Always wary of an ambush, the Utah soldiers drove up to the Ao Mustafah elementary school in the Iraqi city of An Nasiriyah unannounced.
With their gun trucks parked outside, the engineers toured the school. Teachers waited at the doors of their classrooms. On cue, the sixth-graders stood up and shouted in English, "Good morning and welcome!"
Amid the commotion, the engineers noticed that a science teacher had nothing more than a blackboard and a stubby piece of chalk. The walls were bare.
"The poverty of the people is unimaginable," Col. Edward Willis, the group's commander and - when not called to duty in Iraq - a science teacher at West Jordan High School, told his family.
The Utah National Guard's 115th Engineer Group got to work, distributing pencils, paper and notebooks to the 350 students, and five boxes of classroom supplies for the teachers.
"Many of our soldiers have been so focused on engineer missions or with force protection that they never had the opportunity to do any humanitarian missions," said Maj. Joel Miller, a school counselor in the Alpine District. "The smiles on the faces of the soldiers were only reflective of the smiles on the children and their teachers."
Just as quickly as the soldiers had come, they drove away. "A crowd was gathering outside the school, and we don't like crowds," said Miller.
He said that before leaving their compound at the Tallil Air Base near An Nasiriyah, the engineers "lock and load all weapons" to guard against roadside attacks, hidden roadside bombs and snipers.
The 80 Utah engineers are supervising the reconstruction of eight schools in the ancient Fert- ile Crescent of southern Iraq. Each school has 300 to 600 students.
Since last spring the soldiers have been quietly collecting school supplies from their families back home.
"Thanks again for all the items many of you have sent to assist with yesterday's mission," Miller wrote this week in an e-mail to friends.
dawn@sltrib.com
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