Story by Spc. L.C. Campbell
138th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
MOSUL, Iraq – Soldiers from 3rd Platoon, Company C, 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment, 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team visited an orphanage in Mosul, Iraq July 10, bringing gifts for the children.
During a regular patrol through the city, 3rd Plt. stopped at a local orphanage to drop off soccer balls and other gifts that were donated. Some of the donations came from Forward Operating Base Marez and other donations were made by individuals back in the states
“Our interpreter found out about the orphanage, and started asking people about where it was,” said 2nd Lt. Steven Stock, platoon leader, 3rd Plt, Co C, 2nd Bn., 1st Inf. Rgt., 172nd SBCT. “When we found the orphanage there was approximately 43 kids of all age groups.” {Click on image for photo details}
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“Our interpreter found out about the orphanage, and started asking people about where it was,” said 2nd Lt. Steven Stock, platoon leader, 3rd Plt, Co C, 2nd Bn., 1st Inf. Rgt., 172nd SBCT. “When we found the orphanage there was approximately 43 kids of all age groups.”
According to Sgt. 1st Class Eric Olson, platoon sergeant, 3rd Plt, Co C, 2nd Bn., 1st Inf. Rgt., 172nd SBCT, they like working with the children of Iraq because they are the future. It is important to make a good impression on the children, so they can understand what Coalition Forces are trying to do.
“Working with the elders, from what I have experienced is that they are more stubborn and more set in their ways,” said Stock. “The children seem to be a bit free flowing and more willing to accept gifts from Coalition Forces. The elders seem to be not as accepting when we try to give them gifts.”
According to Stock and Olsen, the gifts the children are receiving include soccer balls, stuffed animals, coloring books, and pencils and crayons. It was brought to their attention that some of these children are not attending school, so they tried to donate some educational items to help some of the children learn.
“The city of Mosul came together for us and the Iraqi Media Network did a story for us on the orphanage,” said Olson. “We returned after the IMN broadcast to find a lot of pledges from the Iraqi people. The orphanage had a new stove, and the IMN station manager said there were a lot of people volunteering to help the orphanage.”
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