Weapons, Body Armor, Good Luck Charms

The military gives soldiers food, clothing, weapons, and body armor.

But, observes Dave Price, that isn't all they need to get through each day.

The Early Show weatherman and features reporter just got back from a five day trip to Iraq and Kuwait, where he entertained some 22,000 troops, along with the Charlie Daniels Band.

Nearly every soldier and Marine in Iraq carries something personal with him or her at all times, as good luck charms, Price reports.

"We call them warriors," he remarked. "But they're the sons, Brothers, dads, mothers, sisters and friends we miss. And. as they dress each day for battles they pray they never see, most carry a little piece of us with them."

"This is my baby," one soldier remarked to Price, pointing to a picture in her wallet. "This is my son. This is my good luck charm."

Another said, "I always carry this with me. It's a picture of my little sister. It goes with me every time I go out on a mission."

Tucked into pockets and hidden in body armor, photos are by far the most common reminders of home, Price notes.

"It's with me everywhere I go," one troop said of a snapshot of her children.

"She keeps me safe," said another, of a photo of a woman about his age. "She's my good luck charm and I know, as along as I have something of hers right by me, nothing bad will happen to me."

"I got a lot of pictures," said one soldier, "but this is the first one my wife sent me of my daughter smiling."

"This is Cassidy," said a soldier and mother of a photo. "She's my 6-year-old daughter."

One GI was glad Price asked what he carries around, because it reminded him that he'd left his good luck charm, his dog tags, with a picture of his daughter on them, in his room. And he insisted he wouldn't leave before getting them, saying, "Damn right."

For some soldiers, Price says, there are more tangible reminders of the life they left behind.Army Chief Dan Curran, of Cranston, R.I., carries a golf club, and sometimes uses it on a makeshift driving range on the grounds of what used to be one of Saddam Hussein's palaces.

Some of the things soldiers carry have more personal connections to those back home.

"This is my daughter Cassandra's sock. I found it when I was packing," said one troop.

"This is from my mom," said a soldier of a pin. "This is from my best friend. This is from my cats."

Others carry symbols of their faith in God.

"The first one says, 'We love because God loves us,' " one soldier said. "The second one says, 'Work hard, cheerfully, as though for the Lord.' And there's not one day I haven't put this in my pocket."

"I carry this wooden little cross on my dog tags that my girlfriend gave me right before leaving," a troop said.

Another pointed to a metal tag that shows St. Michael, the archangel's pendant: "Before every patrol, we say his prayer. And I carry this one, always with me."

Then, he said the prayer: "St. Michael, the archangel, defend us in battle and be our protector against the wickedness and snares of the devil, we humbly pray."

For the soldiers serving in Iraq, the ones who do the fighting, and the dying, in one of the world's most dangerous places, it's the simplest things that matter the most, Price noticed.

One hardened GI told him, "I always have pictures of my kids."

"And when you don't have those pictures," Price asked, "are you running back to get 'em before you leave?"

"Yes," came the reply. "Always. Always."

Price admitted to co-anchor Harry Smith he had a good luck charm of his own along on the trip: "I promised my parents I would travel with a red ribbon, and not let it out of my sight. And I did.

"And, to these men and women, those small things are as important as the body armor, psychologically. It's remarkable."