...The newly resurrected Military Water plant not only supplies water to the 3,000 Iraqi soldiers at K1, but also to the nearby Kirkuk Regional Air Base, where 10,000 U.S. Air Force and Army personnel currently are garrisoned.

Both Kirkuk and the town of Dibis benefit from the enhanced capacity, but the biggest winners are the roughly 25,000 residents living in 13 nearby villages and settlements who had never known the luxury of running water. Some of these communities have only 25 homes; two consist solely of tent-dwellers; and two areas are home to 5,000 internally displaced people each.

The individuals responsible may never have the opportunity to see their work nor to be acknowledged by those who have benefited; security concerns in the Kirkuk area mean visitors and villagers alike are at risk.

But 25,000 more Iraqi people now have access to fresh water.