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Weight of the World (Roberto Ochoa) |
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 Bobby shares a letter from the Iraqi translator he considers a brother, and talks about what kept him sane amidst the "human tragedy" of war.
Thank you for your interest in our stories.
I still find it perplexing and ironic to the point of laughter to see how the world back home here in the states life goes on like if nothing was happening.
The suffering, the heart breaks and the pain war causes...the break down of families and friends.........and the loss of lives....... I do not judge the decisions made by our superiors... I understand very clearly that a solider must follow all lawful orders, and I have since 1977.
This is a letter I received from one of my Iraqi brothers..........not the Hollywood version of an Arab...nor the sensationalism of what they call the press now.........but from a real person and this is what he said..............
Gathering intell with Shadi Khourii
Dear Och..
I cant express how happy I'm to finally get in touch with you my brother , I want you to know that I was thinking about every day and I used to tell my wife ( I'm married now I got married on the 5 July 04 ) about us and about the days we spent together and all the great unforgettable stuff that you taught me and most of all that Silence Is Golden and how you taught me to control my temper and my emotions and all the things we have done together and all the hard and dangerous days we spent together I'm telling you brother it was an honor to work with you, live with you, survive with you, honestly there are no words that would explain how much I was attached to you and how much you were my idol, method of honesty and elder brother who took care of me and held my hand on the way to liberate my country.
Och ..
All you can do for me is to stay safe,never lose touch with me and at least write me once a week to remind me that every second we spent together mattered and that we will always be brothers under the care of Holy Mary and Jesus Christ.
May the lord bless your life and your family.
All sincerity to a brother that wasn't born from my mother
Shadi Khouri
Head Instructor Police Academy Ramadi Area...Wrote Training, Selected Instructors, Supervised Training, Help Rebuild Force, Instructed, Issued Equipment........Worked with Chief and staff.
Out in the desert
As for my story all I did was what I thought was right, just and good....then God, Allah, Buddha, Elohim......who ever that great entity is will judge me for my actions......I did it all for my brother who went their with me, for the new ones I gain both Coalition and Iraqi andfor the reasons this great country was founded......I did what any good person what have done face with the same circumstances.......nothing more.
May he who has many names protect and guide all of those involved in this tragedy of humanity.
Roberto L. Ochoa
If you enjoyed reading Roberto' s story and would like continue to read more of such stories, plese help us by contributing to Operation Truth. Click here to donate. To arrange an interview with Roberto, contact press[at]iava.org.
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