News from Iraq: UW-Green Bay grad has hand in soccer game

An interesting story came our way today… Army Capt. Joe Dumas, a 2003 grad who majored in history, played a role in bringing a greater sense of normalcy to a war-torn town in Iraq. Dumas, a platoon leader for the Stryker Brigade, 2nd Squadron, 14th U.S. Calvary (aka ‘Strykehorse!’), secured a soccer field so U.S. troops could play Iraqi citizens in a soccer tournament. Dumas was in charge of security for the event, which took a year of planning and took place in the town of Taji, just north of Baghdad. It was the first of its kind and size since the U.S. entered Iraq in 2003. Soldiers took off their body armor, Sunni and Shia Muslims competed as teammates and children had something to cheer about around the soccer field. The hometown newspaper of one of Dumas’s men carried a nice feature (Dumas is quoted); read article.