Posted on 12/24/2003 8:19:10 PM PST by LittleRedRooster
GI returns a changed man
A mom's best gift: Once-wayward son finds sense of purpose in Iraq
08:49 PM CST on Wednesday, December 24, 2003
By MICHAEL GRANBERRY / The Dallas Morning News
For Michael Zeagler, a Dallas soldier fighting in Iraq, one of the sweetest moments of coming home for the holidays occurred just before Christmas at Valley View Center mall.
The Army specialist, a member of the 101st Airborne Division, had arrived at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport after a grueling 72-hour journey from Mosul, Iraq.
The first thing the 22-year-old wanted to do, even in full desert "camo," was head to the mall. So it was on to the Galleria and then Valley View, where Mary Martin, a rosy-cheeked 78-year-old saleswoman at Dillard's, was moved to tears at the sight of the 6-foot-2 soldier.
Here was a young man who had been on the front lines only days before. So Ms. Martin walked over and shook his hand. "It's a loving feeling," she said later. "It's a loving feeling for what they're doing over there."
Little did she know that Michael had taken an even more difficult journey than the one from Iraq to Texas. Four years ago, he was struggling in school – and working even harder at trying to find himself. So he joined the Army and found himself in a foreign land, fighting a war.
Now Michael says he has emerged with a sense of purpose and a direction in life. And that's one reason coming home for Christmas means so much to him and his family.
"I've had to grow up in the Army," he says, running his hand through his military buzz cut. "Before, I was making these really stupid, just incredibly dumb mistakes, wanting to be cool and stuff. So what have I learned from the time I got to the 101st until now? Everything.
"Mostly, how not to be a complete idiot," he says, laughing.
A wonderful gift
Harriet Langston, 50, a Dallas attorney who raised her son as a single mother, says having him home for the holidays is a wonderful present. But seeing her son's coming of age story unfold in front of her eyes is even better.
It's a muted celebration. Michael is on a 15-day leave and is due to return to Iraq on Jan. 3. But for now, they get to talk face to face, shop for presents and go to movies. And listen to Dave Matthews' new album.
In the last few days, mother and son have spent hours working out at the gym and talking politics, literature and the movies. But more than anything, she gets to revel in the man he's becoming.
"It's like everything I ever dreamed of for him," she says. "Some people dream of their kids winning the Nobel Prize, but my goal for Michael was to see him realize who he is as a person, to become happy and productive. And now I've seen that, in the most wonderful way possible. I see it in his confidence, the way he goes about living his life, the way he treats people."
"And, yes, of course, I'm extremely proud of him and what he's done for his country. I always knew he had character," says Ms. Langston. "And if he dug deep enough, he could find it for himself. But the Army made him do that. And even though he's still got this rebellious little edge about him, he's all of those things the Army talks about. He's loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.
"He's become a person who has discipline," she says, "and there were times ... when I never thought he would be or could be."
Trouble in school
Diagnosed with attention deficit disorder as a boy, Michael struggled in school. He started at a private school in the Park Cities, a school he and his mother came to loathe.
"I had a hard time keeping interested in stuff," Michael recalls. "I didn't care about anything they were saying. I didn't like the other kids. And the teachers might have been good at teaching stuff, but they were always saying, 'No, no, no! You can't say or do anything!' "
Michael attended schools in Plano, Carrollton and East Texas, but his studies didn't improve. When he was in high school, his mother sent him to West Monroe, La., to live with her ex-husband's parents. (Michael was 2 when his mother and father separated.)
He says he's sorry for making his mom's life a living hell. "I was just kind of being a [expletive]," he says, using one of several "bad words" he and his buddies pepper their conversations with. "I just didn't want to do anything. I was just happy to hang out in front of the TV and chill with the dogs."
"My grades were bad, horrendous," he says. "I'd show up for class. But then the rest of the day I really wouldn't be there. I daydreamed and drew pictures a lot."
Then came a turning point. During his senior year, Michael attended a career day at a local college. There, an Army recruiter impressed him. The man told him that, even before he enlisted, he would have to stop taking medications his doctors had prescribed for ADD and depression.
He says he had a romantic idea of what the Army was all about, one he had gotten from watching one of his favorite films, Saving Private Ryan. He joined the Army in December 1999.
Michael spent 10 months in basic training at Fort Benning, Ga. He was there longer than the customary three to four months because he arrived out of shape and fractured a small bone in his foot while running. He stayed in Georgia until April 2001, when he was ordered to report to the 101st Airborne in Fort Campbell, Ky.
He was there only a few months when the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, occurred. He knew then, he says, that his life had taken a new turn.
"When I joined the Army in 1999, I never dreamed I'd be in a war," he says. "I never thought the reality would be anything like Saving Private Ryan, even though I guess I had hoped for that, in some secret way."
He learned how to get up early, how to take care of his clothing, and most of all, how to stay out of trouble. Then, in March, he and the 1st Brigade of the 101st were told they would go to Iraq.
Michael had to grow up quickly. "It's not that I was afraid I was going to die," he says. "I was more afraid that I'd have to watch all my friends die."
"Michael seemed to lack direction as a teenager," says his uncle David Langston, who lives in Houston. "But I could relate to that, since I often felt like I lacked direction until I was 40 years old."
