U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 1st Class Brien Aho A Tupelo, Mississippi, soldier from the 155th Brigade Combat Team hands out candy to children last March during a patrol through the neighborhoods of Iskandriyah, Iraq. Click photo for larger image.

JACKSON, Miss. -- While much of their time in Iraq is spent rounding up insurgents and searching for clandestine weapons caches, members of the 155th Brigade Combat Team say they are also focused on helping rebuild the war-torn country.

Maj. Danny Blanton, a spokesman for the 155th, said in a recent e-mail to The Associated Press that some of the most rewarding missions for the unit are those that reach out to the Iraqi people.

"It takes much more than weapons to build a democracy and our soldiers are working very hard to give a future of promise to the youth of Iraq," he said. "We are helping establish the essential needs for all people in Iraq. Electricity, water, and fuel that are taken for granted in our country are scarce here, and we are working with the new Iraqi government to change that."

The 155th is made up of about 3,500 Mississippi National Guard soldiers and other troops from Pennsylvania, California, Washington, Texas, Puerto Rico, Virginia, Missouri, New Jersey, South Carolina, Vermont, Utah, and Arkansas.

The unit trained at Camp Shelby, south of Hattiesburg, and deployed after a send-off bash at the National Guard training facility in January.

Since then the 155th has unearthed piles of weapons and was credited last month with the capture of more than 100 suspected insurgents in a single mission to the Owesat Village south of Baghdad.

Maj. Blanton said the soldiers have completed six brigade-level operations, 19 battalion-level operations, 21 raids and 304 cordon and search operations. The unit has seized more than 15,000 weapons of all types and rounds, he said.

Maj. Gen. Harold A. Cross, Mississippi's adjutant general, has said the 155th is primarily made up of soldiers from 49 different communities in the state, and their deployment has had a direct impact on thousands of families.

Thirteen Mississippians in the unit have died in Iraq and an even larger number have been wounded.

"I'm sure people ask themselves, 'What does all this mean to Mississippi?'" Blanton said. "There is never a simple solution to war, but the war in Iraq will have far-reaching implications on our children and their children. We live in a world without borders, and a threat to freedom anywhere is a threat to freedom everywhere."

The 155th is attached to the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force and operates in the Karbala, Najaf and Babil provinces of Iraq. Blanton said each unit in the brigade has adopted at least one school in its area of operations and the soldiers distribute school supplies, furniture, medicine and other goods.

The unit's commander, Brig. Gen. Augustus Leon Collins, hopes a pen pal program the unit plans to facilitate for American and Iraqi children will offer a bridge between two diverse cultures.

"I believe it is critical that we expand the horizons of not only Iraqi youth, but American youth as well," he said this past week in an e-mail to The AP. "If we are able to establish a campaign where our children are introduced to theirs, then we will remove the stigmas and bias and possibly develop a bond that will be much stronger than any military or diplomatic action."

In the Karbala Province, members of the 2nd Battalion, 114th Field Artillery of the Mississippi National Guard, which is attached to the 155th, identified a substandard facility that housed orphaned girls.

Lt. Col. Gary E. Huffman said the soldiers teamed with Iraqi security forces to rebuild the orphanage and delivered 50 beds and mattresses, bed linens, clothes and toys.

"The work is continuous and through cooperation, mutual understanding, and robust work efforts Karbala will grow and achieve the success that the citizens and leadership seek," Huffman said.

Collins said projects to rebuild schools and orphanages are imperative because "the future of this nation lies in its youth. What direction this country takes will be determined by them."