“Think of what you hate most about your job. Then think of doing what you hate most for five straight hours, every single day, sometimes twice a day, in 120-degree heat,” [said Army Staff Sgt. Jose Sixtos in Baghdad]. “Then ask how morale is.”
Frustrated? “You have no idea.” […]
“It sucks. Honestly, it just feels like we’re driving around waiting to get blown up. That’s the most honest answer I could give you,” said Spec. Tim Ivey, 28, of San Antonio.
Interestingly, though, a recent Stars and Stripes survey found that two-thirds of U.S. troops serving in Iraq say they believe the cause they’re fighting for is worthwhile. But: “Responses appeared to track with military rank. Eight-eight percent of senior officers, for example, ranked both unit and personal morale as high or very high. Among junior enlisted servicemembers, 49 percent rated unit morale as high or very high and 66 percent gave that same rating to their own personal morale.”
Oddly, fifty-five percent called the mission in Iraq “very clear.” Perhaps they could fill us in…?
