Century Wine & Spirits

On Century Blvd.  *  952-401-WINE

Excelsior Farmer’s Market

Open Thursdays 2 to 6 p.m.

V & S Jewelry

Mound * 952-472-3233

Crow River Clock Repair

Watertown * 952-955-1192

952-442-4411

Crossroads Medical Centers, P.A.

Chaska 448-2050 

Shakopee 496-6700  Prior Lake 447-1700

ABC Family Chiropractic

952-443-3710

Weinzierl

Jewelers

Waconia  952-442-2885

Buying or Selling Victoria?

Call Nan Emmer.  612-702-2020

Headlines

and bylines

Front Page

Feature Story

From the

Editor

Addie’s

Drawing

Letters

to the Editor

Victoria

Moments

Hook

Line & Sinker

Calendar

of Events

Click here to

Advertise

Email

the Gazette

Return to

Home Page

Order

paper Gazette

Notes and

Quotes

The Scoop

at City Hall

Home Page

The Victoria

GAZETTE

June 2011

         "I could have been deployed anywhere," said Father Larry.  "The Air Force decides where they need a priest.  They decided they needed a priest at the Balad Air Base in Iraq.  I left home on December 26th, 2010, with a plane full of soldiers and airmen.  We spent an overnight on the East Coast, stopped in Germany and Italy for refueling, then landed in Qatar, a country on the Persian Gulf."

         His first impression of the Middle East?  "It's so different than being here," he said.  "It's all sand.  There is hardly any vegetation.  We were one overnight in Qatar and then flew to Iraq.  Balad is about 63 kilometers north of Baghdad."  That translates to about 40 miles.

         "It's a large air base," said Larry.  "At one time there were 15,000 people there.  It's less populated now.  It's a joint base, an Air Force-Army base.  There are soldiers, airmen and sailors but no Marines.  We were all there together."

         Larry pronounced Balad like pal-odd (only bal instead of pal), with the emphasis on the second syllable, totally the opposite of the American word ballad.

         Was the weather predictable?  "I was there in the winter, which is the rainy season," he replied, "but it's still pretty dry then.  It rained maybe one or two inches total while I was there.  It would get down to 35 degrees at night, with highs in the 50's during the day.  Each month it got a little warmer.  By the time I left in April it was in the 80's."

         Where did he sleep?  "We lived in what they called CHUs, pronounced chews," said Larry.  "It stands for Contained Housing Units.  I lived with another chaplain.  Each CHU had two bunks and two lockers, no bathroom or shower facilities.  Those things for personal hygiene were located down the way in a 'Cadillac' which was, in fact, a trailer, not like a porta potty."

         And how was the food?  "Dining was very good," he said.  "There was always a lot of selection.  There were lots of fresh fruits and vegetables.  Lunch and dinner entrees were often fish or chicken.  The food was signed as 'Performance Enhancing' or 'Performance Limiting.'  We were encouraged to choose what they deemed to be healthier but we could pick whatever they had available.  It was interesting to see pallets of bottled water everywhere on the base free of charge.  You could always take a bottle of water.  Imagine pallets of bottled water sitting around neighborhoods or on street corners in Victoria!"

         Did Father Larry dress like a priest?  "I only had two uniforms," he said.  "One was an ABU, an Airman Battle Uniform, light green, a digitized desert look.  That was my work uniform.  The second was a PT uniform, for physical training, that consisted of running shorts and a t-shirt."

         "We only had one day a week off," said Larry, "and on that day you could throw on your PT uniform.  I tried to go to the gym six days a week, which called for the PT uniform.  They had a wonderful program that the General promoted called ‘Cross Fit’ that included things like pull-ups, rope climbing, and squats.  I exercise at home, too, so this worked out well for me."

         What did his duties as a priest in Iraq entail?  "I said Mass eight or nine times a week," he replied, "four or five Masses on the weekend and four during the week.  It wasn't for thousands of people like in a parish, but maybe 400 soldiers and airmen would attend on a weekend."

 

Click here to continue Our Father in Iraq.

        

Father Larry and the F-26 mechanics at Balad.