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04/04/2005 : Last group of 39th Brigade leaves Kuwait
FORT SILL, Okla. — Lt. Col. Allen Hargis stood in a sandy motor pool in Kuwait three weeks ago and said he was not leaving until every one of his soldiers was home safe and sound. BY AMY SCHLESING

03/26/2005 : Days crawl for GIs on brink of exit
FORT SILL, Okla. — The line creeps forward, soldiers shifting from one chair to the next, each move taking them closer to home. BY AMY SCHLESING

03/20/2005 : Half of 39th is back home
FORT SILL, Okla. — Danielle Price, her eyes welling with tears, wrapped her arms around her brother’s waist. BY AMY SCHLESING

03/17/2005 : GIs anxious about return to civilian life
KUWAIT CITY — Sgt. Billy Hellums has a red tattoo of a heart on his forearm with the name of his 9-year-old daughter, Taylor, written in curvy letters. BY AMY SCHLESING

03/16/2005 : GIs’ shift to civilian life lacks a breather
KUWAIT CITY — Lt. Donald Brewer rubbed his fingers over the patch on his left chest that says "U.S. Army." BY AMY SCHLESING

03/10/2005 : 39th leaves Iraq, rolls into Kuwait
CAMP VICTORY, Kuwait — The day started before dawn, when the chill and darkness of the Iraqi night lessened the chances of someone setting a roadside bomb. BY AMY SCHLESING

03/07/2005 : Some 39th soldiers stay on
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Sgt. John Hersey won’t go home with the rest of Arkansas’ 39th Infantry Brigade this month. BY AMY SCHLESING

03/02/2005 : 39th shows ropes to new unit
CAMP GUNSLINGER, Iraq — Soldiers packed the open back of a humvee as a nearby floodlight silhouetted their helmeted heads above the sides of the truck’s homemade armor. BY AMY SCHLESING

02/28/2005 : Soldiers pass torch in Iraq
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Maj. Gen. Pete Chiarelli made the sign of the cross Sunday while standing before an empty pair of wellworn boots. BY AMY SCHLESING

02/19/2005 : 39th unit uneasy but ready to yield district to Iraq army
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Islamic pilgrims dressed in black and wearing green sashes marched through the streets of Adhamiya on Friday, scourging themselves with whips and knives to celebrate the holiest days in the Shiite Muslim world. BY AMY SCHLESING

02/13/2005 : 39th’s latest death cloaked in mystery
CAMP TAJI, Iraq — Arkansas’ 39th Infantry Brigade lost its 28th soldier last week in a shooting on Camp Taji that remains shrouded in mystery as investigators try to piece together what happened. BY AMY SCHLESING

02/06/2005 : EVERYTHING MUST GO
CAMP TAJI, Iraq — Sgt. John Szakalski of New York came out of his trailer at Camp Taji with a pair of big, inflated boxing mitts on his hands. BY AMY SCHLESING Related pictures 1 | pictures 2 | pictures 3

02/05/2005 : 39th’s Qualls re-enlists for 6 years
CAMP TAJI, Iraq — The Arkansas’ 39th Infantry Brigade soldier who sued the U.S. Army for extending his one-year enlistment while he served in Iraq signed up this week for another six years of military duty. BY AMY SCHLESING

02/02/2005 : 39th remembers fallen comrade, 24
CAMP TAJI, Iraq — Three clear volleys from seven rifles cracked across camp Tuesday to salute Spc. Lyle Rymer, the 27th soldier with Arkansas’ 39th Infantry Brigade to die in action in Iraq. BY AMY SCHLESING

01/31/2005 : 39th helps Iraqis ease election jitters
SHEIK SAAD, Iraq — Ashwak arrived early Sunday at her polling place, making sure to have enough time to vote before going to work. BY AMY SCHLESING Related pictures

01/31/2005 : Oklahoman with 39th fatally shot by sniper
The 39th Infantry Brigade lost its 27th soldier on Friday when a member of the 239th Engineer Company was killed by a sniper while helping place concrete traffic barriers in central Baghdad. ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

