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.
“Saw alot of his friends die to save the Jews in Germany, most of whom did nothing to save themselves.”
I think he might have been a bit confused about our strategic interests and the timeline of events. Hitler declared war on the U.S. The Jews were a minority in Germany and had two options : flee or die. And many were unable to flee in time.
You have confused "implied" with "inferred" when you butted into a conversation between me and someone else.
I have already explained what I meant to you at least twice and yet you still ask the same question so, yes, the term Blockhead is appropriate.
If a majority of vets oppose the mission in Iraq, as you once again appear to be insinuating, ...
This is a great example of how you have your ideas of what you want to believe that I'm saying when I'm not saying that at all. But you're so stuck on it that you can't understand simple English explanations.
That is called being "Stuck on Stupid".
So if you REALLY want to find out what OIF vets think, find some and talk to them, don't rely on what you read that they thing and don't rely on what FR or DU wishes that they think.
“when you butted into a conversation between me and someone else.”
That wasn’t a private reply. You shouldn’t tell people to ‘STFU’ for simply replying to your posts and disagreeing with your statements.
” have already explained what I meant to you at least twice “
No you haven’t. You gave me instruction. You did not explain what you ‘inferred’.
“This is a great example of how you have your ideas of what you want to believe that I’m saying when I’m not saying that at all.”
Once again you dodged any kind of explanation for your previous statement. You had claimed ‘I think I’ve seen enough and talked with enough vets to have a good idea of what this is about.’ I asked you to elaborate on this statement and you didn’t. Nor were you willing to explain the high re-enlistment rates regarding Iraq.
“a bit confused about strategic interests”
both people were. That was my point.
Who wouldn't be happy seeing their friends blown apart or shot, dodging bullets, not knowing if today is the day they will die or be maimed, picking up the bodies of children off the streets and of course the fun of killing another human being. /s
Gotta love freepers who love the war but aren't there doing their duty.
The troops have every right to vent. War sucks.
Dumb sh!t doesn’t know the difference between infer and imply.
Now hold on here, you’ve resorted to name calling far too early. I’m still interested in hearing your explanation of the high re-enlistment rates. I was also hoping you would try to defend his other political statements. Hey, I’ve come up with a new criticism. What is this guy complaining about? He was never attacked. Sure, he was shot at. But going by his logic, he was never attacked.
It DOES suck to be over there! Especially to a 21 year old?
It sucked for me to be sent to England when desert storm broke out. I thought it sucked being in Plattsburgh NY at the time at a SAC bomber base, where it was cold as all hell.
Bad timing for me. Sucked.
It sucked for the 101st airborne to be surrounded by the nazis.
Sucked to be on Iwo Jima too.
Alot of surviving sailors said it sucked to be in Pearl Harbor when the war broke out!
WAR SUCKS!
Doesn’t make the mission any less important, not to mention the outcome!
All those young men that survived to live to be 80 to tell about it STILL say it sucked to storm the beaches of Omaha when THEY were 21 !!!
I can’t imagine too much that sucks worse except perhaps not fighting for freedom.
Now THAT would REALLY suck!
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