Jul 08
4
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Iraq veteran urges soldiers' return
Rocky Mountain News, CO - 2 hours ago
Only months before their scheduled return home, it all unraveled when a squad of the Fort Carson soldiers ordered two Iraqi men to jump from a bridge near ... |
He thought he could win the war. If you watched Nate Sassaman and his men five years ago, as I did, such a thought was not out of the question. They were young men who turned ruthless when attacked, who strolled fearlessly through the nastiest, most dangerous Iraqi towns because they had earlier instilled in the townsfolk the fear of God. Only months before their scheduled return home, it all unraveled when a squad of the Fort Carson soldiers ordered two Iraqi men to jump from a bridge near the Tharthar Dam overlooking the Tigris River. Nate Sassaman is 45 years old now. "I'm 70 on the inside," he says, seated in his Colorado Springs home, "what with everything I've had to go through." He seemed the perfect person to speak with for a column on this day, with its emphasis on patriotism and freedom. Nate Sassaman, at one point, seemed the poster boy for both. Raised the son of a strict Free Methodist minister in Portland, Ore., he would be recruited to attend West Point, where in 1984 he would rush for more than 1,000 yards as a quarterback and lead Army to a national ranking and to victory in its first major post-season bowl appearance. What happened between then and today he details in a new book he has written, Warrior King: The Triumph and Betrayal of an American Commander in Iraq. It recounts his one-year tour in Iraq as commander of the 1-8 Infantry from Fort Carson, with whom I embedded as a reporter in December 2003, a time when the 1-8 was routinely being given the hardest, most dangerous missions other units failed to complete. He returned home in 2004, his military career all but ended, having received an Article 15 reprimand over the incident at the bridge. He denies to this day ever attempting to cover it up or thwart its investigation. "Originally, I just wanted something to leave for my wife and kids," the former lieutenant colonel says of writing the book. "And then, it got surreal." For 12 to 18 months after returning home, rarely could he sleep at night. He would spend the time reading the papers, watching the news. Reports on the war were short, illuminating little of what he knew was actually going on. "So I just started laying out my story," Nate Sassaman said, "never knowing if it was going to be read, much less published. I needed to tell my side of the story." The story is often violent, beginning in the earliest chapters, from his dodging sniper rounds to rescuing a badly wounded soldier in his first weeks on the ground, to holding his best friend as he died from a tiny piece of shrapnel during a late-tour mortar attack. "Above all, I felt I had an obligation to say we, and I mean a good number of commanders and general officers, were not doing what needed to be done to win that war," he said. The response to the book has mostly been positive, Nate Sassaman said. "I've gotten some really touching notes from soldiers who served with me, and that means the world to me. "Other officers," he said, "have told me the book is spot on, that some senior officers are critical of it, but not to think for a second that not every one of them is reading it to learn from the stories and lessons I've laid out." He is now athletic director and head football coach at the Classical Academy High School in Colorado Springs, a city his wife fell in love with during their time at Fort Carson. "After 14 moves with the military," Nate Sassaman said, "my wife got the final choice. And Colorado Springs is a great place to raise a family." A film company headed by Tom Cruise has purchased the rights of his life story. All that he knows is a script has been written, and that "20 million other things need to happen" before an actual movie is made, a prospect he dreads. "They will never get it right," he said. "It is why I wrote the book." Of the military, he pauses only slightly before saying he doesn't miss it. "I loved every second I was in. I have no regrets. Not that I don't want to hear from my soldiers, but I am the kind of guy who closes the chapter and moves on." Writing the book helped close that chapter, he said, and what he called his personal healing process. What does he believe regarding the war now? Is he as gung-ho as I remembered him when we first met, both of us caked in Iraqi sand and dirt? It is in the book, he says. And it is: "Bring the soldiers home - now. Start today. "That is not an unpatriotic sentiment, and it's not worthy of shame. It is the right thing to do. I don't care how many generals, colonels, captains - whatever - think they can win the war. You know why? Because I thought I could win the war, too."
