Mortarville

n. a military base subject to regular attack. Also Mortaritaville. Subjects: English, Iraq, Military

Editorial Note: Mortaritaville seems to refer specifically to Camp Anaconda near Balad, Iraq, although an informant says that a giant, multicolored “Welcome to Mortaritaville” sign was displayed at Log Base Seitz (also known as Seitzkatraz/Impact Zone Seitz) in late 2003. The variant Mortaritaville is probably a play on the Jimmy Buffett song “Margaritaville.” A mortar is ‘a muzzle-loading high-angle gun with a short barrel that fires shells at high elevations for a short range,’ according to WordNet.

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Citations: 2004 The Black Foxes Guild (Feb. 26) “Greetings From Baghdad”: I’ve finally made it into Baghdad, though I’ll be leaving behind our company’s awesome barracks (wired up with heat, AC, internet in each room…) to head out to the place they call Mortarville. 2004 Jerry Griffin @ Iraq DXer (Menlo Park, California) (Sept. ) “News from Jerry, K6MD/YI9MD”: A detention facility by the Iranian border lost their doc cuz he had an irregular heart beat & went for eval in germany, so I get to play prison doc for a couple 2-3 weeks, then back to Mosul (mortarville…..). 2004 Tom Bowman Baltimore Sun (Oct. 11) “Long an Iraqi target, no U.S. help in sight” p. 1A: This sprawling supply base on a dusty stretch about 50 miles northwest of Baghdad is officially known as a “logistical support area.” But some of the thousands of soldiers and contractors who suffer daily mortar and rocket attacks have another name for it: “Mortaritaville.” 2004 [Carleeann] New Castle News Discussion Forum (Penn.) (Oct. 23) “Who will you vote for?”: On the Front Page of Stars and Stripes (Which is free in Iraq) the paper goes on to tell the world that LSA (logistics support area) Anaconda is now nicknamed Mortarville but is’s okay they are used to it and will not get more money to be used for base defense. 2004 Tara Shay @ Baghdad, Iraq TSV’s Journal (Nov. 15) “Welcome To Mortarville”: (title) Last night, it seemed the “evil doers” had our living area tagged. At 7pm, three mortars arrived. 2004 [batterystation] CandlePower Forums (Dec. 31) “Re: Operation Christmas Lights”: On behalf of the “Predator” folks, here at Balad Air Base, Iraq (a.k.a. “mortarville”), I wish to convey my thanks and appreciation for “your” continued support. 2005 Todd Mcadam Press & Sun-Bulletin (Binghamton, NY) (Feb. 2) “Long wait finally over for 2 soldiers, families”: The 45-soldier unit has spent the past 14 months guarding Camp Anaconda, the military’s largest support facility in Iraq, about 40 miles north of Baghdad. Soldiers call the place “Mortaritaville,” for the daily mortar attacks it undergoes.

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Reader comments:

I am just writing to confirm that that sign was posted at Log Base Seitz. I was there from ‘04 to ‘05 and witnessed it being there. Also, to quote Shane Bernskoetter in “Surviving Twighlight”; a book on the going ons of Log Base Seitz, “...there was an article in the “Stars and Stripes” newspaper about Camp Anaconda…In the article they tossed out numbers for Anaconda:
15 square miles of fenced in area
25,000 troops and contractors living there
6 deaths due to mortar attacks
100 wounded by mortar attacks
This made me think about [Log Base Seitz] numbers:
0.15 square miles of fenced in area
less than 1,000 troops and contractors living here
4 deaths due to mortar attacks
50 wounded by mortar attacks…
Calculating the numbers show that we have:
(4 deaths/.14 sq miles)/(6 deaths/15 sq miles)=71.4 times more deaths per square mile of base territory
(4 deaths/1000 people)/(6 deaths/25000 people)=16.7 times as many deaths per 1000 people.”
pg. 266 under (18 Oct. 2004) Chapter 2.
I hope I’ve made my point. Camp Anaconda is no where near Log Base Seitz in relation to receiving such a name as Mortaritaville. I’ve lived there. I should know.

by Rhiannon Britton 25 Jul 06, 0353 GMT

Nowhere in the entry does it say that Camp Anaconda is near Log Base Seitz. So your information is very welcome but your correction is misdirected.

