 "Photo: Anthony Souffle")
Editor's note: This is the fourth article of a four-part series detailing the service of southern Illinois veterans from World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the War in Afghanistan.
The trap was set.
The Afghan national army was in a valley waiting for the Taliban while Jamie Mitchell and his group of battalion scouts sat high above waiting to make the call to the infantry unit to cut them off.
But in Afghanistan, Mitchell said it is never clear who is setting the trap.
It was 2 a.m., and Mitchell and his crew could not see more than 20 feet through the black-curtained sky. But they could certainly hear through it.
"We heard the (Taliban) talking about us," Mitchell said. "They were saying we see four or five guys on a hill in a scout team, and they just kept talking about us for an hour. No one got sleep that night."
Mitchell, a junior from Harrisburg studying administration of justice, said he did not get much sleep during his service in Afghanistan from March 2005 to February 2006.
But a lack of sleep did not bother the Army sergeant, who said he was meant to serve his country in the military.
Mitchell said he remembered watching the brave soldiers who fought in the Gulf War and wanted to follow in his grandfather's footsteps, who received a Purple Heart for his service.
Fourteen years after watching the Gulf War from his couch, Mitchell was experiencing the war in Afghanistan from a Humvee.
Mitchell became the soldier on the screen he admired years before, ready to fight for the soldiers to his left and to his right.
"Soldiers are the tools for political policy, but when you are in battle, it doesn't matter why you are there," Mitchell said. "At that moment, you are there to get your buddies back home."
There were multiple times Mitchell found himself in situations where his buddies might not make it home. Whether it was jumping from airplanes, driving through a barrage of bombs or fending off a Taliban attack, Mitchell said he always had to think ahead and had no time to dwell on the present or past.
In one instance, Mitchell said he was driving in a convoy late at night with only the Afghan army vehicle using its headlights. The other vehicles kept the headlights off and used night vision to navigate the road so enemies could not see them.
The Taliban saw the lead vehicle and opened fire thinking there was only a single vehicle, leading Mitchell and the rest of the convoy to return fire and chase off the Taliban.
Mitchell said that was one of the most frightening experiences he had, but some of his fellow soldiers would experience much worse, including 36-hour firefights. That level of violence made the loss of friends inevitable.
He said he first experienced the death of a friend three weeks after his first tour in Iraq. He said that loss drove home the point that the enemy is out to kill.
"It's always a shock when shooting starts," Mitchell said. "But it's him or me, and your mom wants you to come home so you don't have a choice."
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For all the rough terrain, terrible weather and violent combat that happened in Afghanistan, Mitchell said there were plenty of positives.
He said the Army was active in building schools in Afghanistan and securing the villages so both boys and girls could go to school without the fear of the Taliban killing their teachers.
Mitchell said the American public does not know enough about what is happening in Afghanistan because the focus is always on Iraq.
When he was scheduled to come home, Mitchell said his parents asked local businesses to put up "Welcome Home Sgt. Mitchell" signs. But when the owners were informed he was coming back from Afghanistan rather than Iraq, they were less interested in helping, he said.
In many ways, Afghanistan was a much more difficult situation than the conflict in Iraq, he said.
"The soldiers coming from Iraq to Afghanistan thought it would be a cakewalk, but it was the opposite," Mitchell said. "If Iraq is a third-world country, than Afghanistan is a sixth-world country. It's totally barren, and the people have nothing."
After four years of service, Mitchell said he is ready to hang his boots for the time being and finish his degree.
Mitchell is one of roughly 700 undergraduate veterans SIUC is proud to host, said Tammy Keen, office administrator for Disability Support Services.
She said getting an education is part of enlisting in the Army, but institutions need to know veterans do not have the same resources most students have. Helping with financial as well as physical and mental problems is crucial for the success of veterans, Keen said.
"It's very hard not to get attached (to veterans)," Keen said. "Every night I think about them after I leave here."
Although Mitchell is no longer in Afghanistan, he said there is still work to be done. He said the focus needs to go back on Afghanistan so those who did not make it home with him did not die in vain.
"They are starting to take control of their own country again, but they still need security," Mitchell said. "Before we got there, they thought we were horrible. But after they see their daughters go to school, you realize they want your help and are some of the nicest people."
Jeff Engelhardt can be reached at 536-3311 ext. 268 or jengel@siu.edu
