You can reference my website (www.sgtroy.com) for the day-to-day journal entries. Here at the camp that I am staying at there is no such thing as weekends off. In matter of fact, the days of the week are hard for me to remember because we go out on mission just about every day.

My ride to work is not what I left when I lived in Charlotte. I don’t have to deal with the 7:30 a.m. rush hour traffic through Interstate 77. Instead my team and I ride through our sector of downtown Baghdad. We pass streets that are lined with trash and all kinds of rubble. This bothers us because in our training we were told to watch out for IEDs (improvised explosive devices) that could be hidden in trash.

As we drive through the streets it’s quite actually funny. We have a siren on top of our vehicle. Our chief sounds the siren whenever we want the traffic to stop for us. We are allowed to drive our vehicle in the opposite direction of the traffic on a four-lane highway! We do this so that our travel patterns are different each time we go out. That way, the enemy finds it difficult to place roadside bombs.

This week was very interesting. I learned why women walk five paces behind their husbands. I am sure everyone has heard of that in Arabic culture. One day I asked one of our interpreters about it.

He said, “Sgt. Lewis, I do that to lead the way for my wife. It is my way of protecting my wife.” He went on to say, “I got into a fight with a police officer about it one time. He said something disrespectful to my wife and I fought him!”

Wow, I told him how American women saw that as demeaning to them. While in fact it was the highest compliment a man could give his wife!

This week we had to have lunch at the station with the Iraqi policemen that we work with. I also learned that sharing a meal in Iraqi culture is a way of saying that I trust you and that we are forming a bond of trust. When we first heard that we had to eat lunch down there, a few of my teammates absolutely refused to eat with them. They were afraid of getting sick and eating food that they were not familiar with.

But yours truly came forward. We showed up that day with our team. Some of the guys that didn’t want to eat; we left them outside in the trucks. So about eight of us sat down and broke bread with the Iraqis. I had this beef that was seasoned and these noodles that resembled spaghetti but they were yellow. Then there was the bread. The bread was awesome! Iraqi bread is made daily in ovens. It was the best bread I have ever eaten!

We had a good old Pepsi soft drink and at the end of the meal your traditional glass of chai tea. The next day no one got sick. Our chief told us to take something to prevent stomach sickness, but no one got sick.

I want to honor the men and women that work for us as interpreters. These are people that ride with us on mission. They are with us at our side interpreting English into Arabic and Arabic into English.

There is one man that comes to mind. Let’s just call him Alan. Alan is a black man that is from Sudan. Arabic is the language in Sudan so when this opportunity came along he took. Alan is married with two young children. He and his wife lives in a town miles outside Baghdad. Alan tells me that he has been an interpreter for about five years. He says that this is his last year. I asked him why and he says that insurgents have tried to kill him twice.

Alan earns a great salary as an interpreter, but the job is considered to be really dangerous. Insurgents will try to kill anyone who works with or supports the U.S. coalition forces.

Alan is about 42 years old, and I love to hear his stories about Sudan. I have such a respect for this man. Interpreters get to go home for at least 10 days leave each month to see their families. When Alan leaves us, he is on his own. He has no protection or support from us. So when they go out with us they disguise their face by wearing a mask.

Alan tells me that he fears for the safety of his wife and children. So he is returning to Sudan for safety reasons. Wow! I can’t even imagine people wanting to harm my wife and kids. I told Alan that he is truly a man that I honor and respect. I thanked him for his dedication to us and told him I would pray for him and his family’s safety.