Raheem Rowell
22, Trenton
Specialist, Army National Guard
Deployed to Iraq Summer 2008
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Raheem Rowell
22, Trenton
Specialist, Army National Guard
Deployed to Iraq Summer 2008
Raheem Rowell arrived home from Iraq the first week in June, but didn't get to his mother's house until June 16, after the military's mandatory processing and debriefing, and a parade in Trenton. "That was the hardest part of the whole deployment," says Rowell, "being home but not being able to see your family until you get the official OK." Rowell, whose uncle helped persuade him to join up right out of high school, may have inadvertently carried on the family tradition: His 7-year-old nephew broke ranks and marched alongside him at the parade. "He stole the spotlight," says Rowell.
In Iraq, Rowell served in the Military Police, processing detainees in and out of FOB Bucca. "I gave them respect," says Rowell, "even though some of them did terrible things, like attacks on coalition forces, I never let my anger get the best of me." A little Arabic went a long way when a detainee threw a spit-bowl at him. "I showed him the [stun gun] and said 'mushkila?' — meaning, 'problem?' He said to me, 'No mushkila, no mushkila.' Once you show them [the stun gun], they usually cooperate."
Fresh from the war, Rowell is trying to shake off the instincts that kept him safe in theater. "I sit down to eat and reach for my weapon and realize it's not there," he says. "That weapon is your life, when you're over there, you take it everywhere you go — the gym, the shower ... everywhere." The discomfort, he says, is nice. "Walking around without a weapon, it feels so good." Some habits are proving harder to break. "I went out to eat with my uncle, and he wanted to sit in the front [of the restaurant]," Rowell says, "and I was like, 'No, let's sit in the middle, so I can see the entrance and the exit.' He was like, 'You're home now ... relax!'"
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