01/27/2005 : 39th patrols, sure of election violence
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Soldiers moved up and down the street, knocking on doors, climbing fences and kicking in gates. BY AMY SCHLESING Related pictures

01/14/2005 : 39th kills 7 of enemy after trio spots attack
BAGHDAD — Three snipers from Arkansas’ 39th Infantry Brigade took on a group of insurgents firing mortars at a U.S. camp Thursday afternoon. BY MICHAEL WOODS Related pictures

01/06/2005 : Correction
Spc. Joshua Marcum of Evening Shade was with the 39th Infantry Brigade when it deployed to Iraq last April. Cpl. Jimmy Buie of Floral and Sgt. Jeremy McHalffey of Mabelvale were sent over as replacements. "Roadside blast kills 3 Arkansas GIs" incorrectly describes when they arrived in Iraq.

01/06/2005 : Roadside blast kills 3 Arkansas GIs
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Three Arkansans died Tuesday when a roadside bomb exploded near their humvee in the al-Shaab district of Baghdad. BY MICHAEL WOODS Related pictures

01/03/2005 : Drugs, booze easy for GIs to get in Iraq
CAMP TAJI, Iraq — In this Muslim nation where alcohol is taboo and liquor stores are regularly bombed for religious reasons, booze and drugs are easy to find — even for soldiers. BY AMY SCHLESING Related pictures

12/29/2004 : 39th’s GIs struggle with backlog as new reparation claims flood in
CAMP TAJI, Iraq — A sea of desperate faces and waving hands clutching white slips of paper rushed the door of the small metal trailer each time it opened into the bright sunshine. BY AMY SCHLESING Related pictures : More pictures

12/26/2004 : Christmas busy for 39th unit
CAMP GUNSLINGER, Iraq — Christmas was only three hours old when 32 U.S. snipers piled into the open backs of humvees, legs dangling over the back bumpers, the orange glow from their cigarettes mingling with puffs of frozen breath. BY AMY SCHLESING Related pictures

12/24/2004 : 39th GIs play Santa to Iraqi children
BAGHDAD, Iraq — A little girl with white ribbons in her hair wrapped her arms around Spc. Jessie Battista and gave her a peck on the cheek. BY AMY SCHLESING Related pictures

12/16/2004 : Gasoline at a premium in oil-rich Iraq
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Shameel can’t afford to wait in line to get gas. The wait averages two days. And two days in line for gas would cost him his job, if not his life. BY AMY SCHLESING Related pictures

12/14/2004 : 39th still reeling from road bomb
CAMP TAJI, Iraq — Spc. Robert Hoyt yelled to his buddies that he loved them all as they carried him on a stretcher to a waiting helicopter headed to the 31st Combat Support Hospital. BY AMY SCHLESING ©r; 2004 Related pictures

12/11/2004 : Muscle power keeps heaps of mail coursing to 39th GIs
CAMP TAJI, Iraq — Spc. Brandon Kennemer sat on the roof of a 5-ton truck and tore into the blue package addressed to him. BY AMY SCHLESING Related pictures

12/10/2004 : Iraqi guard, 39th unit team up for raid
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraqi national guardsmen leaned out of overloaded truck beds and cheered at the U.S. soldiers who lined the road leading out of Camp Gunslinger. BY AMY SCHLESING Related pictures

12/06/2004 : Baghdad rebuilding project stinks in more ways than one
BAGHDAD, Iraq — In the middle of the muddy street by the al-Jazar sewage pump station, an electric pump pulled sludge from one manhole and dumped it into another. BY AMY SCHLESING Related pictures

12/05/2004 : 39th GIs try to make amends in Iraq shootings
BAGHDAD, Iraq — The red Opel parked in the driveway was all Staff Sgt. Michael Lynn needed to know that he was at the right house. BY AMY SCHLESING Related pictures

12/04/2004 : Soldiers in 39th respond to blast outside mosque
BAGHDAD, Iraq — One of two attacks Friday in central Baghdad occurred in the area controlled by Arkansas’ 39th Infantry Brigade. BY AMY SCHLESING

