The Story of George

This comes from an email I received from Peakerhead Ray who recently returned from Iraq:

A little history

I drove to Iraq with the 3rd Infantry back on 20 March 03. It took us 3
weeks to reach Baghdad. Along the way we lost several soldiers, 5 of
them I knew well. It makes it hard when you lose friends.

We arrived at the airport on 8 April 03 and we moved around till we
found a spot to settle in. We set up shop near the cargo side airfield
at the telephone switch building.

Shortly after setting up shop we found that we had a parrot hanging
around. No one could get near to it but we all tried. I finally got it
to eat and started feeding it. We named him George. We figured he
escaped the bird statuary at the palace next to the airport. I had seen
several exotic birds in the area and Saddam kept a small zoo at the
palace.

George and I became close friends and woke wake me up every morning
wanting to be fed. He would follow me around and even fly to me to be
pet. He loved having his chest feathers rubbed. I fed him by hand and
when ever I would sit down outside he would fly and sit on the back of
my chair. He did not do that to anyone else.

The unit that I supported left at the end of May and so George and I
were left on our own till the end. I left for home on 20 Oct 03.