Remembering Marez

I took this photo during Thanksgiving dinner at FOB Marez in Mosul in 2004, a month before the bombing.

Four years ago, I was visiting my sister – not so far from where we grew up in Boston – and I was especially pleased to be so close to home on a break from my one-year assignment covering the war in Iraq.

Watching TV on the morning of the 21st, I knew the initial CNN reports of several soldiers shot inside the chow hall at FOB Marez in Mosul had to be erroneous; I knew the dining facility was far from the gates, and I knew that every soldier carried a weapon everywhere, all the time.

I had just left Marez a few days earlier, and so I guessed maybe one of the mortars that landed around the base most days had finally scored a bulls-eye. I never imagined that a suicide bomber could make his way inside and detonate himself right by the dessert bar I had frequented for the last five weeks. Fourteen U.S. soldiers, four American civilians, and four Iraqi soldiers were killed.  

I lost one friend and another recovered from his injuries, only to be killed in action a few months later. I don’t know which was worse but it does lead me to remember that recessions and joblessness aren’t the worst things that can happen.

I went back to Marez for seven more weeks after the holidays – and a thousand crazy stories come to mind – but for now I have just decided not to let this anniversary pass without notice.

The aftermath of the Mosul chow hall bombing, December 21, 2004
Photo: DEAN HOFFMEYER, RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH