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JOINT FORCES TRAINING BASE LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. – Ahmed Al Saedi’s hands shook as the shuttle driver clicked his mobile phone closed and warned his passengers in Arabic, “If you have anything that identifies you as working for the Americans, get rid of it now.”
This was exactly the kind of scenario Al Saedi lived in fear of. It was 2005 and Taji, Iraq, was rife with violence. Al Saedi, an Iraqi citizen working as a linguist for the U.S. Army at the time, was terrified. While sectarian tensions were complicated and often deadly, he knew that if a militia group from either religious sect caught him working for the Americans it was a death sentence.
“I was dead either way,” the then-24 year old, explained. Not only was the armed checkpoint ahead of him manned by members of the opposite religious sect than he adhered to, but Al Saedi was carrying his American ID card and a very special American Flag.
Dressed in paint-splattered coveralls, the guise he used every time he left the U.S. base in Taji to blend in with the civilian population, Al Saedi’s mind reeled as he realized he needed to react immediately if he was going to walk away with his life.
As the dark blue minivan Al Saedi was riding in coasted closer to the checkpoint, he asked the driver to let him out. Adrenalized and more than aware that the checkpoint was not only within earshot, but also gunshot range of his location, Al Saedi made his best attempt at blending in with the locals around him. He’d been let out in front of a cluster of homes, and hoped it appeared that he was a resident in his own neighborhood, even though he wasn’t quite sure where he was.
He ducked between houses, and as soon as he was out of view of the checkpoint, Al Saedi raced towards the main thoroughfare, Main Supply Route Tampa, and sprinted across.
With all of his senses engaged, he lost himself down rows of houses in an unfamiliar village. Knowing he could be stopped and questioned at any moment, getting rid of the U.S. flag he was carrying was paramount. In an alleyway beside a large house in an area that seemed quiet, he noticed a flattened piece of metal on the ground and started to dig.
“I could hear the echo of my breathing,” Al Saedi said, explaining the tension he experienced.
Knowing he could be spotted and reported at any moment by local residents at a time in Iraq when digging near a road usually indicated the planting of Improvised Explosive Devices, he completed his task wracked with anxiety. Covered in sweat, dirt, and cutting his hands repeatedly with the piece of metal he’d procured, he finally dug a hole he hoped was deep enough to safeguard the flag and protect his identity as a translator.
Al Saedi carefully placed the signature-covered flag, already packed in two Ziploc bags enclosed in a drawstring sports backpack, into the hole and packed down earth on top as best he could.
With his task complete, Al Saedi made his way back to MSR Tampa to see if the checkpoint was still in place. He was relieved to see it gone. Al Saedi waited for the next shuttle bus headed in the direction of his parent’s home, got on, and left the flag and that harrowing scenario behind.
“Life moved on, and I never told anybody about the flag,” Al Saedi said, of the flag that stayed buried for 11 years.
The incident was one of countless dangerous scenarios Al Saedi found himself in, yet continued to work as a linguist and cultural advisor for U.S. forces from 2003 to 2011.
Al Saedi, now an Active/Guard Reserve staff sergeant in the Army Reserve’s 155th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion in El Monte, California, said he found an organization he admires in the Army, and wanted to continue serving, officially in uniform, once he immigrated to the U.S.
“I will always be ready,” Al Saedi said. “If they needed me to go to Iraq again, I would go tomorrow. Being in this uniform means a lot to me. I wanted to be in this culture because … I fit in.”
Al Saedi said he was inspired to join the U.S. Army by the American Soldiers he worked with in Iraq. The cohesion, leadership, diversity, friendship, loyalty and comradery—he said in no other profession can you find all of these attributes among your peers.
When Al Saedi began working for U.S. forces he was a 22-year old college student, who had a penchant for the English language. He said he didn’t seek out a job with American Forces in 2003, and even turned down his first offer out of fear of being the target of violence, but said witnessing the communication barrier between his people and the Americans changed his mind.
“When I drove around with my dad, I saw the people were struggling to communicate with the U.S. military,” Al Saedi explained. “I had no stake in the outcome other than true, genuine help for the public. That’s it.”
Al Saedi said a few times he passed by civilian interactions with U.S. military members that were going poorly until he stepped in. Each time, he said, U.S. military members gave him information on how to apply as a translator.
He said he finally decided to accept the job despite the risk of danger because he thought through communication and greater understanding on both sides, he could help save lives.
“In my eyes, I saw this as a true humanitarian mission,” Al Saedi of his work with U.S. troops.
Despite Al Saedi’s motives for assisting the American troops, his tenure as a linguist and advisor was wracked with violence.
“We in kicked doors so many times; I got blown up so many times; we got into firefights so many times,” he explained.
