Postcard from Iraq:
A close call in battle

By Diane Villano
Times Staff Writer

Army National Guard Specialist Rob Portone, 19, a Northeast resident, arrived in Iraq in 2005. Reporter Diane Villano, in ongoing reports, is taking a look at Portone’s wartime experiences through e-mail communications with the soldier, when the network is operational, and interviews with his family.

Barb Portone talked to her son, Spec. Rob Portone, on Friday. It was the first she had heard from her son, who is stationed in Ramadi, since phone and Internet lines were shut down following the death of a soldier from Vermont on Jan. 25.
Portone told his mother that one of the patrols had a close call and hit an improvised explosive device but that no one was hurt. The truck, however, did receive a good deal of damage.
Camps based in Ramadi have been in the news of late, due to reports that they may have received tainted water. Halliburton, however, denied allegations by a whistle blower that troops received untreated water with twice the normal level of contamination of the Euphrates River.
Reports said that while soldiers received bottled water for drinking, they had unfiltered water for washing, laundering and for coffee.
Spec. Portone hadn’t heard the reports, but he told his mother that even if there was contamination at Camp Ramadi, they only drink bottled water anyway, so he’s not too concerned about it.
He also said that to his knowledge, no one got sick from water or anything strange like it. Other than a bad cold that got passed around, everyone is doing very well. ••
Reporter Diane Villano can be reached at 215-354-3036 or dvillano@phillynews.com