A Sweetheart of a Soldier Former Cherry Sweetheart Now Searches for WMD in Iraq Patriotic New Mom Finds Faith Helps Her Through By Kathy Gray of The Chronicle Front Page [TEXT ONLY] Photo: Former Cherry Sweetheart Rebekah Duman, nor Rebeka Florence, stands guard At Uday Palace in Baghdad Photo: Rebekah Florence stands ready to use her machine gun in needed. Below: her portrait as 1997 Cherry Sweetheart. In the deserts of Iraq, a former Cherry Sweetheart seeks out weapons of mass destruction. Rebekah Joy Florence, better known to The Dalles residents as Rebekah Duman, 1997 Northwest Cherry Sweetheart, is part of the Iraqi Survey Group. The Goal of this heavily trained and armed group of civilians and soldiers is to Dismantle and eliminate weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Florence is the Daugther of Deniese Sajdak of The Dalles. She is stationed in Baghdad at the former palace of Uday Hussein, once Known as Victory Palace, now bearing the name Camp Slayer. This was Uday Husseins palace before the first bombs fell over Baghdad, explained Florence in a letter. There is a big plaque on the main palace building entrance that declares victory over the U.S. in the Iran/Iraq Gulf War. Florence is part of a Mobile Collection Team (MCT) that goes out on Daily missions to seek out WMD. Part of our job is to search for documents and/or chemicals in laboratories and homes that may affect or pertain to any WMD, Florence wrote. We find clues and small pieces of proof every day. We are soldiers and we are trained to kill if necessary. However, unless we are aggressed upon, we do not fire our weapons. Small groups opposed to the coalition forces continue to launch rocket- Propelled grenades and mortars at convoys and around Baghdad, Florence wrote. However, the attacks are declining in number and frequency. The once friendly Iraqi people that once greeted us with We love America and I love you! and Bush Good! Saddam Bad! are beginning to feel the strain of still having a strong military force roam their streets and land. She wrote. They are not quite as friendly and are beginning to frown and fold their arms across their chests when we pass by. Regardless, Florence remains committed to her role in the war, says her Mother. Shes pretty much at peace, Sajdak said. Florence joined the Army a month after her reign as 1997 Northwest Cherry Sweetheart. She was active during high school, also serving on one of the first Youth Action Councils for the Wasco County Commission on Children and Families. Her mother occasionally thinks about the contrast. From that moment when she was riding down the street in her beautiful gown, two months later she was crawling under tracer bullets in the mud and rushing dummies with bayonets, Sajdak said. Florence, the oldest of five children, was the first member of the Duman Family to join the military. Shes always been very patriotic, said Sajdak. She really believes in what shes doing. However, shes not the last of her siblings to serve her country, Sajdak Noted. Sajdaks son, Peter Duman, is stationed at the Naval Air Station on Whidbey Island. Esther Duman Sizemore is also in the Navy, also deployed in Support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Daniel Duman serves in the National Guard. The youngest Duman sibling, Chris, is still at The Dalles High School, and Hopes to be an airplane pilot, but is undecided on the military or civilian route. However, he did comment that he felt he wouldnt be doing his duty (if he didnt serve in the military), Sajdak said. Florence was stationed at Fort Riley Kansas from 1998 to 2001, working As the Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Operations Specialist. I ran an NBC room, which is an office or section in the Army unit or company that is in charge of all NBC training, issuing and supplying for that unit, Duman wrote. She also worked with the Better Opportunities for Single Soldiers (BOSS) Program at the base, eventually becoming post president. The program is geared toward improving the life, welfare and morale of Single soldiers. Sajdak considers it an important contribution. She built it up from basically nothing to being very active. It was a single soldier at Fort Riley in 1998 that she met her future Husband, Ronald Florence of Concord, Georgia. I met my to-be husband at the post roller skating rink, she said. We both worked there as volunteers and we fell in love. That same year, Ronald Florence got out of the Army and returned to Georgia, but the two kept up their courtship at a distance. In July 2000, the pair were married on the same skating rink wearing Roller skates. Florence remained at Fort Riley until July 2001, when she left active duty And moved to Georgia to be with her husband. In Georgia, she joined the U.S. Army Reserves. I became the NBC recom NCO (noncommissioned officer) with the 587th Service Company from Fort Gilliam Georgia, Florence wrote. She also became a new mother, giving birth to Bradley Sean Florence on November 26, 2001. Throughout her active-duty Army career, Florence had remained stationed in The United States, but on March 31 of this year, she was activated with the 314th Chemical Company in support of Operation Enduring Freedon. On April 24th, we deployed from Fort Benning Georgia, she Florence wrote. We arrived in Kuwait 16 hours later on May 11th, Mothers Day, we traveled 375 miles in Humvees, smoke vehicles and five-ton trucks to what was called Victory Palace, Baghdad. It was during that trip that Florence came to terms with her purpose in Iraq, her mother said. At every village, all the little children would run out and beg for food, Sajdak related. She told me Thats why Im here and Im really glad. The palace where shes stationed, now Camp Slayer, was once a beautiful Place, Florence wrote. Surrounding lakes and palm trees with dates growing on them, and fig trees, make the place look more like a resort than a home. The buildings are beautifully decorated with all marble floors and huge, extravagant chandeliers. The palace contrasts harshly with the conditions in other parts of the city. It is a very sad fact to see the Iraqi people pushing around little donkey-drawn carts, collecting any spare metal they can find so they can sell it to survive, and living in blown up little stone buildings living in dirt and dust and heat. It boggles the mind to see how they lived compared to the wealth and riches the Hussein family stole from them. This alone makes our cause completely justified. Far away from her family, husband and baby, Florence relies heavily on her Faith to see her through, Sajdak said. Shes taken it on herself to read the Bible all the way through, Sajdak said. She has strength of faith and she feels like shes got a bubble of protection around her. While other reservists have recently received word that their duty hitches Have been extended, Florence says she will be in Iraq until her job is done. We will be here, doing our job, until we are satisfied that we have found all there is to be found. In the meantime, her husband has also received word that he is being Called back to active duty, Sajdak said. He expects to be called to Afghanistan sometime soon. The Dalles Chronicle September 14, 2003. Written permission to reprint given by The Dalles Chronicle, The Dalles, Oregon Copied and submitted by Earline Wasser Member of Columbia Gorge Genealogical Society c/o The Dalles/Wasco County Public Library 722 Court Street The Dalles, Oregon 97058 http://community.gorge.net/genealogy [Note: new website address] Browse http://historysavers.com/orwasco/ recently updated information regarding Wasco County - Links are at the bottom of page http://searches.rootsweb.com/ "Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds you plant." Robert Louis Stevenson _________________________________________________________________ Get reliable dial-up Internet access now with our limited-time introductory offer. http://join.msn.com/?page=dept/dialup