Arizonans ready for war-zone risks

Karina Bland, Kerry Fehr-Snyder and Daniel González

Idealism brought Ron St. John from his Cave Creek home to Baghdad, where he has been holed up in a hotel for the past three weeks because it's not safe for Americans to travel.

He's in Iraq to help bring a democratic government to a war-torn country that has never known anything like it.

He is among the Arizonans - no one knows how many - who are choosing to go to the Middle East at a time when violence against Americans is mounting and weeks after the military suffered its deadliest month in Iraq.

Some, like Justin Francis, 20, of Phoenix, a new Air Force recruit, are willing to go out of a sense of duty and patriotism.

People such as Randy Deer, an intensive-care nurse at Scottsdale Healthcare Shea who is now working in Afghanistan, have gone for humanitarian reasons, to care for those injured in battle.

Others, such as Robert Shawil of Surprise go with hope that the homeland they left behind years ago can be rebuilt and made safe.

And some are there to make big money in a dangerous land, working jobs that most people would be too afraid to take.

It's what he believes in

As the Iraq director for the non-profit International Republican Institute, St. John figures the risk is worth it if he can help create a democratic government in a country long ruled by dictators.

But extra vigilance is sparked by such horrors as the videotaped beheading of an American businessman and the murder of four U.S. civilians who were shot, burned and mutilated while crowds cheered.

"When I saw that tape (of the beheading), I was horrified like everyone else," said St. John, who joined the non-profit, pro-democracy group six years ago and has worked in central and Eastern Europe.

"But if you don't take unnecessary risks . . . you don't get into trouble," St. John, 45, said in a telephone interview Thursday from Iraq.

Chief among the risks is night travel, or traveling during the day without a security detail.

Despite news reports and two friends who were killed, St. John said he doesn't think that being an American in Iraq is like having a target on your back. "Not really. You get used to it."

St. John has met with more than 300 political parties, movements, leagues and associations in the six months he has been in Iraq. He plans to stay well past the change in power, scheduled for late June.

St. John's only family members in the United States are his parents, who live in Scottsdale, and a sister in Cave Creek. His brother works in Tel Aviv. "They know how I feel and this is what I really believe in," St. John said.

Not everyone is willing to risk his or her life in Iraq.

Laura Ingalls, a Glendale resident who initially went to Iraq as an aid worker a year ago and later became a freelance business journalist, is putting away her notebook until the insurgency settles down.

"It's much more dangerous now than it's been," she said. "I think it's the kidnappings that really got to me and made me think I need to get out."

She fled a month ago as fighting escalated in Fallujah.

A call to serve

Horrors in Iraq did not dissuade Francis, the young Air Force recruit, from enlisting. Rather, they strengthened his resolve. He leaves for basic training next week.

"I was just sitting here taking advantage of my freedom," he said. "People were fighting for me."

He had planned to be a youth pastor and spent a year at Southwestern College.

Chances are that Francis, like many other new recruits, may not go to Iraq, recruiters say. His firefighting training could take six months, and some specialties are more in demand than others.

But given that tour of duty, Francis said, "I would go for my country."

Nickie Colvin, 22, of Phoenix, leaves for Air Force training June 1. Her dad is ex-Navy. Her brother is in the Army. She wants to study avionics. And she's not afraid of going to war.

"When we sign up, we know that that's the risk that we're taking," Colvin said. "I'm joining to protect my country and my family."

Interest in the armed services peaks in wartime, but the number of new enlistees typically holds steady.

It's not a decision that most people make lightly, said Sgt. Eric Cantu, public affairs officer for the Marine Corps Recruiting Station in Phoenix. War can push potential recruits either way: into the military or out.

People do sign up out of patriotism, especially since Sept. 11. But, he said, just as often, recruits cite the education benefits, physical challenge, chance to travel or the pay.

Cantu said Marine recruiters get the occasional big guy insisting, "Take me, I'm ready to go." But enlisting in the military doesn't work that way.

"The process isn't just sign up today and go tomorrow," Cantu said.

In all branches, recruits undergo background checks, physical exams and other testing. If they are qualified, it can take a month or more before they are sent to basic training. Then, technical training can take a month to two years, depending on their specialty.

Iraqis going home

Several Iraqi-born Phoenix residents have plans to return to their homeland. If anything, they said, the wave of violence spreading through Iraq has reinforced their desire to help rebuild the country.

"It's been violent all along," said Surprise resident Robert Shawil, 45, who was born in Baghdad and came to the United States in 1977.

Shawil said he is planning to return to Iraq this year with his wife and two children, even though he will leave behind a comfortable life he has built as a real estate investor.

"What I want to do is live in my country and feel the freedom and democracy that I felt here in the United States," Shawil said. "I want to go and help my people, to show them how we can build opportunities and how we can build a better life."

Phoenix resident Sam Darmo, 49, also plans to return in the next few months to work with the Assyrian media. Darmo, Arizona spokesman for the Assyrian Democratic Movement, a political party that represents the Assyrian Christian minority group in Iraq, estimated that at least 200 Iraqi-born Arizona residents have returned to their homeland since the war began.

"Most of them go there out of principle to help the United States succeed and help Iraq succeed," he said. "They know they are in danger. As a matter of fact, this videotape (of the beheading) has encouraged people to do more to encourage freedom and democracy in Iraq."

Working in Iraq

Corporations with offices in Arizona have employees working in Iraq, too, though officials won't say how many or where.

Jobs in Iraq come with such risks that some companies reportedly are paying $1,000 a day.

General Dynamics, a Virginia-based communications and information-systems company with offices in Scottsdale, sends employees on a volunteer basis to Iraq to provide technical support for the Defense Department.

Spokeswoman Fran Jacques would not disclose how many of its 3,200 local employees are in Iraq. She said they know and accept the risks.

"They did it in the last Middle East conflict, and they do it now," she said.

Motorola Inc. also has employees in Iraq, but Norm Sandler, head of global strategic issues, would not say whether any were from Arizona.

From: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0514iraqaz.html