11/28/2004 : Fierce week-ago battle in Iraq still fresh in minds of 39th GIs
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Sgt. Mark Davis stood on the roof of the Adhamiya District Iraqi police station Wednesday and looked down at the seemingly normal street that four days earlier had been a bloody battlefield. BY AMY SCHLESING Related pictures

11/26/2004 : 39th feasts, gets back to work
CAMP GUNSLINGER, Iraq — There was no green bean casserole, no family, no televised football on Thanksgiving for Arkansas’ 39th Infantry Brigade. BY AMY SCHLESING Related pictures

11/21/2004 : 39th unit sees intense fighting after mosque raid
ADHAMIYAH, Iraq — Massive explosions rocked this central Baghdad district Saturday in the heaviest fighting that soldiers with Arkansas’ 39th Infantry Brigade have seen in the eight months they’ve been there. BY AMY SCHLESING Related pictures

11/15/2004 : Platoon in 2 battles in 1 day
CAMP TAJI, Iraq — The fires started simultaneously, burning orange and coughing black smoke into the darkening Sunday evening sky. BY AMY SCHLESING Related pictures

11/12/2004 : In 13-hour mission, 39th unit takes gunfire, seizes weapons
RASHIDYAH, Iraq — The humvee was a chaos of noise — popping gravel under the tires, a rumbling gun turret and the voices coming over three different radios competing to be heard. BY AMY SCHLESING

11/10/2004 : 39th’s replacements get trial by fire
BAGHDAD, Iraq — The gunfire started a few blocks away as soldiers searched a house for a suspected mortarman during the third raid of the night. BY AMY SCHLESING

11/07/2004 : Split-second decisions haunt GIs
BAGHDAD, Iraq — As soldiers sifted through two rooms of paperwork in a small house, gunfire echoed from the street three blocks away. BY AMY SCHLESING COPYRIGHT © 2004, ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE, INC. Related pictures | More pictures

11/05/2004 : Date sticking for return home of Arkansas’ 39th
CAMP TAJI, Iraq — While one brigade within the 1st Cavalry Division has been extended in Iraq, Arkansas’ 39th Infantry Brigade remains on target to return home in the spring. BY AMY SCHLESING

11/01/2004 : 39th bids farewell to 240 comrades
CAMP TAJI, Iraq — The 5-ton trucks slowly rolled away from 3rd Battalion headquarters to the helipad, filled with helmeted soldiers visible only as silhouettes in the moonlight. BY AMY SCHLESING Related pictures

10/31/2004 : 240 in 39th now face going home
CAMP TAJI, Iraq — Staff Sgt. Darien Mickelson sat on the steps of his living quarters, cupped a duck call in his hands and took a deep breath. BY AMY SCHLESING Related pictures

10/29/2004 : New troops arrive as GIs going home thin 39th’s ranks
CAMP TAJI, Iraq — Sgt. 1st Class Danny Gifford marched a group of new soldiers across camp to where they’d pick up their weapons. BY AMY SCHLESING Related pictures

10/21/2004 : GIs hand kids Ramadan gifts
Al-TAJI, Iraq — Girls in head scarves and blue dresses lined up outside their school, patiently waiting for gifts promised to them by the soldiers of Alpha Company, 3rd Battalion of Arkansas’ 39th Infantry Brigade. BY AMY SCHLESING Related pictures

10/19/2004 : Dirty diving dredges up munitions
SUBAK SUR, Iraq — The boys dived into the brackish water from the piles of trash and rusted car remains scattered on the bank. BY AMY SCHLESING Related pictures

10/17/2004 : 39th in Iraq to honor Cabot soldier who died of injuries
CAMP TAJI, Iraq — Soldiers in Arkansas’ 39th Infantry Brigade will memorialize Spc. Ronald Baker today at a special service at Camp Taji. BY AMY SCHLESING

10/13/2004 : Soldiers wear many hats
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Sgt. Jody Mallory and his men walked through a snarl of vehicles Tuesday, waving at some drivers to move over and yelling at others to stop. BY AMY SCHLESING Related pictures

