Tennessee water tower in Iraq

[VolForLife83]

Just came across this. Gotta love it!




During the Iraq War, a soldier assigned to paint a base water tower added the emblem, representing the team's "Big Orange" colors.

Key Details:

• Location: The tower was located at a former compound of Saddam Hussein's sons in Mosul, Iraq.
• • Origin: The, likely, a captain from the 101st Airborne Division took the initiative to paint it while tasked with maintenance in the early 2000s.
  • Significance: It serves as a, now-famous, morale-boosting, and "random" piece of American sports culture in the middle of the Iraqi desert, representing the many soldiers stationed there who were from Tennessee or fans of the University of Tennessee.
  • Status: It has been a subject of interest for years, often mentioned in stories about American soldiers’ experiences during the conflict.

 

[3holenones]

That is so cool. Thanks for sharing. GO VOLS!!!

 

[SpecialKVolfan]

I thought it was in one of our members avatars?

 

[Special Ed]

Likely a captain?
I doubt that. Officers don't do physical labor.
I like to think it was a malingering Gomer Pyle-type private or corporal from Alabama who was made to paint the water tower.

 

[LordVOLdemort]

Likely a captain?
I doubt that. Officers don't do physical labor.
I like to think it was a malingering Gomer Pyle-type private or corporal from Alabama who was made to paint the water tower.

E-4 Mafia definitely painted that water tower

 

[Vol in Buckeye Land]

@utvolpj

 

[camp_steveo]

Likely a captain?
I doubt that. Officers don't do physical labor.
I like to think it was a malingering Gomer Pyle-type private or corporal from Alabama who was made to paint the water tower.

I was my infantry company commander's radio operator in Iraq 2004-05. I went everywhere he went, which was on every single platoon patrol, raid, or any type of mission that involved operations, every day and night of every month we were there. About once a week he would fall asleep for more than 15 minutes, but other than that the man was a machine. I've never seen someone work so hard in all my life.

 

[Brave Volunteer]

 

[YankeeVol]

E-4 Mafia definitely painted that water tower

Well we know zero officers did…