Now, however, Mr. Langston, 51, sees an entirely different person in his nephew. He and Michael keep in touch through online messaging software, Mr. Langston from his elegant home in Houston, Michael from an Army fortress near Mosul.
"From reading what he sends me on Instant Messaging, it seems like I'm talking to a much more mature man than the boy who left to go into the service," says Mr. Langston.
Still, his family can't stop worrying about his safety. His aunt Susan Langston, 45, says quietly, "I pray for him every day ... that God will take care of him."
Life in Iraq
For Michael, Iraq means combing the Mosul outskirts as a sniper trained in counter-sniper maneuvers. When he isn't doing his job, he's often up until dawn, he says, sending computer messages to his family and friends. Most of his work comes at night.
He sleeps on hard bunks in close quarters. He and his buddies have had to worry about attacks from Iraqi insurgents. During the invasion, "going to the bathroom" often meant sitting on two-by-fours that covered a gaping hole. Contact with women has been virtually nonexistent.
"It's lonely in Iraq," says Michael. "But it's real easy to cope with, because the best friends I've ever had in my life are sleeping two feet away."
And yet, there have been terrifying moments, such as when bullets began popping just 10 feet away as Michael and his buddies moved into Iraq. "It's later that you think about it the most," he says. "And it's later that it really starts to scare you ... that feeling of what might happen, when you least suspect it."
His mother has had her own fearful moments. In March, shortly before the 101st Airborne Division invaded Iraq, an attacker slid grenades into three tents at a 101st command center in Kuwait. The tents were full of sleeping officers and senior noncommissioned officers. As the soldiers ran to escape the grenades, the attacker shot at least two people – killing a captain, witnesses said.
When the suspect – an American soldier – was captured, Michael happened to have his handcuffs handy. So his cuffs got slapped on the suspect's wrists. What worried Michael most, he says, was how his mother would react to the news. She calls it her lowest moment of the war, triggering several sleepless nights.
In Iraq, the U.S. soldiers have their books and their DVDs and even satellite television. On one night a few weeks ago, Michael says, they even got to watch the reality TV show The Bachelor – "as if we needed any more reality."
Culture shock
So being back in Texas is a bit of a "culture shock blast," whether it's watching a Tennessee Titans-Houston Texans football game or seeing all those women. "It's like every woman I see under the age of 25 has this incredible body," he says with a laugh. "Yes, I do notice them!"
In the last few days, Michael and his mother have visited his uncle and aunt in Houston, where Michael saw the NFL game and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. He also got to chow down on his aunt's killer gumbo and his uncle's homemade biscuits. Michael will visit friends in San Francisco on New Year's Eve.
For the most part, he feels good about his decision to join the Army. On the drive to Houston with his mom, she took him to Mabank, a town in East Texas, to visit four Vietnam veterans – all decorated members of the 101st. They made a fuss over him.
"I have to admit, it's all a little weird," he says. "At times, it feels embarrassing ... intimidating."
One day soon, he will leave the Army to return home for good, a soldier who fought for his country – but who, as a young man, will once again have to face mundane realities.
"I'll have to pay rent," he says. "Buy food, do laundry, pay the bills ... the things everybody else does. I'll even have to worry about car insurance. And, yeah, it's all a bit scary. But believe me, I'm a whole lot better prepared than I ever was before. The Army did that for me. And Iraq did, too. They helped me grow up, and grow up in a hurry."
E-mail mgranberry@dallasnews.com
And for outfits like the 101st...
God did bless America.
The U.S. does far more good than bad in the world. And our young men and women in the military are a big reason why.
Everytime I see a photograph of action in Iraq, or a report on all the good work being done by the troops on the civic front, my first thought is, invariably, "My God, they look so young!"
Bless 'em all.
"My grades were bad, horrendous... I daydreamed and drew pictures a lot."
Then came a turning point. During his senior year, Michael attended a career day at a local college. There, an Army recruiter impressed him.
The man told him that, even before he enlisted, he would have to stop taking medications his doctors had prescribed for ADD and depression.
He learned how to get up early, how to take care of his clothing, and most of all, how to stay out of trouble.
"I'll have to pay rent," he says. "Buy food, do laundry, pay the bills ... the things everybody else does. I'll even have to worry about car insurance. And, yeah, it's all a bit scary. But believe me, I'm a whole lot better prepared than I ever was before."
"The Army did that for me. And Iraq did, too. They helped me grow up, and grow up in a hurry."
What more needs to be said? Maybe, that some people know how to make men out of boys, and some don't?
Hope he makes it through in one piece, of course, and that he remembers the lessons he learned in the service.
Merry Xmas.
That's not the Army, that's the frickin' BOY SCOUTS.
Please tell me I'm not the onl one who picked up on that...
Please tell me I'm not the only one who picked up on that...
Yeah, I saw that too.
Maybe I assume too much, but I'm hoping the kid has a clue, even if his mom doesn't.
yes, true it is the boy scout oath, but the marine one is similar! Still not bad things to teach kids these days.
The WWII generation made the U.S. the leading industrial power. This new generation will help remake this country and, by example, the rest of the world.
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