“We were outside the wire every day on patrols,” explained retired Army officer John Wright in a Stars and Stripes article. Wright served with Al Saedi in 2005 and described him as “top notch.”
In one of Al Saedi’s early brushes with danger, he was working with the 1st Armored Division.
Like any other day, Al Saedi’s services were requested on a Quick Reaction Force convoy to apprehend a man suspected of shooting off mortar rounds. Al Saedi, who was in the first vehicle, dismounted with all the other 1st AD Soldiers. He said as soon as he exited the vehicle, he rounded a corner in an alleyway and came face to face with the muzzle of an AK-47. Unarmed, he used his hand to push the assailant’s muzzle away with a shout, and a burst went off. Luckily, he said, his quick reflexes may have saved his life, or that of U.S. Soldiers.
After this incident, he explained, the 1st AD Soldiers began to treat him differently, as they felt he had protected them from injury, and could’ve very well been killed himself. He explained that they opened up to him as a friend and team member rather than just a translator.
Al Saedi explained that the Soldiers began to view him as a trusted asset, and in turn, Al Saedi began to provide vital cultural insights with the American troops that made a difference in their interactions with the Iraqi citizens they came into contact with.
Al Saedi said his role became more than that of someone who simply translates other people’s conversations. “I’m going to teach you how to survive,” Al Saedi said of his attitude towards his employers.
Over time, Al Saedi became a cultural advisor, a de facto Combat Lifesaver trainer, and was trusted to carry a weapon on patrols.
He became close to the Soldiers he worked with.
“Everyone was a friend to me, but Larson and I developed a great bond,” Al Saedi said of Spc. Scott Larson, one of the 1st AD Solders he worked with in April 2004.
Al Saedi explained he and Larson talked about family, religion, and the video games they both enjoyed—normal conversations for young men in their early 20s.
It was in this spirit of trust and friendship that the Soldiers of 1st AD decided to gift Al Saedi with an American flag. Their deployment was coming to a close, and they would be leaving Iraq while Al Saedi would stay behind and continue serving U.S. troops. They told him they were all going to sign the flag and gift it to him right after they returned from one of their last missions in Iraq: escorting some Iraqi army troops to Falluja. Al Saedi couldn’t travel with them because he couldn’t miss his college classes that day.
When they returned, they brought terrible news; the escort had been ambushed by insurgents and a firefight ensued. Larson was hit with shrapnel and didn’t survive the mission.
With great sadness, Al Saedi accepted the American flag the 1st AD Soldiers all promised him—it was signed by all of them—all except Larson.
It was this very same special flag that Al Saedi was attempting to bring home to show his parents a year later. A flag he then risked his life to bury.
The flag stayed buried through many more years of Al Saedi working alongside U.S. troops, and was still buried when he immigrated to America.. It stayed buried when Al Saedi took the oath of enlistment and went to basic training, joining the U.S. military in 2011.
The flag stayed buried until 2016 when Al Saedi’s parents were planning a trip to the U.S. in celebration of the birth of Al Saedi’s daughter.
Before their trip, when Al Saedi’s parents asked him if they could bring him anything from home, Al Saedi explained there was one thing that he wanted.
Without revealing what was inside it, Al Saedi gave his father the most detailed instructions he could remember on how to find the buried backpack. While Al Saedi hoped it was still there, he knew there was a possibility it could have been found or destroyed by the elements.
Al Saedi’s father made several trips to the alley before he was able to attempt digging without witnesses. When Al Saedi’s father found the backpack and inspected its contents at home, both of his parents were confused as to why so much risk had been taken to retrieve the flag.
When Al Saedi explained the whole story to his parents, however, they were emotional and said it would be an honor to bring it to him in America.
Al Saedi was also surprised at what good condition the flag was in—all those years later, it was pristine.
The flag now hangs in Al Saedi’s home in California and for him, is a symbol of the risk and sacrifice he and his U.S. comrades made in Iraq, but also of the friendships forged that he will never forget.
Al Saedi’s story is beginning to garner national attention, and on Nov. 14, 2019, he received a letter from President Trump commending his patriotism.
Additionally, on Jan. 13, 2020, the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, a unit he once served with, held a ceremony for Al Saedi at Fort Irwin, California.
Now that he is able to share his story more openly, he wants both U.S. service members and civilians to know how honored he is to serve in the Army and wear the U.S. flag on his shoulder each day.
For Al Saedi, who has witnessed and endured more years of war than most, his service is personal.
| Date Taken: | 03.06.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 09.08.2020 16:39 |
| Story ID: | 377633 |
| Location: | EL MONTE, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 53 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, From Iraq to California: Iraqi-American citizen serves with purpose, by MSG Alexandra Hays, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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