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Months after the United States invaded Iraq in 2003, I began filming the U.S. Army’s 2nd Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery Regiment (known as the Gunners) in Baghdad. The unit was housed in a bombed-out palace on the banks of the Tigris that they named Gunner Palace.

Rather than just making a movie about the men, I suggested that we make a film together — an offer that the soldiers quickly embraced. They told the story of the war as only they could: They played guitar, spat out rhymes and played to the camera. But behind all their bravado and posturing, they were just kids who desperately wanted the world to understand the war through their eyes.

In the last two months of 2003, the Gunners lost three men to I.E.D. attacks. They scrambled to create makeshift armor for their soft-skinned vehicles using scrap metal. When asked by a soldier about the lack of armor in 2004, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld famously said, “You go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time.”

They were the army we had. They fought an enemy they couldn’t always see in a land they didn’t understand for reasons that were never entirely clear. In the midst of the pandemic, I visited the men and spoke with them about how they make sense of their role in a war that has yet to be fully reckoned with. In "The Army We Had," the veterans grapple with a past that still reverberates powerfully through their lives.

It was all a lie

Crossed the border with 3rd ID. Some sh*t I will never forget. Especially the days leading up to us crossing. The fears. The anticipation. Constant threat of non existence scud missles. Then the hours upon hours of nothing but boredom.

Bruh I was in the first "gulf war" I still can't explain it

Props to my battles on here. Hope y’all get compensated!

arkansas@$$hole said Props to my battles on here. Hope y’all get compensated!

I finally won my war with the navy two years ago my check every month is not a bad piece of change

SMH, you are hard pressed to find many places talking about the war. But the Iraq war is why America is so fu*ked up today.

Trillions spent, millions of lives wasted, and the continued decay of the nation.

Says much about America that there isn’t proper respect given to those who served today, and those who peddled the lies that got us into it will never have their crimes accounted for.

Smh

My ex boss claimed to have been shot in Iraq. He told us this during his introduction to the company as the new GM.

I always wanted to ask him if he thought it was worth it.

He's a liar so I wouldnt be surprised if he made the whole sh*t up.

Like every war about money. War was about private industry, oil, drugs. America knew heroin was making a come back. Peep how percs fents opiates got popular over last 20 yrs. The real version comes from pharmacy. America being in Afghanistan made real heroin too expensive risky to access. Private contractors was stealing money from government funding to work during wartime.

OIF 08-09

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And yet they're f*ghting "for you". Most of the time when people say soldiers are f*ghting for you and your freedom, or even for the country. It's really for the benefit of the government and for people in power to make more money. An argument could be made thst this trickles down to the common person because we just took a buncha gas and resources but things don't get cheaper they actually get more expensive. The war was unnecessary as most wars are, so what are they really f*ghting for?

OaklandSmokin said My ex boss claimed to have been shot in Iraq. He told us this during his introduction to the company as the new GM. I always wanted to ask him if he thought it was worth it. He's a liar so I would be surprised if he made the whole sh*t up.

Shoulda asked him to show you the wound at a time when he least expects it

That would throw him off like a mufu*ka

Because they used 9/11 to go there. fu*king drone attack and controlled demolition. You stupid as fu*k if you think planes can free fall a building.

DaQCKing said Crossed the border with 3rd ID. Some sh*t I will never forget. Especially the days leading up to us crossing. The fears. The anticipation. Constant threat of non existence scud missles. Then the hours upon hours of nothing but boredom.

Crossed with 4th ID... Bro I'll never forget those fu*king hot a*s tents they had us staying in waiting to go in from Kuwait. sh*t got brutal as soon as the sun peeked over the horizon

arkansas@$$hole said Props to my battles on here. Hope y’all get compensated!

Hundo club

RaiderRomero said Hundo club

Only percentage we acknowledge is Hundo.

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them and Nam vets have so much in common except for a lot of people initially joining the military at the start of the Iraq war genuinely thought they were doing the right where as a lot of people were forced to go to Nam knowing it was bullsh*t off jump. idk which would be worse, going in knowing sh*ts fu*ked up or going in thinking you’re doing the right thing only to find out it was bullsh*t……..

RaiderRomero said Crossed with 4th ID... Bro I'll never forget those fu*king hot a*s tents they had us staying in waiting to go in from Kuwait. sh*t got brutal as soon as the sun peeked over the horizon

Ive never felt heat like that in my iife. Its like when you open up the oven to grab something out and that initial heat hit you.

RaiderRomero said Crossed with 4th ID... Bro I'll never forget those fu*king hot a*s tents they had us staying in waiting to go in from Kuwait. sh*t got brutal as soon as the sun peeked over the horizon

I was in Camp NY. We had AC tents. The moment you walked out that bi*ch felt like stepping from a fridge to an oven

richmoneycash said Ive never felt heat like that in my iife. Its like when you open up the oven to grab something out and that initial heat hit you.

I swore I'd never live anywhere hot after that.. lol and here I am in hot a*s Central CA.

This is a pic of a dude that was in my squad.. (no idea what ever happened to him), but that thermometer is wrapped around almost 20 degrees past 120... fu*k

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Blackberries said Only percentage we acknowledge is Hundo. view image

Trying to get a buddy in there right now

Didn’t Haliburton earn 330 Million Dollars per day in Iraq/Afghanistan? I believe that’s the correct figure


All the lives lost

Our entire Country was bought and sold, and it was all to make the Wealthy GodKings and it was completely legal

RaiderRomero said Trying to get a buddy in there right now

That's what I'm talkin bout! Pay it forward Breh!

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sh*t feels like 100 years ago