News 3 Special Assignment: Baghdad

Jan. 13, 2004

Anchorman John Karcher and Photojournalist John Wacker are in Iraq for eight days. They are keeping a daily online journal on Channel 3000 and sending back digital photos now. Their packages will begin airing on News 3 on Feb. 1. You can send them a message, using our online forum here.

Date: Jan. 13, 2004
From Baghdad

Our first full day of work is about over. We got up at 7 a.m. and it's almost 1 am. I must apologize for the spelling errors folks...the keys on the keyboard are sticky. I think one too many Diet Mountain Dews has been spilled.

I found out an interesting fact about our flight in on the C-130 (pictured, right). Attached to the nose of the plane are two very long steel wires that stretch back to the tail of the plane. In flight, one of the steel cables snapped and was dragging behind the plane like a tail on a kite. This posed two problems for the pilot. If it got into the rear control areas it could have caused some serious control problems. For this reason, some emergency measures were in order, such as finding a nearby airport. The other concern was, the cable could somehow be drawn into the propeller. Although I double that could have happened as it would have had to be sucked forward...and that doesn't seem possible when you're going 350 miles an hour or, however fast they fly. We landed safely.

Nan Brien...your son Capt. Brien of the 440th airlift wing is flying us from Baghdad to Kuwait. He and I had been emailing each other and he really wants to bring us "home" to Kuwait. That will be a thrill to have the battle-tested 440th bring me home! I flew with them in the Navy a few times. I'm sure I'll get some cockpit time! I'll post the pics when I get back to Madison as I won't have internet access after I leave Baghdad.

I've got some very interesting stories coming up this week that will take me to the "HOT" zone. We'll be going to the scene where several of the troops in the 32nd earned their Purple Hearts. I'll visit the place where the Suicide Bomber exploded his vechicle near there's...as well as the scene where the 32nd got into a firefight. Captain Southworth plans on taking 6 Humvees and 24 troops for security. It ought to be quite a ride!

These soldiers very much look forward to telling these stories. And, it re-enforces in my mind that the Wisconsin National Guard has come a LONG LONG way since the days of bringing gasoline to stranded motorists on the Interstate during Holiday periods. These troops are in NO way weekend warriors anymore and when you see what they've been up against and doing here you will have a new appreciation for their service. Keep in mind, they are students, office workers, secretaries, police officers, deputies, business owners, nurses, doctors. They are your neighbors turned soldiers. And, what a job they have now.

The care packages are unreal! You should see the food coming in here! The incidentals, tolitries, games, cards, and, there are more books here than in all of Madison Libraries.

It's 12:45 am here......3:45pm Tuesday in Madison. I've got a 6:15 wakeup to visit Iraqi Police training.

Thanks for visiting Channel 3000 and a big thanks to our Managing Editor Molly Thompson for making all of this work.

Anchors Aweigh!

-John Karcher, News 3

Date: Jan. 13, 2004
From Baghdad

As you get to work this morning in Madison .. did you remember to bring that important spreadsheet for the meeting today? For members of the 32nd military police unit in Madison "getting ready to go to work" means don't forget the ammo and SAW Gun.

SPC. Autumn Horton (pictured, right) is shown carrying her things to work this morning. Horton, a UW Madison senior majoring in International RElations, is showen carrying her SAW gun. She is a gunner who stands on the turret of the fast moving humvees the unit works. Her job is to protect the unit as it moves quickly through the war zone.

The SAW machine gun is rapid fire weapon carrying a 5.56mm cartridge.

She is also carrying her night vision goggles in the pack around her waist. In the green can are 800 rounds of ammo. her sidearm is a berretta 9mm handgun. she's been in the guard for 5 years and loves her work here. "work" today is traveling with a convoy of 32nd troops to visit Iraqi police stations that the unit is equipping and training.

They'll be checking on detainees, making sure the local Iraqi force has the equipment it needs and helping them with any pending "cases". The 32nd's mission is to make sure the Iraqi police force is mission ready when the US leaves country.

Here is Sgt. Ken Prieur of Cottage Grove. Ken (pictured, left) is standing in the doorway of the Mustang base. It's one of the many bombed out buildings on the 32nd's compound. In the basement of this building are meeting rooms, computer rooms and some barracks for the 4th platoon. It's here that we held the welcoming cigar/cheese tasting party last night.

Ken is in the same Humvee with Autumn and doing the same things as she is today. Ken sends his love to his wife. Ken works in the Dane County Jail, as a non-sworn employee. He says hi to the Dane County Sheriff's Department.

-John Karcher, News 3

p.s. These are Uday Hussein's lions. He kept them to torture people. Sometimes he'd put a gold ring around the lion's neck and tell his "friend" he can keep the ring if he retrieved it off the lion's neck. Of course Uday never lost his gold ring OR saw his friend again. Other times, Uday would bring enemies here and feed them to the lions. Other times, he'd simply enjoy putting people in the cage and watch the lions devour the person. This was his form of entertainment. The lions eat about 8 to ten pounds of meat per day now. they're fed leftovers. Or, in this case, raw meat (donkey) and frozen veal. They were quite vicious when the food was delivered as they vied for their own slice of meat. (See more new pictures in the popup

SLIDESHOW.)

Date: Jan. 12, 2004
From Baghdad

What a trip. I spent eight hours in Amsterdam waiting for my KLM flight into Kuwait. I got into Kuwait about 1130 Sunday night and had to wait 14 more hours for the military hop into Baghdad International arriving her at 245 Monday afternoon. Baghdad is 9 hours ahead of Madison.
The weather is great -- in the mid 60's. The troops in the 32nd think its cold because they suffered through temps of 140+ for many months last summer. The told me their ice water was too hot to drink after sitting on the dash board for five mintues. I am staying in the Palace owned by the former VP of the Baath party. It's a compound of several Palaces. Each of his wives had a huge home on the compound that includes a functioning swimming pool that's heated to 85 degrees! Of course, this place was reduced to a junk yard as several tomahawk cruise missiles came in the front door.
Since the 32nd arrived last Spring they've been tidying it up to make it livable...but it still looks like a bomb went off and it smells of fire. The ride from Baghdad to the compound was nerve wracking. Captain Scoff Southworth, commander of the unit, picked me up in three heavily armed and armored Humvees for a very fast ride in. I haven't slept in two nights and lived on expresso in the various airports.
Tonight, I sent Molly several pictures of the cheese and cigar party we had. I carried in a suitcase filled with the presents for the troops and they were VERY appriciate. I got a very warm welcoming at the Company meeting tonight and I look foward to begin doing some stories with them over the next week. I'll send back daily pics of the various places the unit takes me so keep coming back. I very much encourage all of you to drop the troops a note as they are logging into the website to see the pictures our Editor Molly Thompson is posting.
The unit sends its regards...they are in excellent spirit and health and love their work. They very much miss having a beer and complain that the NA beer is not very good. Of course alcohol is not sold in Muslim areas like this and to respect their customs there is none on base. I had spoken with many of them personally and will bring back all their messages upon my return.
The stories will begin airing Superbowl Sunday at 10 and continue all that week at 5, 6 and 10. Five minutes after we landed today at Baghdad there were several explosion at the end of the runway. It sounded like a mortar attack several hundred yards away but I was told it was our guys exploding rounds that didn't go off when they were lobbed in by the military. Coporal Kery Otwaska of Racine was my driver in the Humvee today...Spc Herb Raasch of Milwaukee was the SAW Gunner standing in the turret next to me. I'll post more Tuesday
-John Karcher, News 3