By Peggy Gish
August 28, 2004

After navigating two checkpoint searches and three concrete walls, My CPT teammate and I entered a U.S. Military Base on the edge of Baghdad, a fortified island of U.S. soldiers.

“Where’ya from?” was the most common question we heard. One soldier came up to us with a big grin saying, “Hey, real Americans here!” Feeling cut off from their families and “real” lives, they welcome some diversion or reminders of family and home. We saw soldiers joking around with Iraqi workers and treating Iraqis politely who come to talk to get information or register a complaint.