December 24, 2003

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by Rachel Metz

Sgt. Kirby Young sat at a table inside the Peninsula Creamery with half a grilled cheese sandwich on wheat left on his plate.

Although you'd think he'd have a big appetite after 10 months in Iraq, he could only manage to eat part of the sandwich, half a mint-cookie milkshake and even allowed a hungry reporter to nip at his fries. Young is relaxed, smiling easily and enjoying the start of two weeks of leave at home in Palo Alto.

"It feels pretty good," Young said of being back in the Bay Area.

Self-described as quiet, Young doesn't fit the image of the "typical" soldier. Though solidly built and clearly physically fit, he isn't into combat. He's been in Iraq since April 2003 and works with a section of the army called civil affairs, which helps rebuild cities and towns affected by war.

For Young, who grew up in Palo Alto and graduated from Palo Alto High School in 1999, the army has been a chance to help rebuild a country blasted by war and dictatorial rule. It's a job he's proud of, Young said.

"...I've been able to participate and help rebuild Iraq. How many people can say that?" he said.

He wasn't planning on coming home for the winter holidays, but some slots opened up for mid-December leave and Young snagged one at the last minute.

Young's departure from Iraq was so spur-of-the-moment, in fact, that he came home to an empty house - his parents were away on an already-planned anniversary trip to Las Vegas.

Still, "it's really good to be back," Young said.

Young's sudden arrival in Palo Alto is similar to how he got into the army in the first place. Lured by the prospect of getting paid to be in the reserves, he signed up during his senior year.

"It was kind of spur of the moment," Young said.

This sudden decision didn't fully impact Young until recently. For the first several years he was in the reserves, he attended college at Northeastern University. It wasn't until January, 2003 -- when Young learned he'd be heading to Iraq -- that the reality of serving in the army began to settle.

Initially he wasn't scared "because it just seemed so far away," Young said, but when he finally rolled into Iraq his fears picked up.

"When we first rolled in the country, that was probably one of the more scared I've been. Just 'cause you don't know what to expect," he said.

Like many troops, Young entered Iraq via Kuwait. He flew into the tiny country and then made the long drive across the border and into Baghdad. On the way in he saw mud huts and children came at him, waving Iraqi dinars and hoping to exchange them for dollars.

It's a 20-hour trip, so sleeping was done in, on and around the vehicle.

"Let's just say the driver's seat of a Humvee isn't very comfortable," Young said.

At first, he was alert for anything bad that could happen -- like an ambush of American troops by Iraqi resistance -- but soon Young adjusted to the swing of things.

"... once we started settling in and bedding down where each unit was supposed to go to, then we started to get more into it, more friendly towards the local populace -- we started making connections," he said.

Young traveled on missions with a group of soldiers intent on helping out local communities with things like securing payroll checks for government workers and determining if towns have adequate supplies. The basic role of civil affairs is restoring communities to their pre-war standard. The troops act in conjunction with non-governmental organizations, or NGOs, Young said, which handle any additional rebuilding tasks after the troops complete their work.

One task Young remembers involved handing out notebooks and other supplies at an Iraqi school. This one was in better shape than some city schools, probably because it was out in the boonies.

"The parents and the people protected their own school from looting, as opposed (to) the more central cities that were pretty much out of control," Young said.

Many schools he saw were "looted down to practically nothing." Even urinals were removed, Young said.

"They took, like, wall sockets and light switches and light fixtures, AC units, anything you'd think of -- even if it's bolted down they'll figure out how to rip it out or destroy it," he said.

Though civil affairs sounds like a friendly occupation, it's by no means safe -- anyone wearing a uniform is a target, Young said.

"It does put us in a more dangerous position because we (leave military territory) more often than anyone else," Young said.

Young and his fellow troops had to build relationships with locals, and he was invited into some homes. The interactions were different from what he was used to growing up in Palo Alto -- they weren't introduced to wives or most daughters, but rather to sons and perhaps a baby daughter.

Out on the street, different societal conventions prevailed as well, with local women typically covered up in black.

"Some of the really old, old-school cover their whole face even," Young said.

Despite differences, people he encountered were generally pretty friendly.

"They're not outwardly aggressive toward us mostly. Every once in a while you get people waving at you and saying like ... 'Yeah, U.S., go!'" he said.

Still, there are always exceptions, like a group of Iraqis who ambushed Young's group on their way back to Baghdad from the southern town Anah one summer afternoon.

Young heard a sudden, loud "boom," looked out of the back of the Humvee he was sitting in and saw a group of six or seven Iraqis shooting at them. Training immediately kicked in and the soldiers fired back in self-defense. In the end, one American soldier was hurt during the ambush -- a bullet hit his radio and shrapnel deflected into the man's shoulder.

The initial boom, Young later learned, was from a rocket propelled grenade, or RPG, the Iraqis set off.

"It was just amazing 'cause hearing all the other people talk about it afterwards, they said there was at least three RPG's that were fired," he said.

Fortunately for Young, this spark of violence has been the height of visible danger so far. For about more than a month before he left Iraq in mid-December he has been working on civil affairs from the inside -- working in an office instead of out in the field -- and though it may be quieter he's itching to get back outside.

"I felt like I could make a difference going outside and talking to people and interacting with them, as opposed to staying inside the office all day long. It's just like I'm back home except I'm really not," he said.

Young filed for leave in Baghdad around the time soldiers were cornering ousted Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in a deep, narrow hole on Saturday, Dec. 13. He didn't learn about Hussein's capture until Monday, while waiting for his flight home at Baghdad International Airport.

Does Young think things will change for better now that Hussein has been captured?

"I honestly hope so," he said.

Rachel Metz can be e-mailed at rmetz@paweekly.com

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