This picture is too good not to share.

This is payday in Iraq. As one of my special friends observed, when was the last time you were paid with a stack of money wrapped in ribbon delivered in a plastic bag? This is one of those photo’s that will get framed for my desk and remind me of the Iraqi Army. It was taken just after the pay arrived. From here, it went out to the compound and paid the soldiers of the unit. Our Army used to do it the same way, before checking and ultimately direct deposit.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars used to be sent out to American units for Pay Day. The Pay Master duties usually fell to the youngest LT. We’d dress up in our finest Army uniform and SGT’s would conduct inspections of barracks and soldiers. We’d stand in formation and then line up for payments, counted out by the Lieutenant and counted back to him to make sure it was correct. This was a very formal event and we practiced how to report to the Lieutenant. If you wanted some Italian Lira, you had to tell the Pay Master before he counted out the money so he could re-compute the amount before you got it. This was before calculators, k? That was a lot of responsibility and woe befall the LT who came up short at the end of the day. It's very similiar here on Pay Day.

Happy 4th of July! Please seek out a parade, a band shell and fireworks and attend in my stead. I will be with you next year.

Best wishes from Iraq.