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Jack DeZell, 27, a Rogue Valley native and Army reservist back from the Iraq war, supports the United States� attempt to establish a democracy there but criticizes the actions of some Americans who have been insensitive to Iraqis. Mail Tribune / Jim Craven Reservist takes critical look at Iraq Rogue Valley native says U.S. effort to help Iraqis has been compromised By PAUL FATTIG Mail Tribune Jack DeZell figures his patriotism is second to none. The Army reservist wanted terrorists to be hit and hit hard after the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the United States. He stands squarely behind his military pledge to defend the U.S. Constitution. He still gets a lump in his throat when Old Glory waves overhead. But the Rogue Valley native also believes patriots must have the courage to speak out. "At the end of the day, people die — they had better be dying for a damned good reason," said the Iraq war veteran. "We need to be able to look critically at things." Spec. DeZell, 27, visiting his parents, John and Joyce DeZell of Central Point, for the first time since returning from Iraq in October, expressed frustration over the direction of the Iraq war and anyone who would question his patriotism. Advertisement "People with political agendas try to demonize a person or say someone isn’t patriotic because they question things," said the Burbank, Calif., resident. "I mean, this is America," he added. "We are -----ing Americans. Christ almighty! We’re the standard. If we’re not doing that . . ." He paused for a moment, apologizing for his salty language. "We owe them," he said of the 1,325 Americans killed thus far and the thousands wounded. "We started out helping (at the outset of war)," he added. "I think it was good then. But there has been a relapse." That relapse has come in the form of prisoner abuse, unnecessary killing of locals and other insensitive acts by a minority of Americans, he said. "We’re like a dysfunctional family over there," he said. "It’s like there’s one crazy uncle who keeps doing bad, messing it up for the rest of us." As a result, while most Iraqis expressed joy at seeing the end of the Saddam dictatorship, many now despise the American occupation, he said. A member of the 425th Civil Affairs Battalion out of Southern California, DeZell doesn’t portray himself as a grizzled combat veteran. But he can tell you about the mortars, about being attacked in a convoy, about angry Iraqis caught between the American forces and the insurgents. DeZell, who was largely home-schooled in the Rogue Valley, is a graduate of Loyola Marymount University, majoring in film production. After joining the Army Reserves in April 2003, he was activated the following December. He was deployed to Iraq in February and was stationed at Camp Red Sox, one of several bases near the Baghdad airport. "One of the missions of civil affairs is to work with the locals," he said. "We were trying to win the peace. That was our motto." Shortly after his arrival in country, DeZell, whose military specialty is in supply, pitched into his work. Many of the Iraqis who worked at the camp wanted to come to the United States or Europe to better their lives, he recalled. When Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld visited the troops late last winter, DeZell stood alongside him for a photograph. "I didn’t get a chance to ask him anything," he noted. But DeZell began to have doubts about how the battle for peace was being waged. Funds promised for civil improvements were late or never arrived at all; facilities that were built stood empty, he said. One Iraqi businessman he came to know left Iraq with his family because of the deteriorating situation, he said. "And this was exactly the kind of person we need over there to help build a new Iraq," he said. DeZell often traveled the notorious Route Irish from the airport into Baghdad, along which attacks and roadside bombs were frequent. Yet it took four months for his unit to receive "up armor" (extra protection) for its military vehicles. "I was surprised when I first saw these hillbilly metal boxes on Humvees," he said of the scrap metal protection. "It was totally improvised." In addition to roadside bombs, there was always the threat of indirect fire in the form of mortars and rockets, he said. "They liked to do that on Christian holidays," he said. Consider last Easter. His unit had been placed on alert after intelligence warned that an attack was imminent. He spent Easter eve on patrol. "The next morning this shrieking rocket came in and hit right next to the first sergeant’s house, blew out all his windows," he said. "I remember diving down and putting my helmet on." The Iraq he experienced was surreal, somewhat like a video game, he said. But it is a real war. One American soldier was killed near where DeZell was stationed. "They named a gate after him but that was it for him — it was over," he said. "You can’t go back into the video game and say, ‘I’m going to play that over again.’ " The prison abuse story broke when DeZell was on a 22-day leave to Europe. "I had tried to buy the program before," he said, adding: "Coming back was really hard." DeZell stressed that he supports creating a democracy in the region, but warned it will take generations to achieve. Moreover, it will require a cultural understanding of Iraq and its people, he said. There needs to be an officer corps that is willing to improvise and take risks, he said. Equally important, the officers need to understand the culture and be diplomatic, he added. "Right now, we can’t visit them (Iraqis) unless we are well armed," he said. DeZell recalled a July trip to Camp Anaconda near Baghdad in a Humvee with precious little armor. "There was three of us, a ‘Lord of the Rings’ kind of mission," he said. The sergeant they were with didn’t want to wait the next day for a military police escort, he said. The trio headed back around 1 a.m. with a convoy from the 1st Cavalry Division. DeZell was armed with an automatic rifle. "I looked up at the head of the convoy and saw all this tracer fire," he said, describing red streaks zipping through the night. "The sergeant in the passenger side started firing," he said. "All I remember was clicking it off safe and firing." Like others in the convoy, he aimed at the source of the incoming rounds. Back at camp the next morning, DeZell was cleaning his weapon when a seasoned Special Forces soldier congratulated him on firing his rifle in combat. "Then he said, ‘What’s that smile on your face? You wear a killer face now,’ " he said. Another soldier wanted to know about his body count. "Some (Americans) aren’t interested in ideology," DeZell concluded. "They aren’t interested in anything to do with helping the Iraqi people. They just say that to play the game. "I think there are a lot of people there on a hunting party," he added. However, he said there are also countless soldiers sincerely working to help bring democracy to Iraq. Many of them do speak out, he said. "But a lot of them get drowned out," he said. Meanwhile, DeZell, who will be in the Army Reserves until 2011, has volunteered for a three-week mission to the Philippines in March as part of an Army civil affairs project. "I don’t think they hate us as much over there," he said. Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. 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