Career soldier looks back on time in Iraq

Sergeant first class
from Milltown recently
recognized for service
BY TARA PETERSEN
Staff Writer

Sgt. Robert Rousey, U.S. Army, has returned home to Milltown after serving in Iraq.

MILLTOWN — Robert Rousey has seen post-Korean War conflicts, the destruction of the Berlin wall, and front-line combat in Iraq, all by the age of 36.

Rousey, a Milltown resident and U.S. Army sergeant, recently received a Bronze Medal for his service in Iraq during the battle of Objective Curly, when he worked as a mortar platoon sergeant and was responsible for the health, welfare and training of 35 personnel, seven vehicles and four, 120-millimeter mortar systems. Objective Curly was one of three battles named for "The Three Stooges" that took place on highway junctions outside Baghdad. The three firefights, each against well-dug-in fanatical enemy soldiers, paved the way to take the Iraqi capital within days.

In recognition of his service in Iraq and elsewhere, the Milltown Borough Council at its Sept. 8 meeting honored Rousey, who is presently on leave, with a citation of valor for his service.

Rousey said that his position put him in close combat, unlike a battle with artillery, which "is fired from 15 miles away and you never actually see what you are shooting at."

"On the front line, we are firing by sight or by knowing the grid location, around 200 meters to 5 miles away. We were firing on concentrations of people and buildings," he added.

Rousey enlisted in the Army in 1985 and began his service with an overseas assignment near the borders of North and South Korea, where "nothing those people did at all was like anything we did" and "the whole country smells like rice paddies."

Rousey said that while in Korea, he gained a respect for the opposing army.

"At times we were 25 yards away looking right at each other. What did he really do to me? Nothing. We were both here to do the same thing, just on the other side," Rousey said.

Rousey said that from 1989 to 1991 he served an assignment with the prestigious Berlin Brigade at the western border of Berlin, Germany. He was involved in public relations and sometimes socialized with East German families.

"They were checked out to make sure they’re not part of the KGB, and we’d actually go and have Christmas dinner with the enemy," Rousey said.

Rousey was there when the Berlin Wall fell.

He said that while West Germans drove Volkswagens and Mercedes, Eastern families all drove one kind of car.

"They had to order 20 years ahead to get a car. They all drove a Trabant. It went 50 mph downhill. It was made of wood and fiberglass," he said.

After being stationed in the United States for several years, Rousey returned to Germany, where he remained on an assignment from 1995 to 2001. It was then that he met his wife, Bianca. The couple married in 2000 and now has a 3-year-old daughter, Tiffany.

In October 2002, Rousey was called to duty in Kuwait for a training mission.

By March, the war had begun, and Rousey immediately became part of the action in Iraq.

"We had to attack earlier than we were going to because Saddam (Hussein) was firing scud missiles," he said. "Because of our technology, they’d call us and tell us where it was going to land, and you’d have 1 to 3 minutes to get out of there if it was coming toward you."

Rousey said that his platoon was forced to blow up a building just across the street because "there was a lot of enemy shooting at us and we couldn’t get them fast enough."

"There were a lot of times you had to drive around bodies, but you tell yourself before you even go that this is going to happen, so you can’t let yourself worry about it," he added.

Rousey said he was most dis­turbed by the teenage kids that were fighting them to the death.

"Why would they do this to themselves? Why don’t they just give up?" Rousey said.

Rousey said he was involved in several raids that revealed to him that drugs were rampant among the enemy.

"There was cocaine all over the tables. The guys we captured were high," he said. "That’s the only way they could convince them­selves to fight us. They knew they didn’t have a chance."

Rousey said he recognized the Fedayeen by the black clothing, and the Iraqi Special Forces by a red triangle on their shirtsleeves, but that often it was difficult to tell the difference between towns­people and soldiers.

"Some were in army clothes, some were in civilian clothes. We’d find bags with civilian clothes so they could do a quick change and blend into the townspeople," Rousey said.

The majority of the enemy sol­diers attacked them on foot, he said, and some had armored vehi­cles or civilian trucks.

"They were on foot and in white pick-up trucks with make-shift weapons mounted on the back," he said.

Rousey said he and two others drove in a Humvee and took turns driving, sleeping and manning the gun.

"After a while we’d be in heavy combat and people could sleep be­cause the thing that keeps you awake is your fear, and if you’ve got two guys up there, you don’t worry," he said. "The things that scare you become normal and you start to realize what can hurt you.

"When I hear a gun shot, I can tell how far it is and pretty much the caliber, so I know whether to take cover," he added.

Rousey did experience some close calls: One was when a rocket-propelled grenade hit his gunner’s hand, but deflected and detonated on the ground, he said.

"I watched it and I saw it com­ing the whole time. It detonated within seconds of hitting my gun­ner," he said.

During another attack, two of Rousey’s men were wounded, and in one instance, "mortar rounds came in and hit about 30 to 40 yards away" while Rousey was inside a portable rest room, he said.

"Fragments peppered the top of the john, and I ran across the street for cover. The whistle from the tail fins doesn’t give you enough time to do anything except get lower than you already are," he said.

Rousey’s smile disappeared when he spoke of losing a close friend he had known from his American base. He said his platoon had been fighting for over four hours and were in need of re­placement ammunition, which was being delivered by his friend’s pla­toon.

"As soon as they got up there, I saw blood all over the top of his vehicle. I asked what happened, and they said ‘John’s gone, man,’ " he recalled.

Rousey, who recently became a sergeant first class, said he really missed his wife and daughter while overseas.

"I had a real clear reason to make sure I was doing things right so I could come back and see them," he said.

He also said he believes that most of the Iraqis are good people who deserved to be liberated.

"At first I didn’t trust anybody. Everything I saw was a potential set-up," he said. "But once I got to Baghdad, I met some really awe­some people."

He said that many of the chil­dren "gave peace signs and thumbs up" to the American soldiers.

"The experience made me ap­preciate life," he said. "They have nothing. Give them a penny, a pin or a piece of candy. It was the world to them."