10/12/2004 : GIs’ job is eyeballing work
BAGHDAD, Iraq — An Iraqi contractor submitted pictures of his work on a sewage pump station to Army officials, asking to be paid. BY AMY SCHLESING Related pictures

10/09/2004 : Iraqis step up, take helm at guard training camp
CAMP TAJI, Iraq — Soldiers in mismatched uniforms stood in formation and raised their hands to their foreheads to salute the Iraqi flag. BY AMY SCHLESING Related pictures | More related pictures

10/08/2004 : For 39th, backup ballot skimpy
CAMP TAJI, Iraq — Arkansas soldiers who must use a federal write-in ballot for the November election are being told to cram extra races onto the ballot if they need more than the seven spaces available for races at the state, county and local level. BY AMY SCHLESING

10/05/2004 : Medic loses life in rescue attempt
CAMP TAJI, Iraq — During a break in the gunfire Sunday evening, Sgt. Chris Potts told his men to stay put as he ran in front of a berm to get a better look at the enemy’s firing position. BY AMY SCHLESING Related pictures

10/01/2004 : 39th GIs kill 3 who ran checkpoint
SWAMVA, Iraq — Three Iraqis died Thursday night and two others were wounded when the drivers of the vehicles they were riding in failed to heed soldiers’ warnings to stop at a traffic checkpoint outside a sheik’s house. BY AMY SCHLESING Related pictures

09/30/2004 : Suit delays ballots to 39th
CAMP TAJI, Iraq — As the legal debate continues over Ralph Nader’s inclusion on Arkansas’ November ballot, leaders of the state’s 39th Infantry Brigade are searching for ways that will allow the brigade’s 3,200 soldiers to successfully vote. BY AMY SCHLESING Related pictures

09/25/2004 : Infrastructure in Iraq a battle in itself
BOB al-SHAM, Iraq — A boy looked over his shoulder at water splashing from the 55-gallon drum in his cart and, using a whip of palm leaves, tried to steer his donkey around the next pothole. BY AMY SCHLESING Related pictures

09/17/2004 : 39th team torpedoes munitions
CAMP TAJI, Iraq — It began with billows of inky smoke splashed with orange flames. BY AMY SCHLESING Related pictures

09/15/2004 : Chaplains carry faith to the fighters
TAJI, Iraq — The soldier walked through the double doors of building 510, his fist clutching a tissue that he dabbed at his eyes as his rifle hung from his shoulder. BY AMY SCHLESING Related pictures

09/14/2004 : Parts shortage tests 39th
CAMP COOKE, Iraq — Sgt. 1st Class Doyle Duggin says proudly that his company simply doesn’t know the meaning of the word "can’t." BY AMY SCHLESING Related pictures

09/05/2004 : 39th replacement soldiers learn the ropes fast in Iraq
BAGHDAD, Iraq — The new soldiers looked in disbelief at a pair of bloody boots and shrapnel-pitted body armor lying on the floor of Fort Apache’s chow hall. BY AMY SCHLESING Related pictures

8/31/2004 : Arkansan: ‘Pretty good day’ in Iraq
AL-SHAAB, Iraq — Lt. Kevin Irvin thought something was wrong Monday when he looked through a window in the al-Shaab district of Baghdad and saw what looked like a bookstore dedicated to rebel Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. BY AMY SCHLESING Related pictures

8/30/2004 : ‘Infatillery’ prefers firing big guns to patrol duties
TAJI, Iraq — Spc. Trey Henry perked up from the gunner’s mount in the back of a humvee when he heard about the afternoon’s mission. BY AMY SCHLESING Related pictures

8/28/2004 : Leave Iraq — at what cost?
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Some full-time soldiers of the Arkansas National Guard eligible to go home from Iraq early because of a prior deployment worry that their professional futures will be damaged if they don’t stay in Iraq. BY AMY SCHLESING Related pictures

8/24/2004 : Sleep is precious for 39th
BAGHDAD, Iraq — The crack of gunfire bursting from the roof of Fort Apache jolted Sgt. 1st Class Chris Richey out of what had been an hour of sound sleep. BY AMY SCHLESING Related pictures

