Veterans History Project

The Veterans History Project of the Library of Congress collects, preserves, and makes accessible the personal accounts of American war veterans so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war.

This particular Veterans History Project story is not like most of the others. It'll be told in three segments, like a good Clint Eastwood movie, "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly".

The Good:

Yuri Barilo has his family roots and some of his early life as a citizen of Estonia. In high school, he took advantage of a foreign exchange student program. He went to what would be a senior year in Ocean City, New Jersey. He was fluent in three languages.

Yuri LOVED America! There was nothing he could not enjoy. He stayed after graduation and with the help of grants, went on to college. He earned college degrees in Business and in Computer Science/Civil Engineering. He applied for, and was issued, a Green Card. He found a good job as a teacher in a private school. This young man was doing well.

Yuri and a neighbor were in a discussion about a number of subjects. One topic was joining the military. The neighbor went into the Marine Corps; Yuri became a soldier in the US Army. Yuri was excited! He wanted to pay back some of his blessings of being in this Country. He enlisted as an E-3.

After clearing the Military Enlistment Processing Station (MEPS) he was sent by bus to Fort Jackson, South Carolina. He said that on arrival, Drill Sergeants came aboard the bus and politely informed the young recruits about how things would go for the next few weeks. They were told where they would eat, where they would sleep, haircuts, clothing, etc. The Drill Sergeants then had them exit the bus in an orderly manner and get on with things. The Drill Sergeants hardly raised their voices. In reflection, this easy going was like the calm before the storm. That same day, they were told that the in-processing stage was complete and the conversion from being a civilian to being a soldier would start next.

While on a bus in the training area, a group of different Drill Sergeants appeared. They yelled, ordered, made fun of, and generally intimidated the recruits, making a tremendous impression that would last until they graduated. "You WILL sit at attention, head and eyes straight ahead; keep your mouth shut... now, from left to right, get the hell off my bus!" The yelling did not stop even when the bus was empty. The young people were lined up into a formation very quickly.

Yuri had to use the bathroom... but the Drill Sergeants told him to drink more water and he could go when they told him to go! Although uncomfortable, Yuri liked it! Through training, he took it all in, especially the bivouac and long road marches. He liked the rifle ranges with the tracer rounds, mortars, and flares.

After graduating from Initial Entry Training (IET) he went on to learn some mechanical skills at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, MD. He would be assigned to a Military Police Unit as a wheeled Vehicle Mechanic. Yuri wanted Military Police School or Infantry School. He was held back because of his citizenship status. He completed mechanical school second in his class and was given a choice as to where his next assignment was to be. He would soon be a part of the 2nd Infantry Division at Camp Red Cloud, South Korea.

With the 2nd Division, the Battalion First Sergeant greeted arriving soldiers and asked for a high speed SGT who could get things done. Yuri was the go-to guy when things needed to get done. In that he was so busy, time went fast.

Soon it was time to re-deploy. When Yuri re-enlisted, he was given his choice of assignments. He selected the geographic area of Germany and was assigned to the 18th Military Police (MP) Brigade, 793rd MP Battalion. He worked in the company motor pool. The unit was preparing for deployment to Iraq, meaning that there were lots of field training exercises and much supply wrangling to get all the stuff they would need.

While in Germany, Yuri's parents came to visit him. He got married there as well! As the time for deployment got nearer, Yuri and his wife thought it was better that she live with his parents. Two weeks after leaving the Continental US, Mrs. Barilo gave birth to a son, named Marcus.

The Bad

The MP Battalion was first sent to Camp Victory near Baghdad. There, they completed MP duties of security and force protection. Yuri was moved into a supply position and performed his work quite well. When the unit received orders to go to the Basra area, south of Baghdad, Yuri was in the advanced party to check out the new environment. He was with the Company Commander, a Lieutenant, and a Sergeant First Class.

The units they would be replacing were primarily British troops. The advanced party returned to lead the Battalion to the new place. They quickly learned that their forward operating base was under constant enemy bombardment. Every night between 2100 and 2130 hours, the mortars and rockets would be coming in. During the eight months they were there, they received some 1,500 barrages. Lives were taken, including a Chaplain and a Major. Their hospital was struck and one of the radio antennae was hit regularly.

Yuri said there were lots of suicides in the Unit. The living quarters were steel shipping containers converted to housing units for four soldiers. They moved to different places, including a tent structure that was protected by concrete walls then sandbags on top of the walls. The men and women of the unit continued their work, but the stress factor was huge.

After nearly six months at the forward operating base (FOB), the battalion moved back to the Basra area. One of the pieces of military operations involves conducting "Presence Patrols" or "door kickers". The mission here is to reassure the locals that there are soldiers there to help them and to let the enemy know they were being watched.

Life in the FOB was not particularly easy. The men kept in touch with home by using the internet café as provided by the military. There were no USO visits. Early on there was a suicide bomber who blew himself up in a dining facility. Four or five times a week, critical equipment was lost, there were "lay-outs" where every soldier laid his equipment out on his bunk to see if the item could be found (night vision goggles, Identification badges, weapons, etc... the base would be shut down until what was missing was found.

A convoy Yuri was part of, was rocked hard by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED). The lead HUMMV was blown up, most of its crew was dead. The vehicle Yuri was in was bounced into the air. When it landed, Yuri's body was going up when the Hummer struck the ground. Yuri's helmeted head slammed into the ceiling of the armored vehicle. He was able to stagger out of the vehicle but collapsed to the ground when he was outside. The Traumatic Brain Injury was plenty. Three vertebrae were herniated. They were near the top of his spine. The pain was unimaginable.

Yuri was sent back to Germany, then on to the US. After taking convalescence leave and travel orders, Yuri was sent to Colorado where he was to become an Army Recruiter.

The Ugly:

Recruiters mostly are part of the civilian population where they are assigned. Yuri was in constant contact