Sense of duty draws soldier

After being honored recently at a Board of Supervisors meeting for his part in rescuing an American civilian held hostage in Iraq, U.S. Army Spc. Forrest Gielenz recently discussed some details of the rescue mission, other experiences from his tour and his reasons for re-enlisting.

After returning from Iraq in early March following more than a year there, Gielenz, 23, has spent the past few weeks relaxing with friends and family in the Grass Valley area and also plans to visit his mother in Arizona before going back to an Army base in Colorado.

A 2001 graduate of Bear River High School, Gielenz said he worked in hazardous material removal that required tree-climbing before enlisting in the Army in August of 2003.

"We went to war, and I don't like other people to do things for me," Gielenz said of his reasons for enlisting.

After training at bases in Kentucky and Colorado, Gielenz was deployed to Iraq on March 3, 2005, and stationed in southern Baghdad. He said fighting was worse in the southern part of the city than in the north, evidenced by the 20 soldiers in his squadron who were killed, as opposed to a total of five to seven soldiers who died in the three squadrons stationed in the north.

"Losing your friends," Gielenz said, describing the most difficult part of his fighting in Iraq.

In September, Gielenz helped to rescue Roy Hallums, an American civilian who had been held hostage by an Iraqi family in southern Baghdad for 10 months. As an ammunition loader in a tank, Gielenz helped to secure the premises outside the house, which the Iraqi family had already fled when U.S. troops arrived.

"It takes a lot of different elements to accomplish something like that - not like the movies," Gielenz said of the rescue mission.

He said Hallums "was just happy to get out."

Gielenz's other missions frequently included riding in the tank hunting for IEDs - improvised explosive devices commonly called "roadside bombs."

Gielenz said some missions would be 24- or 48-hour stints, which he said included "a lot of Red Bull, coffee and good conversation," in addition to his military duties.

Aside from missions, Gielenz said soldiers don't leave the base to venture into Iraq.

He said the majority of the Iraqis he talked to were children, many of whom knew how to speak English and loved to play soccer.

Gielenz recalled a team of soldiers being outscored 13-2 by a team of Iraqi children. In the soldiers' defense, Gielenz said, they were wearing 40 pounds of full gear, including ammunition and kevlar vests, and they were playing in 130-degree heat.

Other cultural impressions the country made on Gielenz were less positive, such as the extremely poor treatment of Iraqi women, copious amounts of trash, and corruption that he said made it difficult to affect change.

He also there also seemed to be lack of a strong work ethic, citing as an example the need to explain the concept of shifts to Iraqi soldiers, so some of them would stand guard at night instead of sleep.

Gielenz said his military experience has definitely changed him.

"Yeah, I calmed down a lot," he said. "I used to like to do things for adrenaline rush. I don't do that anymore."

When he returns for another, four-year term in mid-April, Gielenz said he hopes to go to officer school, and also to learn to fly helicopters, a skill he said he could use when he leaves the Army. He said he re-enlisted in January knowing full well there is a good chance he will be sent back to Iraq.

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E-mail shows rescued man's gratitude

During his tour of duty in Iraq, U.S. Army Spc. Forrest Gielenz participated in a mission to rescue an American contractor who had been taken hostage. The following is an e-mail sent to The Union Friday by the man Gielenz helped free, Roy Hallums:

"My name is Roy Hallums. I was kidnapped and held in Iraq for 311 days. I was rescued by the U.S. Army on Sep 7, 2005.

I have read your article about Forrest Gielenz being recognized by the Nevada County Board of Supervisors.

Let me say that my family and I can never repay Forrest Gielenz and all of the brave U.S. Army personnel that risked their lives in my rescue.

Please tell Forrest that I will always be grateful for his bravery."

- Posted to theunion.com



To reach staff writer Josh Singer, e-mail joshs@theunion.com or call 477-4234.