by Grant Barrett 25 Jul 06, 1020 GMT

I to was at Log Base seitz and it was Mortarville. I left April 2004 I was there when 35 were injured. It hit our bay 11 of my fellow soldiers were apart of 35. My bay was hit 3x. I took a long time to get better after coming home.

by Kim Marovets 10 Sep 06, 0354 GMT

I was as Log Base Seitz from April 03 to April 2004. We formed the base out of an old Republican Army Base that Iraqi Soldiers had abandoned once the 3rd ID had taken the airport. I was a member of the 541st CSB and we ran the base. It truely was mortaritaville since the numbers are approximately 310 confirmed hits on the base in the 340 days I was there but that is just a rough estimate. I am trying to write a book on the happenings that are going on there and if anyone would like to contact me: brockhager@yahoo.com. Safe travels and Godspeed all you soldiers (brothers and sisters) out there. It has been over 2 years and I still have the memories fresh in my mind.

by SGT (former) Brock Hager 11 Oct 06, 0443 GMT

HHC, 541st Maintenance Battalion “Pacesetters” was at Log Base Seitz which has since then modularized in late 2005 into the 541st Combat Sustainment Support Battalion (CSSB) and is no longer a part of III Corps; they now support 1st Infantry Division’s DISCOM.

HHC and 1st Maintenance Company of 541st CSSB is on their 2nd deployment to Iraq at Camp Liberty in Baghdad.

by Michael 19 Oct 06, 0654 GMT

I to was at Log Base Seitz from 02 to 03. It does deserve the name given to it Mortaritaville . I am apart of HHC 151 SIG BN. I still have the place fresh in my mind.

by David Brunn 30 Oct 06, 0841 GMT

I was there also. I was part of the 24th Trans Co. We named it Mortaritaville long before someone stole the name for Anaconda. On my second tour I was on Anaconda. Trust me when I say this, Anaconda is nowhere near as bad or deserving as Log Base Seitz.

by K Farr 16 Nov 06, 0618 GMT

i was on log base seitz for 2005. I don’t want to hear how bad Anaconda was, i was on a convoy that overnighted there for a few days, it was like being on pass.

by Colin 06 Dec 06, 0556 GMT

Log base seitz for ever in our minds years later.

by kim 06 Dec 06, 0744 GMT

I was at Log Base Seitz April 03 April 04. The name Mortaritaville was name in 04. belive me the fit the name. Dave Davis

by Davve Davis 08 Jan 07, 1216 GMT

Log base Seitz was a hell hole. the most mortared site in Iraq at the time. It made national news too many times to keep track of! Remember Josh Knowles the first KIA of seitz.

by derock 08 Jan 07, 0539 GMT

As derock says it will live in our minds for the rest of our lives. RIP JLK. I just hope they bulldozed that place to the ground nothing more than a mortar magnet.

by Will 22 Jan 07, 0813 GMT

I was also stationed there at Log Base Seitz from 2003-2004. It was hell on earth! I will never forget what we went through out there. I wish that place could be leveled to the ground. No one should ever have to endure what we went through. I was there when the sign was painted. One of my Sgt’s was the one that painted it, along with the other paiting on the little px we had there. My God bless all of the soldiers that have fought, and the ones that are still fighting today. madchan3249@yahoo.com

by Youlanda 10 Feb 07, 1022 GMT

I was stationed there from 2004-2005 and agree with everyone here, Seitz, was no vacation, RIP Melvin Mora

SGT Keith Miller U.S. Army Reserve 245th Maint.
Now SSgt Air Force Reserve

by Keith Miller 09 Mar 07, 1230 GMT

I lived on Seitz from Mar 04 to Jan 05 and it was by far the worst you know the mortars that never ended and all of our casualties and it never stops.

