It’s Sunday night here in Iraq, completing two days in country for the Gold Star Mothers. I’ll start by giving information on our conditions here in Iraq as several people have asked about it. Then I will share a few details of today’s events.
The temperature is in the high 90’s during the day and 80’s at night, so it is more comfortable than I was preparing for. Many places have air conditioning to some extent. Others however, do not. Today we attended a conference with hundreds of people and no working a/c. We got through it though! The elevators in our hotel work sporadically. Stepping into them is a risk. Our room is not actually on the seventh floor but we must walk up sevenflights of stairs to reach our room if we do not use the elevator. We have a heavy security presence.We often travel by motorcade with several security vehicles leading and bringing up the rear. We took time out before dinner tonight to do some shopping. A security detail was needed to take thirteen women shopping! We made them work hard on that outing as they not only had to track each one of us, but also assist in with our purchases helping us make the dollar/dinar conversion. Most of our women were prepared to not eat much on this trip either due to availability of food or concerns of getting sick from what we might eat. However, our organizers preselected the places we would eat as to reduce the risk of getting sick. The food in northern Iraq is outstanding and is offered in large quantities, often. The languages spoken here are Arabic, Kurdish and some English. Many of the Iraqis we are with speak enough English to communicate and there are plenty of people to serve as interpreters. Now on to today’s events.
Today we attended the Women’s Leadership Conference with women from various areas in Iraq, many of whom we’ve spent the last two days with. In attendance were leaders from Women for FUTURE Iraq, dignitaries, The First Lady of Iraq, U.S. Army Gen. Vandal, CW04 Holton from Utah and several U.S. Soldiers, State Dept representative and many others. Along with all the attendees, the auditorium was filled with security and news cameras.
Speeches were made by Mrs. Talabani, Gen. Vandal and many others. During Gen. Vandal’s address, much to my surprise, he told my son’s story. “21 year old Marine Cpl. Adam Galvez injured in a suicide bomb, buried alive under a collapsed building, attempting to rescue other Marines while taking gun fire from the enemy, and returning to duty only to be killed by an IED". As he expounded on the details he made clear the sacrifices that have been made by brave young Americans. I was in awe of the situation, that four years after Adam’s death in Iraq, I sat in a conference in Iraq where an Army general told his story to American and Iraqi dignitaries and Iraqi people trying to rebuild and secure their future.
The messages of the Iraqi women had a similar theme. They suffered greatly under Saddam Hussein and they were freed from his torture and brutality by the Americans. Words were not enough to express their gratitude of all that had been done for them. The traditional kisses, and hugs and tears spoke more than words could have. They were grateful for the bond the Gold Star Mothers now shared with them.
“We grieve for your sons as they were our own, because they are part of us and now and you are part of us”, one women said. They spoke of the progress being made by Iraqi women and the need to learn the American’s way of networking women together in service and support of one another. Women sharing and networking together is not common among Iraqi women as it is in the U.S. The women are learning from our examples and support, how to serve one another.
During Saddam Hussein’s regime, many women were widowed as their men were executed or simply vanished without a trace. Many of the women spoke of fathers, brothers, husbands of the same family being killed by Hussein or by insurgents, leaving huge numbers of women without men. If not widowed, there were no men to marry, leaving far too many women to survive on their own. It broke my heart, as over dinner a women told me of her father, four brothers and fiancé being executed. She said when the government took their men and killed them, the women were not permitted to cry. If they were caught crying, they would be arrested for sympathizing with a traitor. This woman’s mother locked herself in one room of their house for three months following her husband’s death so she could grieve without being caught. She again expressed her gratitude for all the U.S. Military has done for them and thanked me for my son’s sacrifice for their freedom.
In the past two days, I’ve seen the deeply compassionate and grateful hearts of women who have suffered and are now moving towards a brighter future. A bond has been formed and every Gold Star Mother in our group has been affected in the most profound way. We are blessed to be here with these remarkable women and look forward to spending the next few days with them.
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