8/17/2004 : 39th returns to hot spot, seizes Iraqis
SUBAK SUR, Iraq — As the sun set Sunday, Staff Sgt. Lynn Thompson of Batesville coated the gun turret track on his humvee with grease. BY AMY SCHLESING Related pictures

8/16/2004 : Rebuilding Iraq’s courts next struggle in Baghdad
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Salam Hassien feels trapped between dependency and freedom, struggling to work with American military lawyers to rebuild Iraq’s court system while pledging allegiance to his new government. BY AMY SCHLESING Related pictures

8/15/2004 : 39th colonel sent to jail for pulling rank for sex
CAMP VICTORY NORTH, Iraq — One of the top ranking officers in Arkansas’ 39th Infantry Brigade began a 90-day jail sentence Saturday and faces dismissal from the U.S. Army after pleading guilty during a military court-martial to using his rank to coerce sex from subordinates. BY AMY SCHLESING Related pictures

8/12/2004 : 39th’s GIs hold line as fight rages nearby
BAGHDAD, Iraq — The soldiers stuck close to their humvees and guns early Wednesday morning, watching flashes of red tracer bullets, rockets and the burning shrapnel from a firefight light the night sky. BY AMY SCHLESING © 2004, ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE, INC. Related pictures

8/8/2004 : 39th’s longest-deployed GIs face choice: Go home or stay
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Soldiers with Arkansas’ 39th Infantry Brigade who served in Egypt two years ago will receive an additional $1,000 a month by volunteering to stay in Iraq instead of leaving in early November as required by Army policy. BY AMY SCHLESING Related pictures

8/7/2004 : 39th seeing plenty of combat badges
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Lt. Col. Kirk VanPelt walked down the row of soldiers, stopping in front of each man to hand him a patch and shake his hand in congratulations. BY AMY SCHLESING Related pictures

8/6/2004 : Purple Hearts are adding up
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Charlie Company of the 1st Battalion of Arkansas’ 39th Infantry Brigade has been chewed up by grenades and homemade bombs since its arrival in Iraq in early April. BY AMY SCHLESING Related pictures

8/3/2004 : Troupers dedicated to theater for ideas
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Insurgents threatened to kill all the employees of the Iraqi National Theater this week for spreading support for the new government. BY AMY SCHLESING Related pictures

8/1/2004 : 39th unit patrols in peace
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Spc. Frenchie Young of Arkansas City navigated the humvee through Baghdad’s Karada District toward a cross extending into the sky from atop a church. BY AMY SCHLESING Related pictures


7/28/2004 : 400 in 39th get word they’ll go home in fall
BAGHDAD, Iraq — The more than 400 soldiers with Arkansas’ 39th Infantry Brigade who served in the Sinai Peninsula in 2002 are expected to return home from Iraq this fall in accordance with Department of the Army policy. BY AMY SCHLESING Related pictures


7/25/2004 : GIs search graveyard for weapons
BAGHDAD, Iraq — The daily call to prayer at Abu Hanifa Mosque in the ancient Adhamiya District carried more than praise to Allah at noon Saturday. It called for a holy war against Americans. BY AMY SCHLESING Related pictures


7/22/04 : 39th unit fights way out of ambush
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Shortly after midnight today, Charlie Company of Arkansas’ 39th Infantry Brigade fought through the largest attack it has faced since landing in Iraq four months ago. BY AMY SCHLESING

7/20/04 : Ambush inquiry frustrates captain
RASHDYAH, Iraq — Capt. Derald Neugebauer looked with disgust at the Iraqi police investigator sitting on the couch next to him. BY AMY SCHLESING

7/17/04 : 39th flush with stuff pouring in from home
CAMP COOKE, Iraq — Sgt. 1st Class Danny Gifford of O’Kean, in Charlie Company, opened three huge cardboard boxes in his room. Inside were hundreds of baby wipes, razors, toothpaste and more. BY AMY SCHLESING AND JILL ZEMAN

7/16/04 : Iraq transfer clips civil-affairs projects
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Paperwork in both English and Arabic, waiting to be burned, covered the floor of the civil affairs office at Forward Operating Base Gunslinger. BY AMY SCHLESING

