17
Aug

Camp Anaconda Iraq and the truth behind KBR sending fuel drivers into a war zone Steve Daniel aka “Real Fast” continues to fight for unpaid overtime and hazard pay

My brother in law, Steve Daniel, was an Albertsons driver for years. Cutbacks and early retirement would force him to join many other truck drivers who had a Hazmat license to travel to Houston, TX and prepare for work as contractors in Iraq.

My brother in law has never really wanted to discuss what he has seen at Camp Anaconda. He doesn’t understand why sleep evades him and he has lost all of his teeth. I do and I have spent the last four years uncovering the conspiracy of KBR to attempt a cover up related to the deliberate dispatch of fuel drivers into a war zone, knowing that they might never return to camp.

Steve is and always will be haunted by the sounds of war. None of the drivers who survived their time at Camp Anaconda are able to forget the mortar attacks, the burn pits or, the Good Friday bombing and ensuing 11 days spent under attack at Balad AFB.

Corporate giant KBR knew of issues with tooth and gum disease. They also knew that they had been instructed to provide clean water to civilian contractors and Military Members, they simply did not care about the health and we being of others.

KBR also knew that getting jet fuel was more important to them than the welfare of those who were sent out of the camp to get the fuel from camp to the destination. Numerous reports had instructed them of the dangers related to such a mission.

Steve Daniel can never forget the smell of the burn pits, the screams of his friends and the panic related to the Good Friday attack. Steve Daniel suffers with survivors guilt everyday, he questions why he survived and his friends did not. He cannot and may not ever be able to comprehend the confusion and shear panic of “driving real fast to get the hell out of there!”

I will always remember driving my Cadillac out to Houston with my twin to see Steve before he shipped out. He was nervous, all of the drivers were. But, they were also assured that Military personnel would protect them.

Nobody got rich from shipping out to Iraq. A weak economy forced many to take a job that nobody would have expected carried such a high danger in order to earn a paycheck.

These drivers had not been trained for combat and certainly did not have any weapons to defend themselves in the event of an attack.

KBR failed to pay hazard structures along with overtime to these drivers and continues to drag their feet, years later!

Everyday, Steve gets a call from fellow drivers who were dispatched to other camps and, those who have not died, suffer serious health issues and ailments that may very well shorten their life span.

Good old boys, these truck drivers never knew of the true and very real dangers they faced as they packed up to board a plane- I know because my sister and myself visited with these drivers who were away from home and delighted to have a little company to visit with before they were scheduled to ship out.

Going to Houston and visiting with these truck drivers and my brother in law was probably one of the best decisions I’ve ever made and, sadly having met several drivers who died in the roadside bombing, my heart is heavy.

These men were hard working men that had made a huge sacrifice to leave the comfort of their homes and travel to a destination in order to provide a paycheck to wives back home that anxiously awaited phone calls every few days from their husbands.

I was often with my sister, Cindy Daniel when Steve called from Camp Anaconda and you could actually hear mortar attacks while asking about the food and what recreation was available to the men on the camp.

Fox News showed up at my sisters house after Tommy was kidnapped and, without considering the mental stress that such an unexpected visit would put on my sister, told her about the bombing before she knew there had been an attack.

I found out be seeing my sister on television from the waiting room at Frank Kent Cadillac. Cindy Daniel was shocked and horrified that her husband, Steve Daniel a guy that loves pancakes and honey, a guy that lives for an embrace from his twin grand daughters, a guy that enjoys mowing the lawn and playing with “the littles” a man who left his home to earn a living, might never come home.

Steve wrote letters regularly since he was only allowed a trip home 2-3 times a YEAR. I wrote him many letters and, we sent photos along with updates from Texas. We continued to try and find employment back home so he could leave Camp Anaconda- the economy in Texas was just too unstable.

Many drivers were lost in Iraq, many families continue to struggle, many drivers continue to wait in the battle over lost wages.

KBR continues to lie, cheat and steal from drivers who left their homes to earn a paycheck that, years later, continues to go unpaid.

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