Sgt. Marquez, Michael M.

by Michael M. Marquez jr. 09 Apr 07, 0232 GMT

This name belongs to Log Base Seitz. There were hardly any injuries at Anaconda per capita when compared to LBS. I lived in that “square mile of hell” from March 04-Feb 05

SGT (then SPC) Raymond Phillips
308th Quartermaster Company

by Raymond Phillips 28 Apr 07, 0338 GMT

Has anyone been there in the last year? A good friend just shipped out for Seitz and info regarding the base is sketchy at best. God bless to all who served and continue.

by Randee Schulz 06 May 07, 1249 GMT

I am headed to Seitz within a month. I was stationed in anacondabefore and all the numbers that were rattled off are not accurate. The reason there were more deaths in Seitz was due to its size. Mortars are a short distance weapon so in the case of camp anaconda, everything is centrally located mostly in the middle of the base.

by Angel 09 May 07, 0331 GMT

I was in Seitz from may 2003 until Dec 2003 with A. Co. 151 Sig. I see a fellow soldier from my bn. has posted too. That place is a literal Hell and needs to be shut down. I still have nightmares from my experiences. Many of my fellow soldiers do to. Good luck to all of you still in that Hell. And prayers for you all

by melanie 31 May 07, 0543 GMT

I was at LBS 04-05 and the kaos that was. I went back to visit it in 2006 and it was still the hell hole we all remember, although many things have changed. I also have been at Anaconda for the past 16 months as a civilian and there is no comparing the two. I lived without fear of losing my friends and co-workers at Camp Anaconda, at Seitz all I wandered was who would get hit next. Anaconda “Mortaritaville” my ASS!!

by R 10 Jul 07, 0620 GMT

I have been removed from Seitz for almost two years. Last weekend my new unit was put on Alert, that sucks, and then I saw the place where we were going, that is right Log Base Seitz. I had the worst case of Flash backs than any other time at that moment. I was transported back to Seitz in a matter of seconds. I found myself at the VA clinic the next Monday. For those who have PTSD, you know what I am talking about. Only God can help PTSD.

by SSG Preston Smith 06 Aug 07, 0630 GMT

God must not like Preston. You can not go back there. I thought it was only a day post and no over nights.

by Kim 07 Aug 07, 0516 GMT

PBS ran a program re: Anaconda. It was truly awesome, until they starting digging into the blank-check management by the contractors.

At first, I thought the “food court” was one of the best morale boosters ever conceived. Then it was revealed that the contractor was billing the taxpayers $48/serving.

If that’s what it really takes, well, our soldiers deserve it, but the contractor, KBR (Halliburton), and Dick Cheney, cannot justify blatant profiteering.

by Dave 15 Aug 07, 0232 GMT

I guess that would make minimum wage at the Baghdad Mickey-D’s would be about $60/hr

by Dave 15 Aug 07, 0238 GMT

Also, troops…

...CYA!!! and get home SAFE, we miss you.

by Dave 15 Aug 07, 0244 GMT

I would have to agree with anyone who says log base sietz was and most likely still is a shit hole.
I was there from 03-04 with the 1555th water det. Lucky for us we only had to live in log base for a few months since there was no water to clean on log base.
I dont know if anyone on here got the 541st coin that they gave all the units. I was the person who came up with the map designe for the back.

by Taralynn 04 Oct 07, 0556 GMT

I still have the coin! Great job except you left off the 1133rd.

by derock 05 Oct 07, 0154 GMT

I was in the 1544th (04-05) at
Seitz and believe me it was no vacation. We had 5 KIA and way to many injured to even think of counting. But I could definitely go to margaritaville anytime, just no more mortars.

by Brandon 13 Oct 07, 0503 GMT

OIF1, Log Base Seitz, 2003-2004. (Wheel Mechanic for 16th QM Co.)

Sorry Derock! I have to correct you; PFC Jesse D. Mizener from the 541st was the first LBS KIA, 7 Jan 04. That was the night before 16QM rolled out for Kuwait for redeployment, and I remember it all too well.

SPC Kowles died on/around 5 FEB 04.
God Bless them and their loved ones…

Blessed Be~
SGT Rehe, Rhonda

by Psyb0rg_Dreamz 27 Oct 07, 1155 GMT

Thanks to everyone for posting and keeping everyone informed. I was the Supply Sergeant for HHD 541CSB from apr 03-04. I got the coin too!!! what a good memory.

