You are speaking to a vet of the first Gulf war, Bosnia and GWOT....I am talking about feet on the ground, been there done that...
Posted on 01/15/2008 3:54:16 PM PST by got_moab?
Albert Jordan, 21, isn’t one to hold back, especially when he describes what it’s like being a soldier in Iraq.
“It sucks…It’s definitely an experience, but it sucks being in Iraq,” said Jordan, a U.S. Army Specialist, during an interview with the Beacon, a day after returning home from his first tour of duty.
“At first it’s kind of exciting because you’re doing different things. You’re doing what you see in video games, but then a couple of IED’s [improvised explosive devices] go off or a couple of bullets go by your head and you go, ‘Whoa, what is this I got myself into?’ And then you start thinking too much.”
The 21-year-old 2004 Pilgrim graduate who lives on Parkview Avenue joined the Army in May of 2005, and was sent to Baghdad, the world’s most dangerous city, in 2006. He spent both his 20th and 21st birthday in Baghdad.
To illustrate the extreme danger soldiers face on a daily basis, Jordan told a story.
One afternoon in Baghdad, Jordan and his comrades were on patrol. They noticed a mound of fresh dirt in the yard of a residence—a telltale sign of a hidden weapons cache. After affirming their suspicions and finding barrels full of weapons, the group followed protocol and checked the lot next door.
Jordan, a staff sergeant and an interpreter approached an Iraqi man in the next house and began to question him.
“We were just kind of standing around, and then we heard a single crack and the wall, just a few feet away from my face, exploded. It went Ka-boom,” said Jordan.
He was the target of a sniper.
“We didn’t know where it was coming from, but someone’s not just going to shoot randomly…We got out of there and I was like ‘Wow, I almost got shot in the face,’” he said.
The story isn’t an isolated incident. It’s one of many that Jordan chose randomly.
That’s the reality of being an Army Specialist in Baghdad. The threat of a sniper’s bullet, an explosion of an improvised bomb or even a drive-by shooting, is as pervasive as the sand during a windstorm.
“You go out and you say to yourself, ‘Is this going to be the last day that I woke up,’” said Jordan.
How does one deal with the reality that death could realistically come at any given second?
“You just don’t think about it. You try not to as hard as you can,” said Jordan.
As time passed, Jordan began to question the purpose of the mission.
“Every day someone is getting killed, and we’d ask ourselves, ‘What is this for,’” Jordan said.
Jordan granted that while he doesn’t like being in a war zone, it does come with the territory. What makes the Iraq war an even harder pill for him to swallow is the fact that he doesn’t understand the rationale for it. After all, Iraq never attacked America, he notes.
Some will argue that America is establishing democracy in the Middle East, but Jordan counters that democracy is something that must come from within, it can’t be imposed.
Most troubling, he said, is the fact that since the invasion, the military has acted less and less like a military and more like police.
“We’re not police officers. We’re trained to go and kill people in battles, not keep them in line,” said Jordan.
Like many in the private sector, while he doesn’t agree with the mission set up by his superiors, he follows orders dutifully.
Jordan said he believes the surge has been successful in reducing violence over the last year, but notes that it also increases the likelihood of soldiers being killed because with more American troops comes more targets for the Iraqi insurgents.
And although he doesn’t agree with the war, he rejects the notion of setting timetables for withdrawals, as some prominent Democrats have suggested. It wouldn’t be wise, Jordan said, to tell an enemy when you plan on retreating.
He believes the U.S. will treat Iraq like South Korea, Japan and Germany and remain there indefinitely.
Jordan joined the Army for a number of reasons.
First and foremost, he comes from a military family. His sister, Shannon Wyatt, is also a member of the Army. His older brother, Don Moyer, a Warwick lawyer, was also in the military before becoming a lawyer.
As a child, Jordan always wanted to become a career military man. But he didn’t get around to joining the Army until a couple years after graduating from Pilgrim. He lacked direction, and decided to do his country a favor by enlisting in the Army.
After completing his first stint in Iraq, Jordan said he has no intention of becoming a career military man.
