[Rico]

CBS) What I discovered when I visited the unit involved was that the soldiers thought the media was ignoring the story because we're only interested in explosions and firefights and "bad news," an understanding I worked hard to change since I do not believe it is true and have four years of work in this country to support my case.

For these soldiers, being able to help Iraqi children and save them from certain death gave meaning to their presence here. It is an example of the good that U.S. soldiers are able to do, without a single shot being fired. It is something to be proud of.

Captain Ben Morales is the commander of Bravo Company who was alerted to the crisis by the U.S. military advisors that discovered the boys' bodies during a joint-patrol with the Iraqi Army on a Sunday afternoon. He reacted immediately, sending in a quick reaction force and a team from the civil affairs unit serving with his unit.

Before the soldiers left the base, he said he had to prepare them for what they were about to see. And most important of all, he had to remind them of their training and discipline, so they did not bring the name of their unit into disrepute by taking out their anger at those responsible for hurting these boys so badly.

Captain Morales knew the rage they were feeling because he felt it himself. But they did the right thing, he assured me, and handed this over to the Iraqi authorities to deal with as they saw fit.

He also told me about one soldier in particular that had been especially good with the children.

"Lieutenant Smith was amazing," he said, as we poured over photographs that showed Jason Smith brushing some of the children's teeth. He really was very good with the children.

When I interviewed Lt. Smith, I found out why: he is trained as a special education teacher. His wife is a special education teacher and her brother is a special needs boy.

So when faced with this terrible situation, Lt. Smith was happy to do the things for these boys that he already does at home for his brother-in-law. This quietly strong and gentle young man knew exactly what these boys needed – a human touch.

And that is what struck me as I watched the soldiers interacting with the boys at the orphanage. They were desperate for that human touch, just a moment of love and attention.

As I was standing there in the crowded room, soldiers and boys and Iraqi social workers all around us, one of the boys came up to me and reached out with both his arms. I leaned over and met his embrace and before I knew it he had lifted his legs off the ground and wrapped them around my waist. As suddenly as he had presented himself before me, he was wrapped in my arms, and I just surrendered. I let him snuggle into my neck, and breathe in the smell of my perfume which he really seemed to like.

As I stood there holding him, watching these boys with various levels of disability, some of their wrists scarred by the marks of the roles that held them, I was overcome by how forgiving they were. I had the feeling that anyone could have beaten them with one hand, embraced them with the other, and they would have welcomed the embrace.

Here we were only a week later, many with sores not yet healed – and who knew what scars that weren't visible – and they were laughing and playing and doing so much better you could hardly match them with their emaciated photographs.

I don't know what trauma they suffered, what lingers. I don't know anything about special needs children.

I know that I witnessed something terrible and something remarkable and something that should not be forgotten, should not be hidden.

I imagine the Iraqi people will react with anger and shame. Many will blame the United States for bringing this on them, because they brought the war and these leaders and the destruction of the Iraqi society they knew. For many Americans, that will be hard to comprehend, especially since American soldiers carried these boys in their arms and saved their lives.

It is one more contradiction in the chaos of Iraq today, a society seeped in blood and betrayal as its people battle for survival and power. But even in the midst of so much human tragedy, the story of these boys stands apart — from the image of a dying boy covered in flies, to a small young man crouching in his crib with a newfound strength, sores healing and skin clean, his soft dark eyes watching the soldiers who saved him as they laugh and joke with the other boys.

A hand reaches out and softly, gently touches his crumpled legs. Almost without moving, he withdraws, just slightly. Not ready, it seems, not able to bear a human touch.