I would be happy too if they bulldozed it to the ground.

by SGT Hager (Fmr.) 30 Oct 07, 0214 GMT

I was at at log base seits in 03-04 as apart of the 24th trans Co under the 541st and not only was it the mortering going on but it was the 541st battalion commander that made life hell too. I won’t ever forget that time we spent in Sietz.But the solders made it fun I think we should get COMBAT ACTION BADGES (CAB) for that time.Peace

by SGT (former) Frank Fulton 06 Nov 07, 0638 GMT

It definently was mortarville. I was there from Feb.04 to Jan 04 with the 245th Maint. Co. We were mortared over 120 times. The few times we had a 3 week break from attacks was hell too! It left you thinking you were over due. You just knew it was coming. It was also such a small base. You could stand in the middle and see across it in all directions. Has anyone else come home with liver and thyroid issue? They blew up the warehouse behind are barracks that contained pesticides and other chemicals. It burned for 3 days. Please email if you know of others that had issues at joseph.clarkson@us.army.m il

by SFC Joseph Clarkson (Ret) 24 Nov 07, 0954 GMT

i was on log base seitz from january 05 to november 05… i have a lot of great memories, but i agree with everyone that i was a hell hole that was mortared constantly. i was part of the 546th asmc and we were the medics for the base for that year..

by rachel osha 12 Jan 08, 1009 GMT

i was at Seitz from jan 05 to dec 05 and let me tell you, that name is well deserving. i remember my first day there, we got there in time for chow and thats when i heard a sound that would stick with me for life. it was the sound of the alarm from tower 3. 157QM force protection was our life. we were welcomed by a mortar attack. Anaconda was like paradise.

by Spc. Shamere Davis 17 Jan 08, 0805 GMT

I was at Log Base Seitz from Mar 05-Dec 05. I worked in the Towers as well as a RTO. It is a place that I will never forget. This little place in the corner that basically lived day by day…. A place thet was just forgotten, and a place noone staying at Victory wanted to visit… Why? Your reading why in all the comments. Those that were there during my deployment (esp at San Quentin), we were all each other had..We were family. Anaconda???? Mortorville???? We cannot be serious…. Soldiers would and still do get excited to know they are going on a convoy to Anaconda….the resort of Iraq.

by Spc. Rodriguez(Hart), Beth 05 Feb 08, 1205 GMT

Hart!!!!!! Or should I say Rod!!!! What’s been going on? This sight is something special huh? Reminds me how Blessed I am.

by Spc. Shamere Davis 18 Feb 08, 0314 GMT

I was at Annaconda from 04-05 and we never called mortaritaville then.. we just called it braggdahd because almost everyone there was from the 18th airborne corps.

i just recently went through there a few months ago and now the PAX terminal has a big WELCOME TO MOTARITAVILLE sign up. kinda funny cause i lived there for a year and the alarms are annoying but the mortars rarely hit anything important.

you log base guys can have the name

LSA Annaconda is iraqs club med

by dave 22 Feb 08, 1111 GMT

Thanks to everyone who is posting and keeping our voices heard.

I posted earlier. Still waiting to hear on updates about LBS. Hope they bulldoze it. Lost 4 (or 5?) from APR 03-04. Bless everyone who has and will make it out of there.

brockhager@yahoo - anyone is welcome to Email me. God Bless and Godspeed…

by SGT (former) Brock Hager 07 Apr 08, 0152 GMT

I was also stationed on log base seitz between 2003-2004, i can honestly say it was hell.. and the camp really doesnt need to be there. They should burn it down the mission in iraq will still be the same without it

by leslie a. mulvaney 02 Jun 08, 0141 GMT

I was stationed at LBS from feb04-feb05. I’m now stationed at Camp Taji, Iraq. I’m hoping to get down to VBC to hop on a ride to Seitz for a QUICK visit. I’d like to see the place again, but I sure as HELL won’t stay very long.

by Jonathan Keys 08 Jun 08, 0825 GMT

I was stationed on Log Base Seitz when 541st and 53rd QM rolled up on the base. 53rd Built that base through detail and being one of the first one on the base. We had the largest company and led the way. I have the memories as well of all the attacks and deaths. We are the true MORTARITAVILLE… I was there in 03-04
by SGT Dombkowski

by SGT Dombkowski 12 Jun 08, 0833 GMT

damn ski you remember when we first got there and were emptying all the warehouses out and burning all that stuff and we were by the fire pit throwing those wood things out and that thing blew up in the fire that was crazy we really were mortar ville and i am glad we all made it home i can still remember trying to stop the bleeding on that new reservist sgt phipps head when he hit by that mortar in the head

by spc wilson 13 Jul 08, 0247 GMT

Other than Brandon I’m suprised no other 1544th guys have posted on Seitz.

