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Salitpa man gets close-up look at Iraq
"I was talking with some friends and they were going to Iraq to install camera equipment on Humvees over there. I've worked with sheet metal since I was 16-years-old. I told them I wanted to go," Deas said. He got a passport and completed the paperwork he needed before traveling out of the country. Before he could go overseas he had to complete an Army training course in Georgia. "I've never done anything in my life like that. Can you imagine a 67-year-old doing all this stuff," he laughed. The crew, who was working with DRS Training and Control Systems, Inc., were sent to Baghdad and two other camps to install 900 cameras on vehicles. "When we were leaving Baghdad for one of the other bases the machine gunner started getting the machine gun ready. I thought to myself, 'This ain't good.' But he never had to fire it. It sure scared me though." Deas said he was able to get any kind of food or cold drinks he wanted. Apparently the chicken was a little over-cooked, but that was his only complaint about the food. The crew members wore khaki shirts and pants, just like the military. They were forbidden to take any pictures in the mess halls and picture taking in general was frowned on. They had to carry their passports and letters of arrival with them everywhere they went. Daytime temperatures could reach 130 degrees and at night the temperature might be as low as 40 degrees. "At one facility the bathroom was about 75 feet from where I was staying. It changed every few days from the men's to the women's bathroom. You just had to watch to see if the sign changed. One morning I got up and went to the bathroom and didn't notice the sign had been changed, so that morning I walked in the ladies room. Of course I got out of there quick too," he laughed. "I met some real nice people while I was over there. I ran into a soldier who was from Thomasville. I should have gotten his name, but I didn't think about it at the time. I met a colonel who was real nice. It is awesome what they are doing over there. The United States can be proud of our soldiers over there."
Deas and his wife Bonita have three children, Kay, Warren Jr. and Darren, 10 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
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