Dispatches from Iraq: Joel Rawson and John Freidah

Mission CANCELLED
SAMARRA, Iraq -- The men of a R.I. National Guard unit in Iraq get the word: The raid is off. ``I know how frustrated you are,'' their commander tells them. ``I know how hard you worked and I'm truly sorry.''

Slideshow: View more photos

Voices from the war
On this Memorial Day weekend, the soldiers of the 173rd Long Range Surveillance Detachment of the Rhode Island National Guard are deployed in Baiji, Iraq, in the latest of America's wars.

Slideshow: View more photos of area Guardsmen

The lay of the land
BAIJI, Iraq -- Capt. Michael Manning, of North Kingstown, and Capt. Tommy Guthrie, of Smithfield, Pa., and the leaders of Teams One and Six stand in the middle of a dry wheat field and look at a highway 200 yards away that is frequently bombed.

Twins from N.J. are serving together in Iraq
SAMARRA, Iraq -- Identical twin brothers, Brian and David Santos, saw the towers of the World Trade Center burning from their home in Kearny, N.J. Today they are together in the 173rd Long Range Surveillance Detachment of the Rhode Island...

Photo slideshow: Life in the combat zone

Iraq Journal: It's Friday night with the 173rd
BAIJI,Iraq -- The entertainment for Friday evening was watching a small forklift carry a huge metal box off the back of a trailer truck.

A territorial handoff
SAMARRA, Iraq -- Two cops from the 173rd Long Range Surveillance Detachment of the Rhode Island National Guard turned over their beat yesterday, a beat they had developed over several months, a beat of villages and miles of desert, a beat of a few precious sources.

Preparing for moving day
SAMARRA, Iraq -- Ten minutes after the soldiers of the 173rd Long Range Surveillance Detachment of the Rhode Island National Guard cleared the wire yesterday, they came on the aftermath of the death of a soldier.

Photo slideshow: Checking out the new digs

On the lookout for the enemy
SAMARRA, Iraq -- Teams 2 and 3 of the 173rd Long Range Surveillance Detachment of the Rhode Island National Guard went poking around by the Tigris River yesterday.

Photo slideshow: In search of routes to the Tigris

On patrol, dangers lurk in the dark
SAMARRA, Iraq -- Soldiers appear and disappear in the darkness, the little lights they wear on their helmets flashing across five Humvees. Saturday morning at 3:50, two teams of the 173rd Long Range Surveillance Detachment of the Rhode Island National Guard prepare to go on patrol.

Camp Oasis
SAMARRA, Iraq -- The soldiers of the 173rd Long Range Surveillance Detachment of the Rhode Island Army National Guard live in a strange kind of tent encampment set up inside a block-long concrete and steel building.

Photo slideshow: Improvising the comforts of home

Preparing to do battle
SAMARRA, Iraq -- The Thursday sky is dull gray and the wind rips as the five soldiers of Team 3 fire their weapons into a huge pit bulldozed out of the Iraqi desert.

Photo slideshow: Keeping their skills sharp

Like getting a new Cadillac
SAMARRA, Iraq -- The five Humvees smell like new cars, the smell of fresh enamel. They are clean and the desert-tan paint is unblemished. A wrap of black plastic protects the cloth seats. Yesterday, soldiers in the 173rd Long Range Surveillance...

Photo slideshow: A different kind of ride

These teams try to stop the enemy before he can strike
Updated 12:09 p.m.
SAMARRA, Iraq -- The shapes rise from the dark, with the marsh grass blowing in the draft of the helicopter's downwash. The crew chief jumps out, into the darkness, and soldiers heave their rucksacks into the back bay of the helicopter and climb in.

Photo slideshow: Moods shift upon mission return

Winning hearts & minds
SAMARRA, Iraq -- The four armored Humvees trailed dust yesterday as they drove down a narrow dirt farm road near Samarra. The commander, Capt. Michael Manning, is returning to a shepherd's home, where two weeks ago his vehicles became stuck in the...

Photo slideshow: Unit works on building trust while keeping a sharp lookout