Paul Dunn, a Soldier on Iraq's Front Lines

Just over a year ago, Paul Dunn and other members of his company left behind wives, kids, and jobs in order to do their part in defending our freedom. National Guard members who had volunteered one weekend a month in order to pay for college or to serve their country were now preparing to find themselves at war. Was there anything to prepare them when training exercises were just 24 days a year for the battles they would face when they made Iraq their temporary home?

Having recently crossed the one year threshold, Paul and his band of brothers are surviving the torrent of tribal warfare that there are facing on the ground in one of Iraq's most dangerous regions. They spent their first couple of days getting acclimated before arriving in Baghdad to help secure more of the nation's capital city. With the surge a couple of months away, Paul Dunn's unit was deployed into a fierce section of fighting. With casualties happening everyday Paul was beginning to wonder if returning home to his fiancée and daughter was a realistic option. He had heard the stories of people going home only to get redeployed within weeks of their arrival. It was not about fair it was about winning the war on terror for Paul and others like him who so believe in the mission of America that fighting blind is just a matter of circumstances.

Paul and his unit were repositioned earlier this year for the surge. They left Baghdad in order to provide ready assistance in one of the provinces in Northern Iraq. Their assignment was similar to the one they had performed in Baghdad. Their orders included securing the community and then providing safe and substance to the people of that community. What commanders learned earlier this year was that it was just as important the social mission as the military one in terms of the perception of the war on the ground with the Iraqi people. Even when talking to Paul I got the sense that the humanitarian mission was even more important than the economic and political concerns so many worry about.

Paul talked on and on about the smiles of kids when they brought soccer balls and other sporting goods to the region for kids to play. The freedom expressed in a child's smile is an invaluable one to be sure. Can such be measured in casualties? Paul also talked about how much food they have been distributing and how he felt like a warehouse worker sometimes because of the work they did in giving hungry, homeless, and jobless Iraqis food and other necessary supplies. It may not play well on cable news networks but that is the job many soldiers find themselves doing in winning the war in Iraq.

For the past few weeks Paul's unit has had a rash of injuries and casualties as tribal fighters have been reinvigorated with new supplies. Paul's infantry unit will not come back the same way they left here. Everyone will not be returning and that is the tragedy in my eyes about Paul and the men and women fighting with him. Three years ago, Paul was a college student finishing up his degree in law enforcement looking to become a police officer. Imagine that. From walking around a college campus with plans of helping patrol a city to walking around Baghdad in full body armor with objectives of patrolling a city in the Middle East. That is Paul Dunn's adventure every day. And I am proud of him.

Paul and I went to high school together. He arrived our senior year and I admittedly have no recollection of the guy. But that happens when your graduating class is over four hundred. The funny thing is that I met Paul online via the social networking site Facebook. I was finding new friends and did a search on my graduating class to see who else I knew on Facebook. Lo and behold, I see Paul's name and his occupation as an infantryman in the US Army. I sent him a quick thank you and we have been talking since then. Facebook brought us together.