7/8/04 : Arkansas platoon surely gets around
CAMP COOKE, Iraq — The blast came from the south as promised, followed by 36 seconds of silence and a deep boom to the north. BY AMY SCHLESING

7/5/04 : 39th awarded 1st Cavalry’s combat patch
CAMP COOKE, Iraq — The patch that rests on the shoulder of 1st Cavalry Division soldiers is showing up on the shoulders of Arkansas’ 39th Infantry Brigade as well. BY AMY SCHLESING

7/4/04 : Colonel faces charges he got sex using rank
CAMP COOKE, Iraq — One of the top ranking officers in Arkansas’ 39th Infantry Brigade has been accused of using his rank to coerce enlisted female soldiers into having sex. BY AMY SCHLESING

6/30/04 : 39th ambushed; 2 insurgents killed
BAGHDAD, Iraq — On the first full day of Iraqi authority, violence continued in Baghdad’s streets, with a gunfight in front of a mosque in the city’s ancient Adhamiya District. BY AMY SCHLESING

6/29/04 : Business as usual for 39th
BAGHDAD, Iraq — The transfer of authority to an Iraqi government Monday took coalition soldiers by surprise, with many not learning about it until well into the evening. BY AMY SCHLESING

6/29/04 : Reporter, 39th troops shaken but OK after bombing
EDITOR’S NOTE: Amy Schlesing is embedded with Arkansas National Guard’s 39th Infantry Brigade and frequently travels with various units as they go on patrols in and around Baghdad, Iraq. BY AMY SCHLESING

6/27/04 : GIs supplying 39th keep rifles at ready
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Spc. William Mann backed the 5-ton truck up a narrow ramp at Camp Warrior with the ease of a weekend fisherman launching his bass boat on a bright spring morning. BY AMY SCHLESING

6/25/04 : 39th walks friend, foe line
BAGHDAD, Iraq — The soldiers call him "Dirt Man." He’s a homeless man who lives among the piles of dirt lining the Tigris River in downtown Baghdad. BY AMY SCHLESING

6/23/04 : 39th GIs stuck in stint rift
BAGHDAD, Iraq — About 415 soldiers with Arkansas’ 39th Infantry Brigade are awaiting word on whether they’ll get an early homecoming from the war in Iraq. BY AMY SCHLESING

6/20/04 : Soldiers’ new zone dustier, quieter
CAMP COOKE, Iraq — Dust overwhelmed the convoy, rolling in through the gunner’s turret and through the cracks in the seals around windows and bullet-resistant doors. BY AMY SCHLESING

6/16/04 : Iraqi forces play key role in capture of 2
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Tuesday had just begun when soldiers from Charlie Company burst through the door of one of the last remaining leaders of the 20th Street Gang. BY AMY SCHLESING

6/11/04: Iraqi recruit numbers rising
CAMP COOKE, Iraq — Lt. Nabil Adb Rahmah yelled at the soldiers as they rushed the bombed-out building, telling them where to point their guns and to run faster. BY AMY SCHLESING

6/10/04: 39th finds mortars’ firing site
CAMP GUNSLINGER, Iraq — The soldiers crowded around the humvee’s hood, their eyes focused on an outstretched map. BY AMY SCHLESING

6/7/04: Bombs kill 9 outside base used by 39th
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Two car bombs outside an American base killed nine people Sunday and injured 30 others — including three U.S. soldiers — and insurgents blasted Iraqi police stations in a Shiite neighborhood of Baghdad and in a town south of the capital. A U.S. soldier died in a mortar attack. BY ROBERT H. REID THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

6/2/04: Mission: Rid zone of enemy fighters
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Sgt. Clark Halfacre emerged from the cloud of black smoke, seemingly amazed that he could run to his buddies. BY AMY SCHLESING

5/31/04: 39th mixes ammo duty with human kindness
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Looking out at an ammunition dump that sprawls across half a square mile, Cpl. Stacy Rice sat in his humvee, rubbing the lump of steel wedged in his neck. BY AMY SCHLESING

