Boeing's CH-47 Chinook helicopter - Waging the War against Terrorism [Page 10].

Iraq Operations

Saddam Gets A Ride

7 July 2004

Say you're sitting all day by "the red line phone" halfway around the world from your home and when the call finally comes, your orders are to fly the world's most notorious former dictator back from his court hearing.

As the heavily armed convoy pulls up behind your helicopter and a security contingent piles in, Saddam Hussein's doctor requests a smooth flight, to ensure the former Iraqi ruler's nerves remain calm.

What's on your mind?

"I'm wondering at this point if a Chinook can do a barrel roll," Warrant Officer 2 Ronald Leath wrote Friday to his father, Monty Leath of Hilton Head Island.

   The e-mail message came the day after Ronald Leath, a 42-year-old Army Reservist and native of Canton, Ohio, flew Saddam back from Thursday's well-publicized court hearing in Iraq.

   For the record, Ronald Leath chose to not test the performance capabilities of his aircraft.

   "The fact is, (Saddam) was treated with kid gloves," he wrote Tuesday.

But even without added theatrics, the mission was a step up from the many "run-of-the-mill" assignments Leath has performed during his three months in Iraq, he wrote, up even from the higher-profile jobs such as transporting L. Paul Bremer, former head of the Iraqi provisional government, or carrying $1.2 billion in $100 bills.

"We had our suspicions" about Saddam as a passenger after preliminary instructions described an unnamed prisoner of war and accompanying security, Leath wrote Friday. "But we didn't really suspect we'd get 'Da Man.' "

Iraqi authorities summoned Saddam to court to advise him of charges they intend to bring, similar to an arraignment in the United States. Accounts of the proceeding describe a man who arrived not wearing the posh Italian suits he preferred, but rather an inexpensive sport coat and slacks provided by the U.S. military.

Gone was the wild beard and unkempt hair shown in broadcasts around the world after his capture in December. Saddam arrived groomed and wary, chiding the judge and calling the proceeding "theater by (President) Bush, the criminal, in an attempt to win the election," according to several accounts.

On the helicopter ride back, Saddam behaved less defiantly. He boarded blindfolded and handcuffed, surrounded by a security detail. Ronald Leath said he saw "a pathetic-looking and skinny little old man."

British soldiers watch as a Chinook helicopter lands in the southern Iraqi city of Basra. The British military said one of its Puma helicopters crashed there in a suspected accident, killing one airman and injuring two others.

Monday, 19 July 2004: British soldiers watch as a Chinook helicopter lands in the southern Iraqi city of Basra. The British military said one of its Puma helicopters crashed there in a suspected accident, killing one airman and injuring two others.

CH-47D Chinook helicopter 93-00933 hovering Saddem Hussein's old palace in Tikrit, Iraq.

13 August 2004: CH-47D Chinook helicopter 93-00933 hovers outside of Saddam Hussein's old palace in Tikrit, Iraq. Notice the damage to the front door of the building. This is where the United States Air Force (USAF) came a knocking with a Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) bomb - another fine Boeing product. After the former dictators ouster, American soldiers played basketball in the building. Click-N-Go Here to view a larger version.