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.
Airborne! Worry when the troops aren’t complaining.
Not much of what he says is something to be proud of but would you all please remember who got to edit it before you got to read it. He’s there and I’m here, he can have a lot of slack as far as I’m concerned, I still owe him.
Zactly!
I recall reading and hearing “embrace the suck”.
I’ll bet that those criticizing him haven’t been to Iraq.
How much time did you spend in Iraq?
I'll be the first to admit. I've never been there. But I'll point out two things. First, I'm highly skeptical of media reports of soldiers speaking out against the war, and criticizing publicly President Bush's strategy. Why? Because the press has been know to report stories from fake soldiers.
Second, I know several people who have been over there. My best friend signed up so he COULD go over there, and tried his best to get transferred to Baghdad. Yes, he told me privately that things weren't perfect over there. Yes, he was very ready to come home back to his fiance. However, he would never go to the press and speak out against his Commander in Chief, nor question why they were over there.
This fellow thinks that he bright enough to have his opinions reviewed in Public, but he’s not stupid for joining in the first place?
Troops always gripe, but this bit of ranting might probably qualify him for a Field Grade Article 15.
Idiot.
The beauty of implementing those effective WW II standards is that it would be almost impossible for the Left/MSM to argue against them. All the President would have to do is say "If it was good enough and the right thing to do for FDR, one of America's greatest wartime leaders, then it's good enough for us now."
This would require, of course, a President with the courage to confront the Left/media/Democrats, make his case forcefully and directly to the American people, and stand firm in the face of the inevitable media hysteria and hissy fit they would pitch. Unfortunately, we didn't have a President who was willing to what was necessary.
Perhaps one day we'll have such a man or woman as President...
What does that have to do with it? Everyone in the military gripes but few gripe to the left wing enemedia.
One reason that I support Hunter. He was one of the VERY few that wanted to prosecute the leakers AND printers of classified info as well
Rhode Island. Says it all. Nice place to visit if there are no Democrats.
Otherwise, it is still a political pile of crap and so are their newspapers.
At one time Rhode Island was part of the US. Now it is the Peoples Republic of Rhode Island. Some of our founding fathers just turned over in their graves.
PS: I didn’t have any trouble in Saigon. More trouble on the streets of DC. What is wrong with this story?
Good post.
The article says this was a day after the guy returned from Iraq.
You called this man a sniveler, yet you’ve not spent a day in his boots.
Nothing he said was over the line in any way shape or form.
He EARNED his opinion of the war and every aspect to it.
YOU exercise your rights because of men like him.
You call him a sniveler but he protects you.
What does that make you?
Liberals (aka Socialists)
How did he learn ARABIC by 21?? Is he an ARAB? ARABIC is NOT easy, as I understand.
And so you never read any port-a-can graffiti from troops in Iraq, have you?
You think they all love what they're doing, why and how?
A day after the guy returns from his first tour in Iraq and he feels like spilling his guts? So what?
Maybe you should have a few drinks with some vets and see what they really think.
My son did two tours of Iraq as a Marine. He never complained.
He left for boot camp at 3:30am the day we caught Saddam. I’ll never forget it.
You seem to be good at hot air EE.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.