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Saving a
nation, one word at a time
Story by Spc. William E. Henry, Indiana
National Guard
During ground patrol
operations in Iraq
there is a component most generally left out of the equation when
people think of troops interacting with Iraqi civilians - the
translators.
Translators, especially
local nationals, are not only the link between languages, they are
the link between cultures.
Three Iraqi brothers who
worked as local national translators for nearly five years have
endured more in their young lives than most will in a whole
lifetime. Najah (27), Wissam (25) and Uamamn Kadhim (23) were given
the nicknames David, Ricky and Jimmy, so troops working with them
could better remember them.
Each is well educated,
very fluent in English and are more polite than most people you will
meet on the street in America.
They grew up in a Christian family during Saddam Hussein’s regime.
Their father (a judge), and mother (a lawyer), did all they could to
make sure their sons would have it better than most.
During the course of the
war they’ve been shot at, wounded, and injured by Improvised
Explosive Devices. Their families have been constantly threatened by
insurgent groups all because of their dedication to instating
freedoms to which Iraqis should be entitled.
Recently they have been
given citizenship in the
U.S.
and will experience what freedom is truly like. Their citizenship
was granted and they were moved to
Indiana
under a special program detailed under section 1059 of the National
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006, Public Law 109-163.
The program allows up to
50 Iraqi and Afghan translators per fiscal year to become eligible
for special immigrant visas, after having worked for the U.S.
military for at least 12 months. Each files a petition through the
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service, which is part of the
Department of Homeland Security. The visas for all three brothers
were approved throughout the last four months, and they will be
allowed to get permanent citizenship to live here after three years.
They have worked with the
U.S. Military since the start of the war in
Iraq
but have never seen anything like what America
has to offer, until now.
“Americans live an
unbelievable life. They get everything they want. If someone like
get a camera recorder, before I came to the
United States,
and showed me all this stuff on the camera or T.V., I would say,
‘That country does not exist,’ ” said David.
“When I came here I even
told my friends about the United States
and I told my mom, you know, I mean sometimes she don’t believe me.
She say, ‘Okay, just because you’re in the
States you are so happy.’ ”
Local national Iraqis
working with troops can add an extra element by reading body
language or picking up subtle differences in someone’s voice,
according to Capt. Daniel Hensley, commander of the 2nd Battalion
152nd Infantry Regiment Team Gator, who worked closely with the
brothers in theater. Team Gator returned from Iraq
in September 2007.
“A lot of times when we
were dealing with Iraqis they could tell us when we were dealing
with a shady character,” said Hensley. “A lot of times Jimmy would
say ‘Hey sir, I need to talk to you,’. He’d pull me aside and say
‘Hey, this guy here I’m not so sure about him; you might want to be
careful around him.’ ”
“These are guys we have
trusted our lives with and would again without a doubt. They fought
right along side us, they carried weapons. These guys are true
combat veterans.”
Hensley spoke of numerous
times the brothers would talk about how they were going to get their
paperwork and move to
America.
“I was like that’s great, that’s great. But in the back of my mind I
thought, ‘What are the chances of this happening?’ Honestly, when I
left that country in September I didn’t think I would ever see them
again.”
Staff Sergeant Jason
Truman, assistant operations noncommissioned officer for Team Gator,
picked them up from their apartment in
Evansville
after they all were finally in-country. He drove them to visit his
home in Wabash
County
taking a route through
Indianapolis.
“Coming through the city
they were amazed at the buildings; they’d never seen a building over
eight stories high before,” said Truman. “It was two o’clock in the
morning and two degrees when we stopped out here at the Circle, you
know, they wanted to get out and walk around and touch it.”
Truman spoke of his
television at his house and how a show came on about the
Grand Canyon
and he decided he should take them on a trip. “For me to take them
to the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas
was a no-brainer. I thought it was the least I could do to expand
their horizons and let them experience
America
to the fullest, to let them see what freedom is truly like.”
“The U.S.
is really green and I’ve never seen the snow before,” said Ricky.
The brothers were also
astounded by the school facilities and how much money and equipment
goes into them.
“They were so clean. In
the schools here they have exams and they can use a calculator and
also use the book. In Iraq
all we had is a pencil and a paper and using a calculator would be
cheating,” said Jimmy.
During their youth in
Baghdad
the brothers had been under a brutal dictatorship led by Saddam
Hussein. The country had been under strict rule for nearly 35 years.
“This dictatorship he been using all resource and money to buy guns
and weapons and leave the people behind. Not everybody there gets a
chance to go to school or go to college. It’s hard. You have to get
a job to get the money and pay for it,” said David.
The men talked about
missions they’d undertaken and the positives the U.S.
has brought to Iraq.
“I was Capt. Hensley’s translator,” said Jimmy, “I spent most of my
time with this captain like doing the mission asking people, like
talking with the public people finding problem and if we can, fix
them. We did many things for the people. We started many police
stations back in Ramadi.”
