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Minnesota National Guard Staff Sgt. Yaser Saleh Ishtaiwi was born in 1966 in Talkarm-West Bank, Jordan and immigrated to the U.S. in 1986.
After talking to a few friends that were in the Army he decided to join the military. In 1992 he enlisted in the Minnesota Army National Guard as a heavy equipment operator and was assigned to the 682nd Engineering Battalion.
For six years he worked with the Roseville, Minn., unit before the outfit moved to Willmar, Minn. and the commute started to become a grind. He switched to the 1/34th Brigade Support Battalion in North Minneapolis for less travel on drill weekends.
While with the 1/34th he enrolled in Officer Candidate School, but was unable to complete it due to lack of support from his unit.
Staff Sgt. Ishtaiwi deployed to Iraq in 2005 and he was originally going to be a mechanic for the unit. That changed after brigade found out he could speak fluent Arabic. He was transferred to brigade headquarters where his tasks included translating contracts, being an interpreter for officers when they had to speak to sheiks and other members of the populous and translating local radio broadcasts to see how the locals were viewing American troops in the area.
After his deployment to Iraq he felt empowered to make the right decisions and act upon it. Ishtaiwi started helping his community as much as he could. He tutored kids in math and physics at some local schools and mentored kids in his neighborhood.
“My experiences in Iraq encouraged me to help our own citizens who need help,” said Ishtaiwi. Along with tutoring Staff Sgt. Ishtaiwi also enjoyed helping organize community activities and projects. One of these projects was to help open an Islamic center in Minneapolis for people that support what the United States does abroad and supports the American troops that are serving overseas.
Staff Sgt. Ishtaiwi is on his second tour overseas, with the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division. “I volunteered to go,” he remarked. He wanted to expand his horizons and test himself so he can become a better soldier and a better person. “I want to learn more and also pass the knowledge I already have to the younger soldiers.” Staff Sgt. Ishtaiwi manages the mechanics shop and in his spare time he helps tutor any soldiers taking college courses on the deployment.
| Date Taken: | 08.14.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 08.26.2011 09:22 |
| Story ID: | 75973 |
| Location: | KW |
| Web Views: | 52 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Soldier Feature: Staff Sgt. Yaser Saleh Ishtaiwi, by SPC Mathew Schlueter, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