Yeah, we left there with 5 less friends…yeah too many of us got jacked up there…

Yeah, Annaconda being called “mortaritaville” is a joke…

Oh well…

I’ve noticed that for all the horror our company went through you don’t see too much posted up online. Just like Brandon, I’d gladly go back…just minus the mortars.

That place made you realize just how lucky you were to be alive each day, and the friends and memories that came from it can’t be made anywhere else.

by Rose 30 Jul 08, 0405 GMT

Sorry I really thought Josh was the first KIA at seitz. He was at least the first one I knew like a brother.

by derock 12 Aug 08, 0600 GMT

Ski, Wilson, nice to hear from you guys again! I will never forget good old Log Base Seitz. I miss being waken at 2am by a mortar attack!

You guys take care.

by Spc Fernando Ruiz, 53rd QM CO 13 Aug 08, 1111 GMT

Ruiz, is that you.. I mean the one I was helping to empty eeevery shipping container 53rd had in the motorpool by late summer of 2004?? I just got to 53rd when you guys had all that good stuff to tell about 2003/2004 deployment. Hope you are doing well, and god bless.

Wilson/Ski.. see you on myspace.

by Elezi (the motorpool soldier) 13 Aug 08, 0828 GMT

joshua knowles of 1133 trans was killed feb.5,2004, almost a month after jesse mizener of 542 maint co was killed jan 7, 2004

by c. harry 17 Aug 08, 1103 GMT

Could any of you please tell me if you know what was in the bladders on the transportation trailers that exploded in the early morning hours of November 21, 2003. I was working in the South Gate Tower when several 60 mm white phospherous rounds came into Log Base Seitz. Also, if any of you could remember the approximate dates of the pesticide burnings Joseph Clarkson was commenting on above that would be very helpful also. I do not have those dates in my journal….My email is mparrish5830@charter.net< /p>

I was SPC Melanie Parrish from A Co. 151 Sig Bn…. we were there from May 03 to Jan 04

by Melanie Parrish 26 Aug 08, 0324 GMT

One other thing…..If anyone knows Augustin Estrada. I think he was in 1133rd Trans, for sure he was in transportation unit and an E6 or E7 and how to get in touch with him could you please let me know or forward my email to him? Thanks! Melanie Parrish. mparrish5830@charter.net

by Melanie Parrish 26 Aug 08, 0406 GMT

I’ve checked this site a number of times over the years because sometimes it is good to look back and remember what we did on tht little piece of ground. The Soldiers that worked many hard hours in incredible heat and under very challenging cuircumstances are the reson the flag waves over our country…not becuase what they did every day was heroic but the fact that every dy they stood their ground, facing an enemy and never backing down. I was and still am very proud to be a part of that little base. In fact 2003-2004 is the only reason I stayed in the Army and a few weeks agoi I walked across Log Base Seitz. Many of you will be glad to know it received its last mortar in Nov 2007, almost one year ago. Soldiers still live in those warehouses only now they have huge steel structures over them. The bunkers are long gone, replaced by concrete bunkers above ground…but the sand bags filled and holes dug provided us what we needed. I’m sad to see that many of you live with the nightmares those days caused but I’m glad to see that you can talk about them. Many will never understand why we did waht we did but the way we did it kept us safer than we would have been otherwise..we’d been given our mission and that was our piece of ground, we defended it well and we accomplsihed our mission. I too will never forget Jesse Mizener (7 January 2004), Josh Knowles (5 February 2004) or Ivory Phipps (17 March 2004) they gave their lives for a cause much greater than any of us, and we all gave a little bit of ourselves on that small piece of ground.
Thanks for all of you who served here on the original Mortaritaville, I know it was…I’m the one that named it that in October 2003 and asked that young lady to paint me a sign. I wish now, looking back, that I’d never had a reason to think about nicknaming the base that, but I did. Looking back tody though I know I served with some of the best officers, NCO’s and Soldiers that were in the Army at the time.
I wouldn’t ever take anything for it. Thanks to each of you for being Soldiers.
curt.higdon@us.army.mil

by Curt Higdon 25 Oct 08, 0920 GMT

I was also there in 2003- 2004. It sure was something I will NEVER experience again. It was Rose Skeet who drew the Mortaritaville sign and stuck it in front of the PX. Looking at the picture from present time to the pictures in my memories. What a change. Good luck to everyone that is at LBS now and to all those who will be stationed there in the future. Not all times were bad. I have made some life long friends on that base. And had some real good times.

