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BAGHDAD – Soldiers
from Company A, 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment
"Gimlets," 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team "Warrior,"
25th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division –
Baghdad, stop for quick photo after a wet and muddy
patrol in Abu Ghuraib, west of Baghdad, Oct. 28 with a
football jersey sent to their unit by the Leilehua
High School Mighty Mules. The school is located near
Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. |
BAGHDAD – Over the rustle of the windward breeze through
the pineapple fields and the hum of the stadium lights, the
sound of a referee’s whistle cuts the night air. It’s Friday
night and the Leilehua High School Mighty Mules, take the
field in their quest for gridiron victory and pursuit of
another state title.
Thousands of miles beyond the roar of
the cheers and the clash of helmets, fans of a different
sort are cheering with the rest of the crowd. The Soldiers
of the 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment "Gimlets,"
share a close tie with the students and Families at Leilehua
High School because many are in fact just that: Family.
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BAGHDAD –
Soldiers from Company A, 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry
Regiment "Gimlets," 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team
"Warrior," 25th Infantry Division, Multi-National
Division –
Baghdad, pose at their guard post in Abu Ghuraib, west
of Baghdad, with Iraqi Army soldiers Oct. 28. The
Soldiers use a football jersey sent to their unit by
the Leilehua High School Mighty Mules located outside
Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, to help bridge the
cultural gap. |
Leilehua’s close proximity to
Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, the home of the 2nd Stryker
Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division and the Gimlet
Battalion, plays a large part in the make-up of its student
body and fan base. Nearly 25 percent of the students who
attend are from military Families. Several Gimlet Soldiers
have sons or daughters who attend the school.
The Mighty Mules hold a special place
in the hearts of the Gimlets due to this but also for the
link to home that it gives them as they enter their last few
months of a 15-month deployment outside Baghdad.
"The Gimlets and Gimlet Families are
proud to be a part of the Leilehua Family as I myself have a
sophomore daughter there," said Lt. Col Mario Diaz, a native
of Sierre Madre, Calif., and Gimlet commander. "We look
forward to returning to them and enjoying our reunion in
Hawaii once our mission here is done."
Recently, the students of Leilehua
High School and their Mighty Mule football team sent a
school football jersey to the Gimlets to show their aloha
and support for these hometown Soldiers, who are relatives
for many.
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BAGHDAD
–
Capt. Benjamin Roark, a native of Owasso, Okla., and
targeting officer assigned to Headquarters and
Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry
Regiment "Gimlets," 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team
"Warrior," 25th Infantry Division, Multi-National
Division –
Baghdad, throws up a "shaka" in front of the Gimlet
headquarters at Camp Liberty, Baghdad, Oct. 28. Roark
is wearing a football jersey sent to the Gimlets by
the Leilehua High School Mighty Mules. The school is
located near Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. |
"I walked out of the office and there
was someone wearing a Leilehua jersey," said Sgt. 1st Class
Edward Kea, a native of Wahiawa, Hawaii, and intelligence
manager for the Gimlets. "It caught me off guard, but after
that, I was the first in line to put it on and throw up the
'shaka.'" Kea’s son plays football for Leilehua.
The jersey has traveled extensively
through the Gimlet area of operations in the Abu Ghuraib
region west of Baghdad.
Soldiers use the jersey to help bridge
the cultural gap between the U.S. and Iraq, often explaining
the difference between football and soccer to their Iraq
Security Force partners.
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BAGHDAD
–
Capt. Benjamin Roark, a native of Owasso, Okla., and
targeting officer assigned to Headquarters and
Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry
Regiment "Gimlets," 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team
"Warrior," 25th Infantry Division, Multi-National
Division –
Baghdad, throws up a "shaka" in front of the Gimlet
headquarters at Camp Liberty, Baghdad, Oct. 28. Roark
is wearing a football jersey sent to the Gimlets by
the Leilehua High School Mighty Mules. The school is
located near Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. |
The jersey will continue to make its
way around the Gimlet units, serving as a tangible piece of
home, a link to Family, friends and a symbol of the aloha
spirit.
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"We will remain dedicated that your Army in the Pacific is prepared with the
right training, the right equipment and the preservation of the nation's
greatest resource -- our sons and daughters and their families."