5/30/04: Cloaked operative helps 39th hunt foes
CAMP CUERVO, Iraq — Al-Juburi was a little embarrassed by the traditional Iraqi cloak and head scarf he wore. BY AMY SCHLESING

5/25/04: Patrol waylaid, finds gun
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Bravo Company’s 3rd Platoon wanted to make Sunday night an early night, with plans to turn in before dawn. BY AMY SCHLESING

5/21/04: Wild-goose chases common for 39th
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Capt. John Stubbs leaned forward on a conference table propped up with boxes in his room at Fort Apache and told his platoon leaders that they were going after one of their top anti-coalition suspects. BY AMY SCHLESING

5/18/04: 39th soldiers’ skills pay off
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Staff Sgt. Eddie Butler tested the wires coming out of the home’s breaker box, touching one wire to another and watching the sparks fly. BY AMY SCHLESING

5/16/04: War takes toll on 39th Brigade’s humvees
CAMP COOKE, Iraq — Arkansas’ 39th Infantry Brigade has some of the oldest humvees in the Army’s inventory — and their age is beginning to show in the harsh conditions of war. BY AMY SCHLESING

5/14/04: Out to draw smiles, GIs end up drawing gunfire
BAGHDAD, Iraq — The plan for the weekend mission sounded easy: playing soccer with children near the home of a suspected arms dealer. BY AMY SCHLESING

5/11/04: New mission accomplished
BAGHDAD, Iraq — The convoy pulled to a halt in the middle of a marketplace Sunday night. BY AMY SCHLESING

5/6/04: Assassinations complicate rebuilding Iraq
BAGHDAD, Iraq — The dedication of Iraqi leaders to rebuilding Iraq’s government was tested twice this week with an assassination and a firefight at the Adhamiya District Advisory Council building in Baghdad. BY AMY SCHLESING

5/5/04: 39th unit helps put pieces back together
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Maj. Charles Anderson marked on a Baghdad map the locations he wanted to visit that day. BY AMY SCHLESING

5/4/04: 39th hunts ’Rocket Man’
CAMP COOKE, Iraq — The day started long before dawn. The mission: a hunt for "The Rocket Man." BY AMY SCHLESING

4/30/04: Iraqi squads ill-equipped
BAGHDAD, Iraq — It’s called "The Bunker," but it’s far from bulletproof. BY AMY SCHLESING

4/29/04: 39th remembers 4 who fell
CAMP COOKE, Iraq — Lt. Col. Allen Hargis said he thought the distant booms Saturday morning were from Arkansas’ 39th Infantry Brigade’s artillery firing at men who had just attacked the camp. BY AMY SCHLESING

4/29/04: Letters from his family sadden slain soldier’s pals
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Mail call at Bravo Company was difficult Wednesday as the soldiers of Spc. Kenneth Melton’s squad opened letters his wife had written to them before he died. BY AMY SCHLESING

4/28/04: Sheiks Iraq’s gatekeepers
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Sheik Jaleel leaned over his plate of fruit and a glass of warm Pepsi and told Lt. Keith Wilson that he thought of him as a son. BY AMY SCHLESING

4/25/04: Rockets fall on Iraq camp, kill 4, hurt 7
CAMP COOKE, Iraq — Rockets pounded the base camp for Arkansas’ 39th Infantry Brigade early Saturday, reportedly killing four soldiers and wounding others. BY AMY SCHLESING

4/25/04: Communication barrier part of life for the 39th
CAMP COOKE, Iraq — A small fishing boat, powered by a man with a paddle, moved steadily up an aqueduct Wednesday toward a bridge guarded by Delta Company of Arkansas’ 39th Infantry Brigade. BY AMY SCHLESING

4/22/04: Mechanics juggle parts to fix fleet
CAMP COOKE, Iraq — The humvee limped into the barren warehouse, its front tire and driver’s side torn up from a collision with a tractor-trailer on a nearby bridge. BY AMY SCHLESING

4/18/04: Life, war go on for 39th
CAMP COOKE, Iraq — Twenty-one shots rang out Tuesday from the rocky sand of the camp’s center in memory of the first two soldiers of Arkansas’ 39th Infantry Brigade killed in battle. BY AMY SCHLESING

