The men and women of the American military never cease to amaze me. Although positive stories of the war on global terrorism are generally silenced by the deafening roar of Bush haters on the right and left, by politicians clamoring for an advantage in the polls and by near unanimous negative mainstream press reporting, they are out there if you search.

That is why it is heartening to see a feature series appear on MSNBC’s front page about a remarkable man and his remarkable mission.

Deierlein didn’t have to be in that filthy Baghdad neighborhood. When the Army reached back into his life in October 2005, he was well past his eight-year service obligation to the military. A senior-level advertising executive, he lived in a trendy Manhattan apartment and had a share house in the Hamptons. He was engaged to marry a beautiful airline pilot. He owned a tuxedo and wore it often. He hadn’t worn an Army uniform in 12 years.

Call-up orders arrived in his mailbox anyway. When he balked, an Army official told him he could be jailed if he didn’t report for training.

Then, a few days before Deierlein was set to ship out, another Army official called to say that his military obligations had, in fact, already been met, that he owed the military nothing. He didn’t have to report for duty after all.

He went anyway.

As I read through the account of Captain Deierlein’s return to the service and work in Iraq, I was proud to be an American. This is the spirit of America and her people, being a light to the world, putting others before ourselves, overcoming tremendous obstacles with courage, ingenuity and hope.

This is not a fluff piece, leaving out the missteps and mishaps our our military and government. Those elements help to shape the mission that Captain Deierlein and his fellow servicemen took on. But it is a window into the people of Iraq that is seldom seen amid calls for complete obliteration of the country.

But amid the chaos, they had found a way to make a small difference — by doing what they could to help the city’s most impoverished residents.

Days earlier, Deierlein, 38, and his buddies had handed out Flintstones chewable vitamins to a crowd of smiling mothers only blocks away. Deierlein had told them: These will help your children grow stronger and taller.

“Shukran, shukran!” the women had replied in Arabic. “Thank you, thank you!”

Before long, Deierlein and his friends in his civil affairs company were distributing children’s clothes, shoes, vitamins, toys, soccer balls, school supplies and blankets in one poverty-stricken area after another.

“We really enjoyed those kind of opportunities because you drove through these neighborhoods day after day after day,” Deierlein said. “There’s a lot of innocent, decent people that just are there and are suffering. So even if you could alleviate that suffering a little bit, it really did make you feel good.”

Captain Deierlein was severely wounded by a sniper and required many surgeries and months of rehab before returning to his position as C.O.O. of Dynamic Logic. The work he started, helping the innocent civilians of a war-torn country, continues today. Well done, Captain Deierlein.

It is true that a single terrorist can frustrate our military and cause massive deaths. The question for the American people is really quite simple. Do we show the same character as the men and women representing us on the front lines of the global war on terror and stand for what is right?

 

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