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Superstitions Abound at Camp As Soldiers Await War in Iraq

By

Michael M. Phillips Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal

Updated March 3, 2003 12:01 a.m. ET

LIVING SUPPORT AREA 7, Kuwait -- Don't eat Charms hard candies. Don't look through a sniper's scope. And whatever you do, don't mention apricots near a tank.

Wartime brings out the superstitious side of the troops, whose very survival is often at the whim of forces well beyond their control. And as they wait in the desert for G-Day -- ground-attack day -- the Marines of the 3rd Battalion, 7th Regiment, have a lot of time to ponder the uncertainties ahead. "Everybody's got their superstitions," says First Sgt. Vic...

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