Spc. Andrew Apuna, 25, with the Hawaii Army National Guard’s 29th Support Battalion Alpha Company at Logistics Support Area Anaconda (Camp Anaconda, near Balad, Iraq), has seen a lot in his three months in Iraq. “A couple trucks” blew up
Spc. Andrew Apuna, 25, with the Hawaii Army National Guard’s 29th Support Battalion Alpha Company at Logistics Support Area Anaconda (Camp Anaconda, near Balad, Iraq), has seen a lot in his three months in Iraq.
“A couple trucks” blew up near an entry gate to the post while he was on guard duty, mortar attacks are common occurrences, and injured civilians show up regularly, seeking medical aid, at the north gate he guards, he said.
There are “mad (big) cobras,” and an assortment of other venomous snakes and vipers to contend with, and all manner of mosquitos and other insects in this dusty, dry, hot place, he said.
Mosquito bites, left untreated, can quickly turn into “nasty lesions,” he added.
The son of Nathan and Frances Apuna, though, has no complaints, either about his current assignment or conditions on the huge base that is very much like a small city.
“It’s a nice base,” he said of the place he’ll likely call home for the next 11 months or so. “It’s just like a little town here. They feed us very good over here.”
There are movie theaters, two swimming pools, and most of the comforts of home. First assigned to tents on the base, which measures four miles wide by four miles long, the men are now slowly but surely being moved into three-bedroom trailers.
Each Sunday, a steak and lobster buffet is offered. “Who would’ve thought we’d be eating lobster in Iraq?” he asked.
There are dangers, of course, like when they are called to go on patrol outside the perimeter fences of the base. “We like to go out there and show presence,” said Apuna, trained as a driver of vehicles large and small but on duty now mostly for security, and to train Iraqi soldiers in force-protection measures (personnel and vehicle searches, bombdetection, etc.).
Apuna, whose wife Abrielle Apuna is also in the military but did not get called to Iraq because they have a young daughter, Alia Apuna, who will turn 2 on Saturday, April 9, looks at his current assignment as a “job,” much like he looks at his regular Kaua‘i jobs with Ohana Helicopters and Courtyard by Marriott Kauai at Waipouli Beach (formerly the Kauai Coconut Beach Resort).
“It’s our job,” he said of his current assignment. “It’s what we signed up for. Freedom’s not free, I guess,” Apuna said. “Not bad, one year here.
“I went to work,” he said when asked during a telephone interview what he did earlier in the day in Iraq. “It’s just like a job.”
His schedule included attending a class on preventive medicine, and he worked out at the gym, and ate dinner. “For me, I feel like it’s going good. I miss home, but I have to focus on the job at hand.”
Getting free food, housing, gym membership, laundry service and other benefits help, he said. “Basically, (you) just do what you gotta do,” he said.
There are around 10 Kauaians at Anaconda, including Spc. Christopher Callejo, of Kapa‘a, who was with Apuna during the phone interview but didn’t get on the line.
Apuna’s father works for a delivery company, and his mother works at The Salvation Army. Besides his family, Andrew Apuna said he misses “the surf” the most, along with the “good weather, good food and the aloha spirit.”
When on Kaua‘i, Apuna splits his time between his parents’ home in Anahola, and his mother-in-law’s place in Kekaha, where his wife and daughter are living.
Andrew Apuna wanted to say a few things to all the people who have been sending soldiers snacks, and keeping them in their prayers: “Big mahalos out there to all the family and friends who are backing us up, being behind us all the way. I love everybody. I miss them, and I should be home soon.”
He also wanted to wish his daughter a “happy birthday.”
Apuna trained with members of the Hawaii Army National Guard’s Company A, 2nd Battalion, 299th Infantry Regiment, and his unit is near Balad, while the infantrymen of the 299th are closer to Baghdad.
He was joined by other members of the 29th in sending more warm words to Kauaians:
“We want the people of Kaua‘i to know that we are doing all right and that we take great pride in knowing that we are helping the people of Iraq to rebuild their country,” said Apuna, Staff Sgt. Barry DeBlake of Kapa‘a, and Spc. Joe Moises of Kapa‘a.
“Kaua‘i should feel proud of all of their soldiers doing their part in making this world a better place,” the soldiers said. “It has been a long and hard road, yet we are able to find some heart-filled moments in our day.
“To our family and friends, we miss you and love you all very much. We ask that Kaua‘i keep the soldiers of the Hawaii Army National Guard, 29th BCT, in their hearts and prayers,” the men said.
