THE INFAMOUS ROUTE POPEYES

THE INFAMOUS ROUTE POPEYES
Dagger's Edge Magazine: Vol 1, Iss 24
Pfc. Stephen Williamson
Oct 16, 2007

It was early evening in late September and I found myself appreciating the chill in the air for the first time in a long time. I sat in the gunner’s hatch scanning the rooftops as I swiveled to the right and to the left. This was our first mission since the later Ramadan curfew had gone into effect, and I was shocked to see so many people out so late. I adjusted quickly to the crowd, however, and kept a vigilant eye on them. Our mission that night was to provide security for barrier emplacement along Route Popeyes, and as I scanned my sector I noticed the huge billboard from which the road derives its name.

Popeye the Sailorman, a character created by the American cartoonist Elize Segar in the late 1920s, adorns the front of Popeye’s Coffee Shoppe, one of the most prominent structures on the road. I always found it ironic that this stretch of road was named for the rough seaman because just as he was always ready to take the fight to the bad guys with a can of spinach and his arms a-swinging, it was on this road that the men of Bravo Battery so often had to face the IEDs of the enemy in the early stages of our deployment. I will never forget hearing things like, “When we turn onto Route Popeyes the mood just sort of tightens up,” or “We just cross our fingers and push through.” Remembering these eye-opening comments as I sat in my turret, often made by hardened veterans, I looked out at the crowds of people and thought of how far this area had come in the past seven months.

Thanks to the steadfast commitment of the Bravo Battery Bulldogs and the rest of Task Force Patriot, the Yarmouk neighborhood of western Baghdad has experienced a myriad of successes since our arrival here in March. From the countless reconnaissance patrols to combined training operations with the Iraqi Army personnel who man checkpoints along Route Popeyes, we have all put in long hours in this area and many others like it throughout the Patriot sector.

Whether you work in the motor pool maintaining the vehicles, in the TOC tracking the battlefield, at the Aid Station providing for the health and welfare of the Soldiers, or on patrol providing security for the Iraqi people, we must all remember that successes like the crowd along Route Popeyes are the reason that we are here. Thanks to us, the Iraqi people can sit at their coffee shops enjoying a cup of chai. Thanks to us they can come to their businesses to work and shop without fear. Thanks to us they can move to and from the Al-Showaf Mosque, a prominent mosque on Route Popeyes, in safety. And for giving the Iraqi people the opportunity to do all of these things, we members of Task Force Patriot can all truly feel like Proud Americans.