Page 7
Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, December 1, 2004
Iraq service changes views of Jordan Anderson
By CHRISTINA HILL
Correspondent
Thousands of soldiers
are putting their lives at risk
to fight the war in Iraq.
He’s the son of Steve
Anderson, of Stevereno’s
Family Restaurant in Down-
town Cave Junction.
“Everybody keeps ask-
hours off, but for the most
part it was an 18- to 20-hour
work day.
“In our spare time, a
group of us would meet on a
(From left) Grandmother Louise Anderson with grandson, U.S. Army Sgt. Jordan
Anderson; his father, Steve Anderson; his aunt Kathy Bintz; and Jon Anderson, his
brother. (Photo by Christina Hill)
U.S. Army Sgt. Jordan
Anderson, 21, a graduate of
Illinois Valley High School,
is one of them.
“I’m about two weeks
short of a year of being in
Iraq,” he said. “Part of my
job was to keep track of en-
emy fire, where they were
shooting from, what time,
and so on,” said Anderson,
of the Second Battalion,
Third Infantry.
“We maintained control
of the city pretty well,” he
said. “For the most part, it
was OK. It wasn’t like
Baghdad or Fallujah.”
During Thanksgiving
weekend, he was able to
come home for a few days,
but it was back to work on
Monday, Nov 29. He said
that he’ll be taking his two-
or three-week leave during
Christmas time.
ing me what I want for
Christmas, but I keep saying
I’m just happy to be home,”
Anderson said. “I definitely
perceive life a lot differently
after being in Iraq.
“I try to enjoy every-
thing I can and not let little
things get to me.”
However, he’s back to
work in Iraq and suffering
through “dry, nasty heat,”
which is uncomfortable.
“I drove almost all the
way through Iraq,” he said.
“I don’t care to see it again.
If I had a choice, I would
definitely pick somewhere
else.”
While fighting a war is
difficult, he said, there are a
few situations that help
make life more tolerable.
“Sometimes I was up
for 36 hours straight,” he
said. “Some days I had 12
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rooftop and talk about what
we’re going to do when we
get back home, what was
going on back home and just
hang out and talk about
things and enjoy each
other’s company, because
that was about the only
thing we had going on,” said
Anderson.
Also, in his spare time,
he would “go out several
times with the civil affair
guys.”
“Depending on what
neighborhood, we’d go
through, sometimes the peo-
ple would throw stuff at our
vehicles; and other times,
people, mostly kids with
huge smiles on their faces,
would come running up to
us and want us to play with
them,” Anderson said.
“Unfortunately I could-
n’t play with them because I
was on patrol and possibly
under enemy attack,” he
said, “but I would have
loved to play soccer with
them and show that we’re
just human beings, too.”
During his service in
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Iraq, he said he has seen
much progress.
“I think my unit alone
has spent nearly $3 million
to reconstruct schools and
hospitals and make fresh
water and sewage facilities
available to the people
there,” said the sergeant.
Despite the progress, “I
avoid watching the news
and television,” he said.
“I maybe watched a
dozen news programs when
I was over there for a year,”
he said. “I didn’t want to
watch it, because I was ex-
periencing it first-hand, so I
didn’t need someone telling
me what was going on.”
Instead, Anderson looks
forward to chatting with his
family through e-mail and
an occasional phone call.
He is set to return home
during summer 2005 but, he
said, that could change.
“I signed up for three
years of active service and
five years of inactive ser-
vice,” Anderson said. “Next
summer will be three years
that I have been in, but the
Army is in need of keeping
experienced men in battle,
so everything just depends
on if they let me out or not,”
said Anderson.
He looks forward to
closing this chapter in his
life, too.
“I kind of have a been-
there, done-that attitude,”
said the soldier. “I went to
Iraq and then up through the
ranks as fast as possible. It’s
time to move on and do dif-
ferent things in life,” Ander-
son noted.
“When I get out,” he
said, “I’m looking to join
the California Dept. of Cor-
rections, the Oregon State
Police or get an education in
wildlife science and get a
job with the Bureau of Land
Management.”
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1 3 T H A N N I V ER SA RY !
Fo r e s t r y A c t i o n
Co m m i t t e e Ri p ar i a n
Re s t o r a t i o n Pr o j e c t
The Illinois Valley’s 13th annual
Riparian Tree Planting Project is here!
Forestry Action Distribution Dates:
December 17 th & 18 th
January 14 th & 15 th
February 11 th & 12 th
Volunteer Day is February 26th at 9 a.m.
Come join us for this community event
Plant some trees, have a great day and share a meal
We also look for landowners that have planting sites along
the Illinois Rivers, streams, wetlands, and ponds.
We offer free riparian consultation &
seedlings to riparian landowners
of the Illinois Valley.
IVCRT Meeting Schedule
Making Things Happen!
December
Day
Date
Meeting
Time
Location
Thurs
12/2
Workshop
7:00-9:00PM
County Bldg
Tues
12/7
Executive Comm
5:30-6:30PM
IVCRT
Wed
12/8
Social Ventures
5:30-6:30PM
IVCRT
Thurs 12/16
Board Meeting
7:00-9:00PM
Selma Community
Center
Mon
12/20
Community Relations
5:30-6:30PM
IVCRT
Tues
12/28
Projects & Programs
5:30-7:00PM
Canceled
To Volunteer or schedule a consultation please call Mike
Mitchell or Leeandra Brocker-DiFuria at
592-4098
Email: forestryaction@cavenet.com