A lone LSU flag was hoisted into the air in Iraq as a celebration for the Tigers’ win against the Crimson Tide last weekend amid cheers echoing through Baton Rouge and Tuscaloosa.
A Louisiana Army National Guard unit from the Baton Rouge area is currently serving on a military base about 20 miles south of Baghdad and is brimming with Tiger fans, including Staff Sgt. Guy Carlberg.
Carlberg, a Slidell native with friends and family who are “die-hard” Tigers fans, said as soon as the Army National Guard unit stepped onto the Iraqi sands, they were met with a University of Alabama flag flapping in the wind.
Carlberg’s unit works alongside American civilian firefighters who he said became his “great friends” even though they are Alabama fans. Carlberg said he and the other troops had been discussing the game since their arrival in Iraq, and they told the ‘Bama fans that once LSU won the game, an LSU flag would replace the Alabama flag.
When game day arrived, the firefighters had premium steaks and lobster flown in from home and started grilling five hours in advance, Carlberg said, though his pre-game was different.
“My squad and I were on patrol for the ‘tailgating’ but made it back in enough time to clean up and watch the game at 3 a.m.,” Carlberg said in an e-mail to The Daily Reveille. “The guys had a projector set up on a drop-down screen outside with a few chairs and couches. Iraq is cold at night this time of year, but the jumping up and yelling during the game kept us warm.”
About 50 people watched the game, with LSU fans outnumbering the Alabama fans because Carlberg’s whole unit is from Louisiana, he said. His favorite part of the game was relishing in ‘Bama’s missed field-goal attempts.
The Crimson Tide fans were good sports, Carlberg joked.
He said it isn’t often that the troops are able to watch sports games.
“It is a rare occasion,” Carlberg wrote. “We made the LSU-‘Bama game happen. We all sacrificed something somehow to make it work.”
Serving in Iraq has been a fulfilling sacrifice, Carlberg said. His duties have included providing security to dignitaries, high-ranking officials and American civilian police, along with training Iraqi police. 
“We have been through a lot here. I am just happy that not a single one of us has been seriously injured or killed,” he wrote.
Carlberg said his experience overseas makes him appreciate what he has at home.
“Being away from my family for an entire year is very hard. It is also hard being away from your own vehicle, dining out, fast food, going to the movies and dressing in civilian clothes,” he wrote. “It is a good experience because we are an all-volunteer military these days and we all believe in what we are doing, and my unit especially is very close, like family.”
 
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Contact Andrea Gallo at [email protected]