War Like You Have Never Imagined

On August 16th, 2004 Fox Troop, 82nd Cav, based out of Oregon mobilized in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom III.

War is hell, but from the ashes of death and destruction, rises hope, and new beginnings.

During their year long deployment in Iraq, and with the help of the generous citizens of Oregon, they distributed 2000 pairs of shoes to Iraqi children, as well as lots of candy, toys and clothing. They also had the unique opportunity to capture their humanitarian efforts on film as they watched "their kids" grow up.

Produced by First Lt.Rich Paetz, the documentary, titled "Scouts Out" was shot entirely by the soldiers from their perspective and will include interviews with the soldiers and their family members "because", as Rich reminded me, " it was their war too" .

"With this deployment, we experienced good times, scary times, sad moments, and many funny ones. It was an unbelieveable experience!"

Rich hopes to have the documentary completed by Fall 2006, In the meantime, you can preview this "work in progress" at "Scouts Out", along with pictures of the soldiers themselves, four pages of assorted photos taken in Iraq, and a video page where you can check out some other really cool videos created by Rich. The images of the kids will melt your heart!

You can also access a blog written by Joey Coons, who served with Rich. Many of the adventures and situations that Joey wrote about were captured on film, so look for some of them to included in the documentary.

"Even though the deployment itself to Iraq was a year, we were really away from our jobs, family, and friends for 18 months. We had to train up in Texas and Louisiana before we went, so it made it even more difficult with the families".

Please help me spread the word about about this documentary and the heartwarming humanitarian efforts of Fox Troop, 82nd Cavalry, Oregon Army National Guard.

Scouts Out!