Trip changes airman's view of Iraq

  • Published
  • By Louis A. Arana-Barradas
  • Air Force Print News
For a combat cameraman from upstate New York, a six-hour ride from Kirkuk to Bashur Airfield in northern Iraq, was an eye-opening experience he will not forget.

Trained to look for and document with his camera those moments that tell a story, Tech. Sgt. Steve Faulisi said he put away his camera and just took in what he saw.

He became part of the story and excitement unfolding in Iraq. What snapshots he took were from his moving Humvee of a changing country and were for the people back home.

"What struck me most was how the people, especially the kids, ran from their homes just to wave at us, to give us the peace sign," said Faulisi, of the 1st Combat Camera Squadron at Charleston Air Force Base, S.C. "Every one was smiling. That made me feel good, like we were really wanted, appreciated."

What he had seen on television back home before he came to Iraq was a sharp contrast to what he experienced once in the country. On the television news each night, all he had seen were screaming, U.S.-flag burning demonstrators in other Middle East countries.

He did not see that on his long ride to Bashur.

"I saw a lot of kids waving home-made U.S. flags," Fausili, of Corning, N.Y., said. "I can remember saying, 'Wow! This is crazy.' And it brought a lump to my throat."

Faulisi left Bashur for Kirkuk on an Army 5-ton truck, part of a long convoy. He went there to document the resupply of the Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade at an Iraqi air base. He returned in another convoy, only this time in a Humvee.

The images he saw etched themselves in his mind forever. They will provide a lifetime of "war stories" he can recount to his family, especially to his 13-year-old daughter, Danielle, and 10-year-old son, Anthony.

In his 20-year Air Force career, Fausili has never put his camera down for as long as he did on this trip. The events around him took his mind off taking pictures.

"When I did pick up the camera, it was to take a happy snap, something to remind me of the moment," he said. "Something to show my family."

At the Iraqi air force base, Fausili saw gutted and looted offices and buildings. There was a dilapidated MiG fighter on display at the entrance to the base. Everywhere he looked, there were signs of destruction, but the U.S. bombing campaign had not caused it.

"To me, it looked like it was just the locals taking thing's they'd been deprived of for so long," he said. "I saw people hauling desks and office equipment."

Some of the soldiers he was riding with told him they had seen hundreds of Iraqi uniforms on the ground, abandoned by the soldiers who wore them. They also saw many complete chemical protection suits and munitions on the ground.

"It was like everyone just took off their uniforms and got the hell out of Dodge," he said. "Maybe it was because the Kurds had taken over the base."

Driving out of the base and the city, there were massive traffic jams at control points along the road. The Kurdish guards waved the American convoy through.

"They didn't know who I was, or what rank I was," said Faulisi. "They just saluted me. That (was) pretty good, and I saluted them back as a sign of respect."

On the road were people everywhere, standing around at coffee shops, gas stations and sidewalks, waving at the passing Americans. There were many cars on the road.

"Our Humvee cut some guy off the road but he didn't take offense," Fausili said. "He just beeped his horn, smiled and gave us the thumbs up sign."

Fausili said he did not have a clue as to what to expect when he got to Iraq, but he knew it would not be like what he saw on television so he did not draw any conclusions.

"When you think of Iraq, the first thing that comes into your mind is what you see on the news -- a lot of sand and desert. ... But up north, it's green and mountainous. I saw some beautiful scenery," he said.

The waving and cheering for the Americans in the convoy continued during the whole six-hour ride back to Bashur.

"At one village, I saw some kids running break neck to wave at us," he said. They just dropped what they were doing. They were jumping up and down, so happy to see us."

Many Americans view the Iraqis as the enemy. The media sometimes paints that picture. Fausili said he never saw the Iraqi people as the enemy -- just the Saddam Hussein regime.

In the beginning, Fausili did view Iraqis, "with some suspicion." That view has changed forever. What he saw in six short hours were a people trying to throw off 30 years of oppression, make a living and raise a family, like he is.

"These people are trying to get on with their lives, I see that now," he said. "They know they don't have to fear Saddam Hussein ever again."