Iraq Diary, Pt. 6: Daily Life Brings Long Hours, Tension

The situation in Iraq is tense these days for hundreds of National Guard and Reserve soldiers from northern New York. The armed uprising continues and temperatures have already soared to 110 degrees. Army Major Eric Olsen—a chaplain from Saranac Lake—has been sending audio diaries from the front lines. In this week’s journal, he describes the precarious chemistry of nerves and fear and boredom that make a soldier’s life so hard.