Despite his distaste for the current war, Jordan deeply respects the military, and is thankful for the benefits of being a soldier. The tax-free pay he receives as a soldier is better than that he earned at his last job before enlisting—he worked at Ocean State Job Lot. Also, before he enlisted in the Army, he was in debt. Now he’s debt free.
When he completes his service, he hopes to either parlay his military experience into a position at a local police department, or attend college.
He fully expects to get sent back to Iraq sometime next year, but he isn’t looking forward to it.
“I’m not happy over there. I’m not happy,” said Jordan.
Per the story, this is the day after he returned.
He’s just happy to talk to someone who wasn’t there!
He’s earned every opinion he had and I’d dare anyone on here to tell him otherwise.
Sad to see so called Freepers railing on him.
True, but I see Hillary is trying to take credit for the success of the surge. LOL
The kid said how he feels. Thats how I feel.
Perhaps I shouldn't have posted my feelings.
I know its hard to be shot at, real hard.
He has after all come closer than I did.
Military? In Canada.
1st RNBR Reserves, and then, Canadian Rangers, Newfoundland Detachment( Reserve Unit).
Honorably Discharged, March, 1981.
I let the MSM disempowerment of our military get to me.
My apologies.
You never, ever, ever tell someone how bad you have it, because the guy who just passed you on the stretcher was thinking just how good he had it...
I spent some time in Canada. Went through an infantry battle course and got my Canadian jump wings. We jumped into a pasture full of goats. 8^) Good memories.
And the Canadian paratroopers I met were first class.
As for your comments, we all say things we later regret. It takes a real man to admit it.
Have a good night friend.
This young Combat Vet has seen the elephant...
This alone gives him the right to say whatever the hell comes out of his mouth in my book.
He should, however, stay away from the communist press corps! They will end up twisting his words (as in this article) to make him look like a Hitlery/hussein er Obama supporter!
Yep ...no more mortar or rocket attacks in the green zone.....lots of thump thump is gone .
I can verify that. Being in Iraq most certainly "sucked". I would question the sanity of anyone (who actually saw time outside of the wire) who found the experience to be fun and pleasant.
That doesn't mean I didn't support the mission, that there weren't some good times, or that I am not proud for having served. I felt I was doing something good when I was over there. But I sure as hell didn't like it at the time.
And truth be told, there are a lot of troops that think like this young soldier. Probably not a majority, but at least enough to be noticeable. And not all of them are leftists or "cowards." A lot of them are guys who don't think much about grand diplomatic strategy or cultural shifts or subtle national interests. They just know they are away from their families and in a strange land halfway around the world. Add that to mortar attacks, IED's, sandstorms, and sniper fire and it can knock some of the enthusiasm out of a person.
Some of the opinions of this soldier may be misguided, but try to remember what he's going through. Even if he's wrong, as someone who is honorably serving our nation in a time of war, he deserves our respect.
A lot of these guys (and gals) entered the service thinking they had a part time job, career training, and tuition assistance....
Oops, kinda forgot about people shooting at them and so on. God bless ‘em.
Sorry. Upon reading some of the comments I see that the soldier has just returned home. That's what happens when you let your emotions take over.
You are speaking to a vet of the first Gulf war, Bosnia and GWOT....I am talking about feet on the ground, been there done that...
And if the media baited an average G.I. circa WW2, he would have responded similarly. His cause was right, but he was scared shitless by being there and did not want to be there or go back. My point was that he did his duty and should be thanked for it. Not liking it is part of his situation.
What someoneone understands my post? Thanks, taking some fire, but I stand with the guy, no matter how the MSM spun him
“Maybe you should have a few drinks with some vets and see what they really think.”
Please tell us. What do the vets ‘really think’ about our mission in Iraq?
“My point was that he did his duty and should be thanked for it. “
Well stated. No arguement here regarding that point. I do, however, reject his political arguements outright.
I hope that you don’t really think that vets are all of one mind and one opinion regarding OIF/OEF.
Maybe you should do your own research and buy a couple vets a drink or two?
You are correct in that he has earned his opinion.
However, at 21 he probably doesn’t view the press the same way a lot of freepers do. To me it looks like he had an informal conversation with a reporter that got published.
Good post.
LOL...omg...back in my lurking days!
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