Jeremy Byers was learning how to operate a convoy in Iraq when an Improvised
Explosive Device hit his vehicle in 2005.
Some first day.
The vehicle had minor damages and no one was injured but Byers had to stay put for
four hours while routine precautionary measures were taken.
"Things became progressively more real," Byers said.
Staff Sergeant Byers, Grantsburg, Wis. graduate student and history teaching
assistant, was in command of 15 soldiers while he was in Iraq for more than a year.
After being home for two years, Byers will deploy for a peace-keeping mission in the
Sinai Peninsula in 2009, leaving behind his wife and an infant daughter. Byers, who is
working towards a doctorate in history, will have to put his studies on hold, yet again.
A tan running across his face from his helmet's chinstrap hasn't faded since returning
from Armenia on Oct. 22. He was there to be trained on how to conduct peacekeeping
operations. Although Byers will leave his wife to take care of their 7 month old daughter
alone, he realizes he has an obligation to go on the mission.
"If I could get out of the Sinai mission, I might do it," Byers said. "I will get about
$70,000 to go. I'm not completely heartless, I'm just being practical."
Although it takes him away from his family and puts stress on his relationship with his
wife, he said he enjoys being in the Army. Byers has wanted to be in the army since he
was a young boy and his initial interest began after seeing the Stormtroopers in Star
Wars.
"Even if they were the bad guys," Byers said.
For his 12th birthday, his aunt gave him a black M-16 water gun with a battery-
operated speaker and a light that flashed when he pulled the trigger.
After receiving the H20 spewing weapon, his mind was made up.
Three days after he turned 18, he headed to St. Paul Minn. for screening tests, then
off to Basic Combat Training in Fort Knox, Ky.
"I was terrified. Absolutely terrified," Byers said.
The skinny, brown-haired boy with glasses didn't have the ideal soldier body type.
Weighing in at 110 pounds and measuring 6 feet tall-- 6 feet 2 inches in army boots--
he was considered underweight. The night before his screening tests he loaded up on
food so he could meet the minimum weight requirement. But before he could be
considered in the Army, he had to perform 13 push-ups in front of a sergeant at basic
training.
He could only do two.
He practiced that night and the next day he did four.
"Well, you did twice as many as you did yesterday," the sergeant said. "Good enough."
And he was in.
Since joining the Army, Byers has toured in Korea twice and Bosnia and Iraq once.
While he was in Iraq he performed convoy escorts for former Secretary of Defense,
Donald Rumsfeld, U.S. Marshals and FBI investigators.
When he wasn't on a mission in Iraq, Byers found time to teach 34 soldiers History of
World War II, which they received KU credit for. The class was held in one of Saddam
Hussein's old torture chambers.
Paul Schreffler, 2008 Garnett graduate, was in Iraq with Byers and took his course.
"It was relaxing to go from an adrenaline rush throughout the day to a civilian life at
night," Schreffler said.
Schreffler said textbooks and reading books were available and the students had to
write a paper once a week and had a term paper.
"He was the busiest guy in the company and he still found time to get a class together
twice a week," Schreffler said.
This semester Byers is teaching a tutorial section of History 301, Historian's Craft, but
in the past he has taught History After the Civil War and History of World War II. Byers
finds ways to incorporate his experiences from the Army into each of his classes.
"There are things the Army has taught me that work well or are pointless," Byers
said. "Teaching is the one thing I let happen spontaneously."
Chantz Thomas, Lindsborg sophomore, took history of World War II from Byers last
semester and this semester he is in Byer's tutorial section of the Historian's Craft.
"He [Byers] can relate to the information we're learning about and relate it to us,"
Thomas said. "He has a technical background and has a particular perspective that
helps class be interesting and engaging that helps in learning overall."
Thomas said Byers has shown photos and videos of places that they discuss in class
and he also brought in his army gear to share his insight with the class. During Thomas'
History of World War II class, Byers was able to add to his lecture by showing the class
photos of concentration camps and battlegrounds that he had visited while in the Army.
When Byers is in the Sinai Peninsula, he hopes to visit Israel and Egypt because of
their rich cultural heritages and ancient histories. Byers also plans to work on his
dissertation for his doctorate.
Byers' wife, Kelly Mourning-Byers, wishes he wouldn't go to Sinai, but also
understands that he has to. Mourning-Byers said when her husband came back from
Iraq, they had to relearn the other person. Mourning-Byers said he adjusted to being
back pretty well and the only odd thing she noticed was during an outing in the car.
"We were talking and every time I'd say something, he'd roll his eyes," Mourning-Byers
said. "I was about ready to yell at him for rolling his eyes at me when I realized he wasn't
rolling his eyes, he was scanning the overpasses before we drove under them."
While her husband is in the Sinai, Mourning-Byers plans to keep herself busy with
family visits and taking care of their daughter, Sophia. Mourning-Byers worries about
Sophia not fully remembering her father while he is on tour. She plans to have a photo
album as well as videos of Byers reading bedtime stories which Sophia can watch each
night.
Byers plans to teach another class while in the Sinai, though he's not sure what class.
"I like being in the classroom," Byers said. "It distracts me from other more boring tasks
and, as a cooperative process, it teaches me new ways of seeing an issue."
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