American soldiers with Apache Troop, 6th Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment handed out toys and other gifts in the Iraqi village of Gajeelza in Diyala province during a visit Friday. Gajeelza is almost exclusively Shiite, and U.S. troops maintain excellent relations with its residents, visiting frequently to gather information on insurgents and carrying out humanitarian projects. Sgt. Jim Davis, a 36-year-old mortar platoon sergeant with Apache Troop, 6th Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, and other soldiers patrol with an Iraqi official in the village of Gazeelja. A soldier gives an Iraqi child a small teddy bear, one of the many gifts that U.S. forces with Apache Troop, 6th Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment handed out on last week in Gazeelja.
Outstretched hands wait impatiently as U.S. troops with Apache Troop, 6th Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment hand out toys and other gifts in Gazeelja. A young Iraqi girl smiles as she walks away holding her little sister and a gift from an American soldier in Gazeelja.
An Iraqi girl doesn’t quite know what to make of a gift offered by an American soldier with Apache Troop, 6th Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment in Gazeelja An Iraqi girl smiles shyly as other children play with U.S. soldiers from Apache Troop.
An Iraqi toddler smiles after Spc. Bryan Hartung, 22, a medic from Virginia Beach, Va., with Apache Troop, 6th Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, places his glasses on her face. Spc. Bryan Hartung, 22, a medic from Virginia Beach, Va. talks to a handicapped Iraqi boy in Gazeelja
An Iraqi boy throws a playful punch at the body armor of an American soldier after the troops handed out toys and other gifts to children in Gazeelja. Spc. Bryan Hartung, left, a 22-year-old medic from Virginia Beach, Va. and Pvt. Tristan Miller, 19, a cavalry trooper from Spokane Wash., marvel over children’s reactions as they hand out toys and other gifts Gazeelja. Amid shouts of “mistah! mistah!” the children scramble over each other in a virtual free-for-all as the toys are handed out. “It sort of reminds me of 'Shark Week' on the Discovery Channel,” said Miller. “It’s a frenzy. It’s a shame, though, that some of them didn’t get anything … This is a nice town, though; the people are good to us.”
