Many people are quick to judge
others for things they may not even have done but for things people like them
have done. I was one of those
people. Back on November 27th
2007 I grabbed my gun, my equipment and said goodbye to friends and
family. Not knowing if I would ever see
any of them again, I got on a plane and started my journey to Iraq. I had this attitude about me that everyone in
Iraq was bad and should all be killed. I
am here to tell you about this little kid I was privileged enough to meet who
forever changed my thoughts and emotions for the people in Iraq.
Just
a couple of days after I arrived in Baghdad, Iraq, before we took over for the
unit already there, a soldier was killed.
He was shot in the face while in his guard tower, he was the only one in
the tower at the time and was unable to radio for help, bled out and died. The worst part of all this is that was his
last guard shift before he was heading back home. This made my hatred grow even more although I
already wanted to shoot these people in the face; I now wanted to do so even
more.
After
weeks and weeks of kicking in doors, detaining insurgents and finding weapon
caches, we had a meeting with a town leader.
While outside pulling security I met this little kid who asked for some
candy which we gave out to the kids all the time. I ended up building a friendly relationship
with this kid that grew to the point that he knew when my truck was coming down
the street. He would run alongside my
truck yelling my name. When we would
stop this kid would talk to me the whole time, I built up a trust with this kid
so strong that he trusted me with his life by telling me who the bad guys were, where they lived and would
even tell me when someone would drive by with a gun in their car. This kid could have been killed if he was
found out telling me this information.
This
single good hearted kid in a country for of murder and devastation changed not
only my thoughts on the people of Iraq but changed my life. Death stared me in the face every day for 15
months and he was still able to make me realize that even at war there are good
people everywhere and to not jump to conclusions and place a whole race of
people into a category for the actions of others.