by Jessica Simonian 28 Oct 08, 0643 GMT

Hello to all my fellow 542nd Maint. Co soldiers!!!

by Jessica Simonian 28 Oct 08, 0645 GMT

I remember bieng at at northstar and all reseves from new mex were getting ready to drive up to sietz… and I told them it was motarville… and all they could do was look like ghost and say forreal!!! that was mar 04

by ssg(retired baby) graves heavy truck!!! 24 Dec 08, 0851 GMT

I miss that place and that excellent chow! LOL

by Sfc Derek Reynolds 26 Dec 08, 0754 GMT

24TH TRANS. CO (541st) Ft. Riley,
LSA Apr03/Apr04
LSA ANACONDA BALAD Dec04/(Feb05)

My brother was in the 24th Trans Co. Iraq 03-04, 12/04-02/05. (Also part of HHC 541st -HHC) In December 2004, his unit was redeployed to LSA Balad. Jeffrey (Spc. Jeffrey Stuart Henthorn, 25 Choctaw, Oklahoma) never mentioned to any of us of the horrid living conditions that soldiers had to put up with daily. I’m glad that I found this, because it helps shed some light into an otherwise dark mystery. Please don’t take this in the wrong way, but, those of you who served with him, I’m at a loss for words for none of you EVER (as far as we know) showing our family sympathy…or contacting us…NOTHING!! I know one thing for sure, Kevin Ward is an idiot…not to mention, a denying COWARD!! Even his friends Chris and Derek, who came and went fishing with my other sister, Jayme, and her husband, Todd have never contacted us. I’m leaving this post in HOPES that at least someone will contact us…we just want to know what all he went through that made this outgoing, funloving, and very funny guy take his life into his own hands. It’s quite different when you lose someone to suicide. The pain never ends, mostly because you never have a reason for understanding. We understand he was hurting, what we don’t understand is why we were the last ones to know about numerous incidents of Jeffrey trying to take his life? I wake with it every morning, I carry it as I sleep…at times it’s overwhelming. Doesn’t matter if you like someone or not, if you served with them, esp. in times of war…The very least you owe that Soldier is your respect. I made darn sure that Jeff didn’t die for NOTHING…remember back in 06, how things within your chain of command HAD to change when it concerned your mental health??? Well, thanks to my relentless emailing and blogging, someone sent me an email about being interested in my families story…JEFFREY’ S STORY. (btw..YOUR VERY WELCOME!!!) I stepped up and told our story when other families were to scared to say the real reason…my dad and I then collected signatures for a bill to be ammended for AD and RET military…Jeff was a person that had a family, children, parents, sisters…Ya know, I was the one who answered the door to two offficers standing on the other side! When I finally realized that what was being told to me was that Jeff was GONE..not hurt, but dead…my next thought DIDN’T go towards my folks, or andyone else in our family, 000not even his boys. NO, MY NEXT THOUGHT WENT TO ALL OF YOU WHO SERVED WITH HIM AT THAT TIME!!! I kept asking “Is anyone else in his unit hurt? Please tell me they’re ok, was it an IED…mortar…?” My concern fell on his “friends”, his fellow war buddies, and was relieved when I was told that “It was a single casuality…” It took them days to say he committed suicide, and to make matters worse, we waited over a year for the CID report. I’m very sorry for all the pain you must deal with daily now because of the memories you’ve been left with in the wake of this war. My heart cries out for you and your loved ones who watch you suffer. Our family deals with the daily pain and NEVERENDING GUILT of feeling to blame for loosing Jeff, but however, we just had glimpses of his suffering. And every day that passes with nothing being heard from you only compounds our suffering. So, I beg of you, please help this family find some sense of closure, and let us finally get on with the healing process.
oksoldiers@aol.com
PLEASE CONTACT ME!!!
P L E A S E ! ! !

by OKSoldiers 21 May 09, 0835 GMT