By Zack Anchors
Staff writer
    Sergeant Dean Wellman had been living at Forward Operating Base Merez in Mosul, Iraq for more than half a year when a suicide bomber walked into the camp's chow hall at lunchtime and blew himself up, killing 22 people and injuring 69. Wellman, a member of the 133rd Engineer Battalion and a resident of Scarborough, had spent the previous night working the midnight guard duty at the base's gate and was fortunate enough to be asleep during the attack.
    "I wasn't there, but it was still intense," Wellman said. "Seeing the chow hall where we had eaten every day on CNN International later was really surreal."
    The chow hall attack on Dec. 21 of 2004 drew a great deal of coverage from the international media, mostly because of the high number of causalities and the fact that the bomber had infiltrated the highly secured base. But Wellman said the dangers surrounding him throughout his year in Iraq did not keep his company from doing a lot of hard work and getting a lot accomplished.
    "The first full month we were there, April 2004, was the deadliest month for American troops," said Wellman. "But the security was really good at the base and I always felt safe...we were getting stuff done and our unit was making progress and was praised for it."
    Wellman, a fourth-grade teacher at Congin Elementary School in Westbrook, left behind his students, co-workers, wife and one-year-old son to deploy to Iraq in March of 2004. Wellman's company headed to Fort Drum in New York for general training first and then on to Kuwait and then Mosul, which is in northern Iraq. Wellman said the plane's descent into Mosul gave him a good idea of the environment he was entering.
    "As the plane was landing, it was banking and maneuvering to avoid (rocket propelled grenades)," Wellman said. "I didn't get sick or anything, but it was a good introduction to a war zone."
    Although his company specializes in construction and engineering, Wellman said he ended up working a variety of jobs while in Mosul. He was on a security team for a while and worked on a couple building projects.
    "We went to Saddam's palace in Mosul for a month and partitioned off walls to make a living space for troops," said Wellman. "We also built portable homes – we were told those were for Iraqis."
    Wellman said he learned a lot while working on construction projects.
    "I'm not the greatest construction guy," he said. "But I got a lot better while I was there. Now I do a lot more projects around my house. Some of the guys were just great carpenters and builders. I learned a lot from them."
    For a period, Wellman was assigned a security detail that involved guarding the gates of the base.
    "The only time I worked with Iraqis was when I worked the gate duty," said Wellman. "There were translators."
    Iraqis often passed through the gates and part of Wellman's job, with the help of translators, was to make sure that Iraqis were not smuggling anything out of the base.
    "We had to make sure people were not taking anything out of the base that they shouldn't take," said Wellman. "There were also Iraqi civilians who came to the gates to offer intelligence."
    Wellman said Iraqi civilians also approached the gate with the aim of talking politics. The 2004 American presidential elections were approaching and Iraqis were watching the campaigns closely.
    "They were curious about who we were going to vote for," Wellman said. "And they let us know that they hoped Bush wasn't re-elected."
    There were lots of ways for the troops in Mosul to keep in touch with the outside world, including phones and the internet, and Wellman said he tried to follow the news in Iraq and America. He said the controversy surrounding the war back in America was met with mixed reactions by the troops. Some of the infantry soldiers who had the most dangerous job of patrolling the streets were frustrated by criticism of the war, he said. But Wellman said, overall, he thinks serious discussion of the war is helpful.
    "I think it’s important for our country to debate things," he said. "I think its really important that we have this committee now led by former Secretary of State James Baker and that we have a new defense secretary."
    When Wellman first arrived in Iraq, his impression was that many Iraqis were accepting of the American presence, but by the time he left things were different.
    “Later, before we left, when the Iraqis saw us in the streets, people’s faces and reactions were turning more negative,” he said.
    Mosul, Wellman said, is a fairly diverse city located near the Kurdish territory in the North, but its home to many Sunnis and Shiites as well as Kurds.
    "It's right on the border," said Wellman. "The Kurds could easily say, 'it's ours,' but another group could say 'it's ours' too."
    Wellman said he spent the majority of his time in Mosul centered at the base, but when he did get out he could see large mountains around the city.
    "Everyone thinks that the whole country is desert, but where we were, in the rainy season there was quite a bit of green," said Wellman. "It's not like Maine, but more so than Baghdad maybe. There are trees and I saw some grass."
    All the while Wellman was in Mosul, he kept in close contact with his friends and family back home, telling them that despite the violence they were seeing on television, he was safe.
     “We were eight hours ahead of here so usually I would call at nighttime,” said Wellman. “When they would hear about U.S. troops getting attacked, it was worrying for them.”
    When Wellman’s company finally returned to Maine, via a bus from Fort Drum to Westbrook, he was surprised by the welcome home gestures waiting for them. First, a group of National Guard members were waiting at the state line with signs and greetings, and then when they arrived at Westbrook, a police escort guided them to the high school, where crowds of family, friends and coworkers were waiting.
    “We walked into the gym and there was so much energy and enthusiasm,” said Wellman. “I get shivers just thinking about it…that was really powerful.”