The men focused a lot on
the positive things the troops have done in Iraq.
Team Gator made a soccer field for the kids in a village nearby
Ramadi and donated their time and their own money to projects for
the people.
“Me and Sgt. Truman and
Capt. Hensley we built a goal, net goal. And actually had the kids
there and give them the gift, we give them the ball and give them
the money. And Sgt. Truman spent like probably like $2,000, more
than $2,000, and give it to the kids. The kids were so happy,” said
Jimmy.
“He’d save every month
about $200 and go to the PX and exchange it for one dollar bills and
give each of the kid like one dollar. That’s really awesome,” said
Ricky
“I can say Sgt. Truman is
a really gentle man cause, you know, there is one house was like a
poor family they always have little kid so sick and Sgt. Truman he
hand them the money.
I
was like, you know, oh my gosh. Sgt. Truman, really has big heart. I
respect him so much. My life change completely when Sgt. Truman did
that,” Jimmy expressed.
“Those kids that live in
that village are so poor, poor condition. They really did good
things,” added David.
Ricky talked about how
much safer the area was after Team Gator had helped ease the
threats, with constant patrols and heavy fighting.
“It’s not easy, you cannot
imagine how much they have done. Ramadi they called it “Triangle of
Death”. We were in our camp before they showed up, we was in our
camp and we could not feel safe. Before we go to the chow hall you
would have to wear you vest and helmet,” said Ricky.
“Now a days you could go
to outside the wire, you just imagine before inside the wire you
wearing your helmet and vest, now outside the wire you can go
without the helmet and vest.”
Ricky went on, explaining
the corruption in the media and its focus on the terror and fear in
the Ramadi area. He said people were subjected to this form of news
rather than a more optimistic look at things.
“A lot of people get the
bad picture about the U.S. Military, but they don’t realize,
seriously, they don’t realize what they have done in
Iraq.
Okay before you take a bad picture about the military, go there and
ask the people what they have done in
Iraq.
“They say like five
Soldiers get killed this area blah, blah, blah and that’s it. They
focus all about the negative things. They don’t focus on what they
have done.
“They don’t say that
Soldier we have to respect him, he has to be in the memory and has
to be in the heart. He’s done this and done this and part of that
project, he been part of saving this community.
They don’t focus on all of that. Okay,
he just die, okay bye bye.”
The brothers agreed on the
dependency of the
U.S.
military to provide security to
Iraq.
“The U.S.
public they have to know, the Iraqi country without
United States
is nothing,
Iraq
is going to be nothing. The
United States
they did a lot of projects in
Iraq
just to fix
Iraq
and making it a more better and help the people as much as they can.
They spent a bunch of the money, a bunch just to help the
civilians,” said Jimmy.
They said that the future
of Iraq
lies in the 2008 election in America.
They said that if the
U.S.
pulls out too soon it could result in a devastating effect for the
people in Iraq.
“I’m talking on behalf of
my people, I’m talking on all behalf of Iraqis. This is what I think
now, everybody think, even my mom my neighbors and my cousins,
everybody saythat. All the fear we have right now that are with the
next election. If the new president come into the United States he
say, ‘Hey, lets take our troops back home,’ civil war is going to
start between Shiites and Sunnis, they’re going to be mess,”
conveyed David.
“We have 80% of the
mission done we only have 20% left. Just a couple years, just a
couple years. That’s all,” said Ricky.
They said that the
neighboring countries like
Iran,
Syria,
Saudi
Arabia,
Turkey
and even groups like Al Qaeda are focusing on this election closely.
They said if coalition forces pull out, the enemies will move in on
the country and their massive oil reserves.
Hensley, Truman and the
brothers all agreed that by the time Team Gator left, attacks were
down significantly in and around the area which they patrolled. Not
just from their efforts, but from all U.S.
and coalition forces working together to secure the region. From
their standpoint the situation in that region of Iraq
is getting better.
“When we got to Ramadi
there was an average of about 140 attacks per week. By the time we
left it was down to less than five,” said Hensley.
The brothers were just
hired by the military to work as part-time cultural advisors at
Camp
Atterbury
Joint
Maneuver
Training
Center
in nearby Edinburgh.
This will be their first jobs in the U.S.
working as cultural advisors. They feel it’s the next best thing to
working with the troops in
Iraq.
“If you cannot go to
Iraq
and be there as an interpreter, I can at least support the U.S.
troops from here,” said Ricky. They sounded proud to continue that
type of work and grateful for the opportunity to work at Camp
Atterbury.
Each of the men was
genuinely appreciative toward the
United States
and the military for all they have done for their country, and
expressed it sincerely throughout the interview.
“We really appreciate the
sacrifice of the Marines, Army and Navy Seals all the kinds of
troops. God bless America,
and God bless the U.S.A. Army,” expressed David.
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