Problem Child Makes Good

Loved this piece in the Des Moines Register last week:

Iowan given medal for actions in Iraq

With bullets and rocket-propelled grenades zinging around him, Patrick Jordan, 24, helped rescue 20 soldiers pinned down in a Baghdad alley last spring and then, by thinking fast, saved six soldiers after their Humvee broke down under heavy fire.

Six years earlier, both Valley High School and North High School had kicked Jordan out of school for having "no personal drive," he said. He got his diploma from Walnut Creek alternative high school in 1998 and joined the Army 17 days later "to try to do something with my life."

Last month, the Army awarded Jordan the Silver Star, the nation's third-highest wartime award.

"It's rare," said an Army spokesman, Lt. Col. Kevin Arata, adding that only 160 soldiers received the medal between Sept. 11, 2001, and this summer. "It's something that says a lot about an individual."

After 15 months in Iraq, Jordan is home in Iowa today. He and his wife, Tanja, and daughter, Jennifer, 2, are visiting his mother, Star Brown of Altoona, and his father, Rick Jordan of Williams, before flying back Sunday to Friedberg, Germany, where Jordan's unit, C Company of the 2nd Battalion, 37th Armored Regiment, is based.

Wednesday, Jordan recounted what happened on April 4, the day Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and his al-Mahdi militia launched an uprising in Sadr City, a Baghdad slum, trapping 20 U.S. soldiers.

Three rescue attempts failed. Just as Jordan's unit set out, the radio system in his M1 Abrams battle tank failed. His commander climbed into another tank with a working radio, leaving Jordan in charge.

Sadr City, peaceful when Jordan drove through that morning, was ablaze with explosions and flaming roadblocks.

"It was just off the wall," he said. "I was trying to process what was going on and the tank next to me starting shooting. I was just like, 'Wow.' "

Until that day, Jordan had fired nothing but warning shots. His mission was peacekeeping - enforcing curfew, searching for weapons caches, rebuilding schools and roads.

He aimed his gun at a person for the first time when three insurgents darted into the street, shooting at him.

During the four-hour journey, Jordan stuck his head out the tank hatch, firing more than 400 rounds, hitting 20 to 30 rebels. He doesn't remember feeling fear, even when his tank was hit six times by rocket-propelled grenades.

"You get mad and you get frustrated and you turn around and make sure the guy next to you is OK. I was more worried about making a mistake and putting my tank in the wrong position."

After finding the trapped soldiers - one was dead, four were wounded, the Chicago Tribune reported - Jordan's tank brought up the rear as they convoyed out.

When the Humvee in front of him quit running, Jordan had no radio to call for the other five tanks to stop.

He had no room left inside his own tank, so he yelled for the soldiers to climb on top. But when the rebels barraged them, Jordan lobbed a couple of grenades and ordered the soldiers to stay put.

He decided to push the Humvee, even though he didn't know whether that was possible.

"I was just hoping I wasn't going to run it over," he said. "I told my driver to go slow."

They made it the 1,000 meters to the checkpoint that isolated Sadr City from the rest of Baghdad. His unit refueled, restocked ammunition and drove back into the embattled neighborhood to protect police stations, government buildings and hospitals until the uprising died down four days later.

"I might've got the Silver Star, but we're all heroes," said Jordan, who has since been promoted to staff sergeant.

"Everyone who served. They're all heroes. No matter what war they fought in or if it was peacetime. They took time out of their lives to serve. Not everybody does that."

I cut this article out of the paper last week, photocopied it, made a vocabulary list and some questions out of it, and assigned it to my students. He was actually tossed out of THIS SCHOOL a decade ago! I know that a number of my guys are like Patrick Jordan, and I want to encourage them that they're not hopeless or worthless. I am proud of this guy and ALL of our brave men & women standing in harm's way for me.