Pangburn, in the midst of a six-month stint training the Iraqi police force, found the round. He returned Sept. 8 with a Bronze Star, lots of photos and a lifetime of memories, not all of them pleasant.

"I still dream about being there," said Pangburn, 49, a partner at the Hemmer Pangburn DeFrank law firm in Fort Mitchell and a reservist. "Only when I was there, I don't remember dreaming at all."

Pangburn is one of several thousand from Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky who have served in the National Guard or Reserves in Iraq or are still there.

Whether active-duty soldiers or military police or staffers like Pangburn, they all lived through some of the same experiences.

The 1978 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy got the call in March and left for Iraq on March 15 to become chief of staff for the Civilian Police Advisory and Training Team.

Back at home, Pangburn's partners joined to take care of his clients, and he dived back into work almost immediately upon return. He's also active in the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce and was chairman in 2001.

'Through it together'

Pangburn worked in Baghdad on the edge of the "Green Zone" where headquarters was based. He helped lead a team of nearly 700 people working to train Iraqi police.

His most prominent dream is of the nighttimes, the nearly constant arms and mortar fire around him. Even after 12 years of active duty as a Marine and years of reservist training, he still shakes his head at the dangers he lived through.

"Probably close to every day I was shot at. And we all were," he said in an interview in his office overlooking Interstate 75. "I know a couple of people who lost their nerve. But you're going through it together. At first, it's a novelty, You can't even believe it's happening. But you go on, and you get used to it."

His home was a metal "hooch" measuring 15 feet by 7 feet by 5 feet. He reported to work shortly after 5 a.m. each day. He communicated with colleagues and friends in Iraq and at home almost exclusively by e-mail.

When outside of Baghdad, he carried an AK-47 wherever he went. Three men in his organization were killed.

"It's a very difficult task," he said. "The true difficulty is going to come with the elections (scheduled for January). That's going to be the first true test of a democratic nation."

Pangburn said his dedication to the Marines made it a duty for him to go to Iraq.

"I think I wanted to go," he said. "I'm not sure I could have gotten out of it, but I didn't try.

"The military has given me all of my education, most of my really good experiences. So there is an obligation."

Toward a democratic Iraq

Pangburn doesn't offer many political opinions about the Iraqi war. But he said it will take a long commitment for the United States to help establish a democratic Iraq.

"The Iraqi officials I dealt with treated us well," he said. "My sense was they very much wanted our financial assistance and our assistance in providing equipment. I think they also were very much looking forward to when we would be gone and they would call the shots. And that's probably a good thing."

Now Pangburn is back at his law firm, helping clients and serving as general counsel for the Northern Kentucky Water District. He recognizes the burden his time away put on his partners and said he started calling clients soon after returning.

He's only been back for two weeks, but he knows what that AK-47 round will help him remember.

"Now it reminds me of the guys there," he said. "That's what I want to remember, the guys and the women I worked with."

E-mail cpeale@enquirer.com