Apr 19, 2004 — More than seven hundred National Guard and Reserve soldiers from New York state have taken up positions inside Iraq. This morning, Army chaplain Eric Olsen continues his audio diary from the front lines. This dispatch was mailed home well before last week's firefight, which left one north country soldier dead. The sounds of combat you'll hear in Major Olsen's diary were all recorded during training exercises on the Kuwait-Iraq border.

The series continues next Monday, with an audio diary from Major Olsen's wife, Susan, on the home front in Saranac Lake.