MND-B Soldier serves two countries he calls home: Iraqi-born American Soldier proud to serve both countries

Photo By Sgt. Daniel Blottenberger | Spc. Emad Jadan, 39, an interpreter with Multi-National Division – Baghdad's 18th Military Police Brigade and native of Bloomfield, Mich., was born in Iraq and became an American citizen before joining the Army in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.  

BAGHDAD, IRAQ

10.08.2008

Story by Sgt. Daniel Blottenberger 

18th Military Police Brigade

By Sgt. Daniel Blottenberger
18th Military Police Brigade

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Most American Soldiers serving in Iraq are counting down the days to when they can pack up their bags and return home.

Returning home for one Soldier serving with Multi-National Division – Baghdad's 18th Military Police Brigade literally meant to deploy to Iraq.

Spc. Emad Jadan, an interpreter serving with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 18th MP Bde., left Iraq at the age of 20 and started the process of becoming an American citizen living in West Bloomfield, Mich., until the age of 39 when he returned home to serve as an interpreter for the 18th MP Bde.'s provincial level Police Transition Team.

"I am just a Soldier, who happens to speak Arabic," said Jadan.

Jadan's journey to the U.S. began in 1990 when he and his mother and sister fled Iraq at the start of the Gulf War. They left Iraq, which at the time was under Saddam Hussein's regime, when Iraq invaded Kuwait starting what would later be known as the Gulf War.

After his father died in 1985, Jadan was left to care for his small family, being the only male remaining in the family.

Jadan said, that he credits his father for the strong values he carries with him today. His father, who worked for 22 years with the government of Iraq controlling its finances, but declined when he was asked to join Saddam's political affiliation known as the Baath Party.

"The Iraqi government under Saddam asked my father to become part of the Baath Party and he refused, so he was forced to retire and open his own business," said Jadan. "He didn't join the party because he didn't believe in any of the things they believed in."

Growing up, Jadan visited the U.S. several times to visit relatives in Michigan. Jadan recalled one of those times when he was 10 years old going into a toy store and how he was amazed by all the toys. Jadan knew the U.S. is where he needed to go to keep his mother and sister safe from the war and Saddam's regime.

Jadan was forced to send his sister and mother ahead of him to the U.S., because his immigration papers were not complete and he had to spend two years in Jordan to complete the papers before reuniting with them in Michigan.

Life in the U.S. was safe for his family and Jadan went through several different businesses trying to make money to provide for his family. He owned a video store, cell phone retail store and then owned an auto glass shop. Business was going well for Jadan until Sept. 11, 2001, the day, Jadan said, that changed his life forever.

"Then September 11th happened," said Jadan pausing to recall the event. "Did you see the image of that lady when she jumped from the window? That image is still stuck in my mind and I cannot get it out."

From that time on Jadan began working for the United States federal government and for police stations in Michigan, doing jobs that he was not allowed to discuss for security reasons.

"I worked voluntarily to help out in whichever way I could," said Jadan. "I wanted the criminals behind the attacks to be punished for what they did and I wanted to prevent this from happening in the future."

Jadan said he liked working for the government and when Operation Iraqi Freedom started in 2003, he was keeping a close eye on what was happening.

"I don't call it the war in Iraq, I call it the liberation of Iraq," said Jadan, who decided to join the U.S. Army as a military intelligence linguist in 2007.

He joined the Army to get the experience he needed to reach his career goal of becoming an Iraqi government advisor one day; to work for a country that he says is one of his homes.

Now he is serving on his first tour in Iraq with the 18th MP Bde., serving as an interpreter for one of its PTTs that trains and mentors the Baghdad Iraqi police force in hopes for IP primacy.

Since working with the brigade PTT, the team Jadan works with has seen how beneficial it is to have an Army trained linguist serving with them.

"The training is valuable, but linguistic skills are obviously developed over a long period of time," said 2nd Lt. Jonathan Holliday, the officer in charge of a PTT that Jadan works with. "Jadan can read, write and speak Arabic better than any linguist I have worked with. He attempts to view his translations in both the context of how the people I speak with see the world and communicate and in the context of how I view what is being said and what I want to communicate."

Holliday added everyday he works with Jadan it reinforces to him how important it is to have a disciplined Soldier who can translate for him and also understands the culture he is working with is a huge benefit for the team.

"Apart from the actual words being said, he can also help me understand many of the shared and differing cultural perspectives of Iraqis and Americans," said Holliday. "Being a soldier, he has an added perspective that soldiers share, which translates into the ability to further understand my objectives and perceptions. Having a civilian translator is valuable, but civilians see the world in a slightly different way than military personnel."

Jadan said he is able to do his job so well because he feels at home.

"I like Iraq," said Jadan. "I am in a country that is more than 7,000 years old. It would be easy for the U.S. government and the Iraqi government to deal with an advisor that was both Iraqi and American as the link between the two nations."

From seeing Iraq as it was growing up and seeing Iraq under the Saddam regime, Jadan said that after seeing Iraq now, Iraq is much better today.

"The Iraqi people are tasting freedom for the first time," said Jadan. "Iraqi's are able to deal with any companies they would like and there are no restrictions on them as consumers."

Jadan feels Iraq is on its way to being a successful democracy and that once all the educated Iraqis return who fled during the war that the government and economy will become more successful.

"This is the first government in Iraq that is not run by a military force," said Jadan. "Things are better than they were and they will continue to get better as long as the Iraqi government continues to work for the Iraqi people."

Now a husband and father of two girls Jadan is proud to be serving both Iraq and America in the War on Terrorism... or the liberation of Iraq.

• Date Taken: 10.08.2008
• Date Posted: 10.08.2008 00:45
• Story ID: 24643
• Location: BAGHDAD, IQ