THIS IS ALI. HE WAS MY FRIEND

I struggled with the decision to post this story. It's very personal and I still haven't worked through it all. I may just write this and save it so that I can get the thoughts out of my head.

Ali worked for the Facility Protection Service, a branch of the Iraqi Police that was responsible for securing fixed locations (ministries, infrastructure, hospitals, etc.). I met him while visiting the Crossed Swords monument here in the IZ.

A couple weeks before I went on R&R, Ali and I were talking and we discovered that both of our wives were pregnant and due to give birth at about the same time. We were both delighted and congratulated eachother making an agreement that when I returned we would exchange pictures of our kids. He asked if we had picked out a name and we had, but I didn't tell him because we were keeping it a secret until the birth. I would tell him my son's name when I brought him the picture. (full story)