ASSIGNMENT IRAQ


Multimedia
Tending to the wounded (See related story: Haunted in action)
Eisa (See related story: Trauma of the innocents)
Features
Mission growing blurry
Although their dedication is unwavering, Maine soldiers are questioning their roles in the war zone. (04/25/07)
For Alaskan guardsmen, Kuwait deployment is far from cool
They do what they can to beat the heat -- shade, water, air conditioners -- but really, 140 degrees? (04/22/07)
Driving the 'Highway to Hell'
Maine guardsmen protect the convoys moving food, fuel, water and supplies for U.S. forces in Iraq. (04/22/07)
Ten blasts, not a scratch
They call Staff Sgt. Gary Jandreau, 45, of Fort Kent, 'The IED Magnet' -- and with good reason. (04/20/07)
Iraq travel lessons come with a twist
Nobody, not even a pair of visiting journalists, can leave Camp Navistar on a convoy into Iraq without first doing the 'rollover.' (04/18/07)
Bill NemitzGuarding goods, dodging death
Sgt. Michael Harrington knows how to look at the bright side. (04/18/07)
Haunted in action
Combat hospital workers from Maine tell of the patients whose ordeals they will never forget. (04/15/07)
Hospital unit finds ways to function in a foreign land
Invent your own identity system, fix your own transformer -- it's all in a day's work for the 399th. (04/15/07)
Spouses help each other weather wartime experiences
Two married couples from Maine find that deploying together strengthens their husband-and-wife bonds. (04/13/07)
Whether friend or foe, every life merits saving
U.S. medical forces scramble to save anyone who arrives by chopper and ambulance at their combat hospital. (04/13/07)
Trauma of the innocents
A boy injured while diving for candy thrown by soldiers is just one of the children the Army treats. (04/11/07)
Fixture of stateside restrooms becomes luxury overseas
Many Mainers, including an Old Orchard mom and her cohorts, fulfill troops' requests for toilet paper. (04/11/07)
Bill NemitzTwo other units at war; many more stories to tell
Day in and day out, Maine history is being made here. (04/08/07)


Messages to the troops
Offer your support to Maine soldiers serving overseas.

MESSAGES TO THE TROOPS Offer your support to Maine soldiers serving overseas.
ABOUT THE JOURNALISTS

Columnist Bill Nemitz, above left, has worked as a journalist in Maine since 1977, when he became a reporter for the Central Maine Morning Sentinel in Waterville after graduating from the University of Massachusetts.

He moved to Portland in 1983, working first as a reporter for the Evening Express and later as city editor and assistant managing editor/sports for the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram. Nemitz began writing his thrice-weekly column for the newspaper in 1995. In 2004, he was embedded twice with the Maine Army National Guard's 133rd Engineer Battalion in Mosul, Iraq.

Nemitz is a past president of the Maine Press Association and has taught journalism part time at Saint Joseph's College in Standish. He lives in Buxton with his wife, Andrea Nemitz. They have five children.

Shawn Patrick Ouellette, above right, joined the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram as a staff photographer in 2002.

Since that time, he has covered the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXVIII, the return from Iraq of the Maine Army National Guard's 133rd Battalion at Fort Drum, N.Y., and the effects of Hurricane Katrina on the Northrop Grumman shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss.

Previously, he was a staff photographer for the Journal Tribune in Biddeford from 1993 to 1997 and chief photographer there from 1997 to 2002. He lives in Saco with his wife and two daughters.