F. E. Warren AFB, Wyo. -- It once was hallowed ground.

When Capt. Jutta Cortes, 20th Air Force, arrived, it was abandoned, overgrown and the place where souls whispered from beyond for someone to remember.

She changed all that, and in the process, made a difference.

Captain Cortes was deployed to Iraq when a stranger asked her to help save the Royal Air Force Cemetery at Camp Habbaniyah, Iraq, which was created in 1927 by a treaty between Iraq and Britain.

The RAF mission was vital to the survival of the Iraqi way of life and the success of Allied forces, especially in April 1941 when Rashid Ali, and Iraqi dissident led a 10,000 man army against the RAF. According to the Department of the Army, if the RAF had failed, the Germans would have taken control of Iraq, allied oil supplies would have been lost, Egypt could have fallen, communications with India cut, and quite possibly, the whole war lost.

Remaining after the war were flower beds and fruit trees that cradled the final resting spot of 162 British and Commonwealth personnel and 128 civilians, wives and children.
The Iraqis have always remembered them as heroes, but time neglected the cemetery and her contents.

Captain Cortes, and avid gardener, was just the person to help. Along with Tech. Sgt. Stephen Veeder and Master Sgt. Steven Amundson, she organized more than 40 Iraqi volunteers to help restore the cemetery.

"They wanted to help, so it wasn't hard to get volunteers," said Captain Cortes. "They understand the importance of history and the people who gave their lives for not only their country but also Iraq."

The volunteers spent three long, intense days cleaning the cemetery. They picked up branches, replaced headstones and even endured incoming attacks.

"We would have to dive to the ground," said Captain Cortes. "There was no bunker or shelter to go to, so we would lie on the ground between the headstones."

The irony is symbolic: they were putting their lives on the line for those who had sacrificed their lives.

The most sobering moments for the team were caring for disheveled graves whose contents had been disturbed; the team returned them to their slumber.

Helping in the cemetery effort was a young Iraqi soldier nicknamed Freeman, who, like many Iraqis, had endured death threats for serving his country.

Captain Cortes and Freeman soon began to talk and Freeman told her he wanted to come to the United States to go to college. Just as the Iraqis had volunteered to help her without question, Captain Cortes volunteered to help Freeman.

"The paperwork has all been done," said the anxious Captain Cortes. "Now we are waiting for approval [from the U.S. government] so he can come to the United States."

The hope is Freeman will be in Cheyenne in time to start fall classes at LCCC. He'll stay with Captain Cortes and her family while he pursues a degree.

What started out as a volunteer project touched multiple generations in multiple ways: from WWII to Operation Iraqi Freedom, from British to American and Iraqi servicemembers and from the past to the future.

What started as a passion for gardening for Captain Cortes revealed her true passion: making a difference in the lives of others.