Photo by Joseph Rivera Rebolledo-Two Iraqi girls celebrate after painting a T-wall at Forward Operating Base War Eagle in northern Baghdad. During the day, children of the village next to the base painted artwork on the T-walls that line their way to school.

Soldiers at Forward Operating Base War Eagle in Baghdad, Iraq, invited a group of Iraqi children to showcase their artistic skills and creativity by painting the concrete walls used to protect citizens in their neighborhood.

The children live in a village near War Eagle and walk by the “T-walls” daily on their way to school, said Army Capt. Megan Welch, a Multinational Division Baghdad logistics officer with the 4th Infantry Division’s 64th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, adding the children find the route to be a safe way to get to school.
Though the focus of the painting session was to provide another way to establish rapport with the adult and younger residents of the village, Welch said, it also was a chance for the children to beautify something they see daily.

Welch, a native of La Crescent, Minn., added it helped the Iraqi children see Soldiers not only as armed protectors, but also as people they can interact with.

The children painted Iraqi and American flags, palm trees, flowers, hearts and other designs of their imagination to give the T-walls a vivid look. The painting day gave the children a better feeling of how people behind the uniform are, and it shows them Soldiers care about them, Welch said.

“The kids who participated had a good time, and for us, it was a good opportunity to interact with the neighborhood kids,” said Army Capt. Walter Zurkowsky, a New Hampshire native who serves as executive officer for Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 3rd Brigade Combat Team.

Welch and her fellow Soldiers from the Mountaineer Battalion organized the day and said they hope to host similar events.

“We had a lot of fun with the kids. It was a good, cooperative, community-building event, and we look forward to seeing many of these in the future,” she said.