Nebraska soldier eases into civilian, student life
Andy Boyle
Posted: 3/9/07
Most people get the luxury of sitting back and enjoying a DVD in their downtime.

Not Duncan Einspahr.

Leisure time for him meant being ready to hop into a Humvee with a moment's notice and man a machine gun.

The former United States Marine Sergeant from the 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, or Fox Company, was in Iraq from February 2004 through September 2004. He was honorably discharged four months ago, and since then he's attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

The Lincoln East High School graduate is now a UNL freshman business administration major, and he's acclimating well, said his mother, Kim Einspahr.

It's been quite a transition for Duncan Einspahr. He was in the Al Anbar Province of Ar Ramadi, Iraq, in the time before power was turned over to the Iraqis. The region was quite the "hot bed."

Part of his duties included running raids on insurgents, re-supplying observation posts, escorting convoys and patrolling the town. He was constantly a target.

He said insurgents often used children as distractions. They'd throw a kid into the street, forcing convoys to slow down, making soldiers targets for improvised explosive devices. Either that or they'd ambush you, he said.

"It was a tough decision to make sometimes," he said.

The soldiers dealt with the local population on a daily basis, Einsphar said, so he learned a few key phrases in Arabic to communicate. They also had Iraqi nationals imbedded in their units as translators. That helped to make his job easier, he said.

But the local food sure didn't agree with him.

"More often than not it gave you a pretty bad stomach sickness," Einsphar said.

They did have time for the occasional break, he said, even though they were a "911 force," meaning they were the group that responded if someone needed to be evacuated for medical reasons. Those breaks usually consisted of watching bootleg DVDs from Iraqi vendors and relaxing in their rooms with temperamental air-conditioners.

"Any leisure time we had was often interrupted by rocket attacks and mortar attacks," he said. "It was really hard to chill out."

His father, Daniel Einspahr, said his son was quite modest about his experience in Iraq. He downplays everything, his father said.

When his parents flew out to California to meet him upon Duncan's return from Iraq, they heard a story their son hadn't yet mentioned.

When the Marines got off the bus, Duncan's commanding officer took him to meet the officer's entire family, his father said.

"Duncan had basically saved his life in a gun battle in Ramadi where he was at," Daniel Einspahr said. "He really wanted his entire family to meet him and let him know that's why he made it back to the United States."

Now he's a student, trying to get back into the flow of being a civilian again, his mother said.

"We're happy he's been able to make the transition back," she said. "It's tough for him sometimes. Many times he feels like he should be over there, but he's trying to get on with his life."

Ellie