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February 22, 2006
BY TERA SCHMIDT

The experience of America's newest veterans is as much about the families left behind as the soldiers on the frontlines, said Joel Arends of Sioux Falls, a former Platoon Leader with the Army's 1st Calvary Division, Tuesday at Mount Marty College's CyberCafi.

Arends said everywhere he speaks, he meets people who are interested in Iraq because they have a loved one serving there.

"There are quite a few interested in what is going on in Iraq, especially with the tragedy the Yankton community has suffered in the last few months," he said. "It really hits close to home."

Arends, who has a wife and two small children, the youngest of which was born during his deployment, said he has a profound respect for the family members of soldiers who he said sacrifice just as much as the soldiers themselves.

"My wife became a single mother overnight," he said. "There are many men and women in the military who are in the very same position, who share the same sacrifice. I have coined a term to define the families of military members: I call them America's Shadow Army.' They are standing strong, sacrificing and supporting the Army you see every day in the media. It's a very personal issue to have a loved one gone."

Arends said he made a conscious decision to volunteer to serve in Iraq, much like many of today's soldiers.

"As a generation, we made a collective decision to fight for freedom, liberty and democracy and to live those values because with these privileges comes the responsibility to fight for and uphold those privileges," he said.

"As an infantry platoon leader, I led young men into battle. These are 18- and 19-year-olds who can now go home and sit at the dinner table with their parents and say they brought freedom to 25 million Iraqis. They can now wear the title of liberator and warrior and know they made a difference to people in another country."

Arends said his mission in Iraq seems simple in theory, but was actually quite complex in reality.

"Our mission was to hunt, track down and capture the enemy, and although it sounds simple, it was anything but," he said. "The first problem is, you are never quite sure who the enemy is. They don't wear uniforms or carry ID and they fight in small groups or terrorist cells. They don't fight toe-to-toe, they more than likely hit you and run. It's a new kind of war for a new moment in time."

During his time in Iraq, and more specifically Baghdad, Arends completed more than 600 combat patrols. He said the patrols were wildly unpredictable.

"We would go on patrols with 40 other guys. On one block in Baghdad you might be holding discussions with neighborhood leaders to get intelligence. In the second block you may be handing out supplies in exchange for information. And in the next few blocks you might be in a fire fight with the bad guys," he said. "It is like being a cop on a beat. You have to ingratiate yourself to the community and let them know it is OK not to be afraid, that you are there to try and get the bad guys."

While Arends said cultural barriers made interaction with Iraqi citizens difficult at times, he was shocked by the reaction he received from most community members.

"The majority reaction is very positive," he said. "Most people understood why we were there."

Arends also said Baghdad residents are no strangers to Western culture.

"Our culture is very predominate in their mindset," he said. "They have cable television and cell phones, and there are numerous Internet cafis. It is costly to own your own computer, but many locals get together at Internet cafis, much like this facility, and get information off the Internet about what Americans are doing there and about American culture."

Arends said he also saw improvements in Iraq's infrastructure during his stay.

"Baghdad has 7-8 million people, it is about the size of New York City," he said. "When we got there, it was like going to a New York that had no police force, no firefighters and no garbage men. There were 57 garbage trucks in Baghdad; New York has 15,000 garbage trucks. People would just throw their trash outside the door, and the dogs and cats and other animals would drag it off. When someone got tired of it, they would scoop it up and dump in the vacant lot down the street.

"American and coalition forces are now purifying water, taking care of garbage, updating sewage plants. American cops are training Iraqi police and American soldiers are training Iraqi forces. That's our exit strategy. We will train them to take care of themselves and then gradually scale down."

Arends said he wants to spread the message that Iraq is not an out-of-control mission.

"In the media, if it bleeds it leads," he said. "Iraq is portrayed as a blood bath. You have to remember that is some guy's career to decide what you see on the evening news. The mainstream media will have you believe we are in a quagmire, but reality is 14 out of 18 provinces in Iraq are considered peaceful -- they police themselves. The media commits errors of omission. Sometimes it's not what they say but what they don't say."