thedrifter
09-29-07, 11:32 AM
Love and war: From Baghdad to Nebraska
By Sheryl Schmeckpeper - Norfolk Daily News
Posted : Saturday Sep 29, 2007 9:04:46 EDT
NORFOLK, Neb. — Cody Trindle and Taghreed Al-Fatlawi know all too well that the road from Baghdad to Norfolk is lined with red tape.
Their story begins almost two years ago when Trindle — the son of Bruce and Kate Trindle of Norfolk and then a captain with the Army’s 10th Mountain Division stationed in Iraq — met Al-Fatlawi, who was working as an interpreter for the U.S. Army in Baghdad.
It was a job Al-Fatlawi happened into by chance.
When U.S. soldiers were searching her family’s Baghdad neighborhood for weapons, they discovered that Al-Fatlawi and her sister could speak English. When the soldiers asked the women to serve as volunteer interpreters, they agreed.
Eventually, the sisters were hired to work as interpreters, which led them to the military base at the airport in Baghdad where Trindle was stationed.
At about that same time, Trindle was using unarmed civilians to serve as interpreters when training Iraqi soldiers. Feeling the need to learn the Iraqi language, he went in search of a teacher.
“It was love a first sight,” Al-Fatlawi said with a laugh.
Trindle said he was a little more cautious.
It took almost a year for Al-Fatlawi to receive the visa she needed to travel to America.
By then, Trindle had finished his tour of duty in Iraq and returned to Fort Drum, N.Y.
Before going to Iraq, he had spent a year in Afghanistan. So by the time his tour of duty in Iraq was over, his enlistment was also almost up and he decided it was time to become a civilian again.
So while Trindle finished his last few months as a soldier, Al-Fatlawi waited ... waited ... and waited for her travel visa.
In the end, the couple spent a year maneuvering that road of red tape before finally being married on Sept. 7 in Norfolk and now live in a Norfolk apartment.
Even though life in Baghdad is far from serene, Al-Fatlawi said many of the people are living as normal a life as possible by going to work, school and visiting friends.
Besides, life under the late Saddam Hussein was much worse, she added.
“Spies were all over. Whoever tried to rebel was kidnapped and killed,” she said.
Her brother, for example, spent eight months in jail for refusing to join the military.
While most Iraqi citizens were going hungry or working two jobs to feed their families, Saddam was building luxury palaces and monuments to himself, she said.
Due to red tape, none of her family was able to come to the United States for the wedding. Her mother did arrive in Norfolk on Sept. 8, the day after the wedding.
The couple may not be staying in Nebraska.
Trindle, a 1996 graduate of Norfolk High School, earned a degree in international affairs from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln before joining the military full time. Now he’s busy looking for work in the security industry.
Al-Fatlawi, who learned English in high school, said she hopes her language skills will help her find employment. However, she can’t start looking for work until she has her green card, which could take several months. In the meantime, she’s taking classes at Northeast Community College.
The newlyweds are looking forward to “whatever the next couple of months brings,” Trindle said.
Ellie
By Sheryl Schmeckpeper - Norfolk Daily News
Posted : Saturday Sep 29, 2007 9:04:46 EDT
NORFOLK, Neb. — Cody Trindle and Taghreed Al-Fatlawi know all too well that the road from Baghdad to Norfolk is lined with red tape.
Their story begins almost two years ago when Trindle — the son of Bruce and Kate Trindle of Norfolk and then a captain with the Army’s 10th Mountain Division stationed in Iraq — met Al-Fatlawi, who was working as an interpreter for the U.S. Army in Baghdad.
It was a job Al-Fatlawi happened into by chance.
When U.S. soldiers were searching her family’s Baghdad neighborhood for weapons, they discovered that Al-Fatlawi and her sister could speak English. When the soldiers asked the women to serve as volunteer interpreters, they agreed.
Eventually, the sisters were hired to work as interpreters, which led them to the military base at the airport in Baghdad where Trindle was stationed.
At about that same time, Trindle was using unarmed civilians to serve as interpreters when training Iraqi soldiers. Feeling the need to learn the Iraqi language, he went in search of a teacher.
“It was love a first sight,” Al-Fatlawi said with a laugh.
Trindle said he was a little more cautious.
It took almost a year for Al-Fatlawi to receive the visa she needed to travel to America.
By then, Trindle had finished his tour of duty in Iraq and returned to Fort Drum, N.Y.
Before going to Iraq, he had spent a year in Afghanistan. So by the time his tour of duty in Iraq was over, his enlistment was also almost up and he decided it was time to become a civilian again.
So while Trindle finished his last few months as a soldier, Al-Fatlawi waited ... waited ... and waited for her travel visa.
In the end, the couple spent a year maneuvering that road of red tape before finally being married on Sept. 7 in Norfolk and now live in a Norfolk apartment.
Even though life in Baghdad is far from serene, Al-Fatlawi said many of the people are living as normal a life as possible by going to work, school and visiting friends.
Besides, life under the late Saddam Hussein was much worse, she added.
“Spies were all over. Whoever tried to rebel was kidnapped and killed,” she said.
Her brother, for example, spent eight months in jail for refusing to join the military.
While most Iraqi citizens were going hungry or working two jobs to feed their families, Saddam was building luxury palaces and monuments to himself, she said.
Due to red tape, none of her family was able to come to the United States for the wedding. Her mother did arrive in Norfolk on Sept. 8, the day after the wedding.
The couple may not be staying in Nebraska.
Trindle, a 1996 graduate of Norfolk High School, earned a degree in international affairs from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln before joining the military full time. Now he’s busy looking for work in the security industry.
Al-Fatlawi, who learned English in high school, said she hopes her language skills will help her find employment. However, she can’t start looking for work until she has her green card, which could take several months. In the meantime, she’s taking classes at Northeast Community College.
The newlyweds are looking forward to “whatever the next couple of months brings,” Trindle said.
Ellie