4/18/04: 1st Cavalry troops shift into driver’#8217;s seat in Iraq
CAMP COOKE, Iraq — The last few soldiers of Arkansas’ 39th Infantry Brigade arrived in Iraq on Friday, the day the 1st Cavalry Division took control in Baghdad. BY AMY SCHLESING

4/13/04: Extremist Iraqi cleric pulls back militia
CAMP COOKE, Iraq — The flag stand at the 206th Field Artillery headquarters tells a story about the first combat mission involving a unit of Arkansas’ 39th Infantry Brigade in Iraq. BY AMY SCHLESING

4/10/04: Brigade advances into Iraq, takes fire
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Arkansas’ 39th Infantry Brigade suffered its first casualties this week as it arrived in Iraq and just as violence hit a new high since major combat operations ended last May. BY AMY SCHLESING

4/10/04: Journey to Iraq camp anxious
CAMP SCANIA, Iraq — More than 600 soldiers of Arkansas’ 39th Infantry Brigade, 3rd Battalion, bedded down under a starry sky shortly after 9 p.m. Thursday on cots set next to their combat vehicles. BY AMY SCHLESING

4/6/04: 39th#8217;s humvees, armored at last, ready to enter Iraq
CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait — As the largest rotation of troops since World War II draws to a close, the last units preparing to move into the war zone in Iraq are scrambling for equipment, parts and armor. BY AMY SCHLESING

4/4/04: 39th Infantry of Arkansas due to head into Iraq
CAMP NEW YORK, Kuwait — A cloud of sand filled the back of the humvee as it barreled down a road in a convoy stretching toward the horizon and the Iraq border. BY AMY SCHLESING

3/30/04: 39th reinforcing trucks for trip to Iraq
CAMP NEW YORK, Kuwait — Five-ton trucks roll in from Camp Victory every day, piled high with scrap steel torn from humvees being sent home from duty in Iraq. BY AMY SCHLESING

3/28/04: Kuwait rekindles memories for many from 39th Brigade
CAMP NEW YORK, Kuwait — When Staff Sgt. Danny Naracon left Kuwait after the 1991 Persian Gulf War, he said he’d never go back. BY AMY SCHLESING

3/26/04: 39th Brigade touches down in Kuwait with Iraq up next
CAMP WOLVERINE, Kuwait — As 290 travel-weary soldiers with Arkansas’ 39th Infantry Brigade climbed out of a United Airlines 747 at Kuwait City International Airport on Wednesday morning, a gray C-130 cargo plane lifted off on the nearby runway. BY AMY SCHLESING

3/21/04: Delta Company bids families farewell, packs bags for Iraq
FORT POLK, La. — Sgt. James Hill hunched over a mound of equipment in his bottom bunk and marked each item off his packing list with a yellow highlighter as he crammed it into his rucksack. Packing is like a ritual for the Army, with lists and regulations of what goes where. And it’s a ritual that Hill, of Newark, and the 4,200 soldiers of Arkansas’ 39th Infantry Brigade have done more times than they’d like to BY AMY SCHLESING

3/7/04: Volunteers shoring ranks of 39th as Guard unit readies for Iraq tour
FORT POLK, La. — Within two days of hearing that Arkansas’ 39th Infantry Brigade was headed to war, Sgt. Cary Warren drove from Georgia to Little Rock, resigned from the Mississippi National Guard and joined the Arkansas unit. BY AMY SCHLESING

2/29/04: Simulated battles in mock Iraq towns train real soldiers
FORT POLK, La. — Capt. Jody Callahan spent more time in the mock Iraqi village of Al-Brushar than at his command post, trying to build trust with the town’s two sheiks. BY AMY SCHLESING

2/29/04: Arkansans learn sights, sounds, feel of actual war zone
FORT POLK, La. — As the convoy rumbled out of the make-believe town of Jarbar Nahr, Staff Sgt. Paul Bunn shouted to his gunner perched in the humvee’s turret that it had been a good day. BY AMY SCHLESING