"Why I Serve"

Photo By Spc. Shea Butler | Spc. Tyler Knight, a native of Ponca City, Okla., with Company A, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, holds the radio and pulls security outside a house in Baghdad as 1st Lt. Ryan Harbick, a native of Fresno, Calif., with Company A, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, calls up information to the command on the radio Dec. 22. Soldiers from Company A spent the days leading up to Christmas Day searching houses in Baghdad for any anti-Iraqi forces and weapons.  

BAGHDAD, IRAQ

01.03.2007

Story by Spc. Shea Butler 

7th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

By Spc. Shea Butler
7th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

BAGHDAD – He is used to spending the holiday season tailgating around a bonfire with friends and family, where every breath is seen in the Oklahoma winter sky. However, this year he spent the days leading up to the holiday season with thick glue-like mud caked on his boots and a heavy radio strapped to his back as he searched homes in Baghdad.

Spc. Tyler Knight with Company A, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, along with the rest of his company spent the few days prior to Christmas looking through Baghdad homes for anti-Iraqi forces and weapons.

Knight wasn't forced to be here. He chose it. He signed a four-year contract to join the Army in August 2004, during a time of war.

"It sounds cheesy, but I joined because I knew either we were going to bring the fight to them or they were going to bring it to us," Knight said. "I want to protect my family from having to see war. That's just the truth."

Though he missed his family during the holidays he was happy they made it back to Camp Striker before Christmas Day so he could call and e-mail his family, Knight said.

"I know I can't be with my family right now, but these guys are close enough," the 21-year-old explained. "There are so many different personalities, but when it comes down to it, I know they have my back."

Knight's role during missions is to stay vigilant and aware of the battlefield so he can report all activity to higher command. He is the platoon's radio transmission operator.

"We report everything that happens in our area from caches to enemy fire," said Knight, a native of Ponca City, Okla.

"The best part of my job is when we come across large caches and stuff like that," Knight said. "It makes me feel successful when we find weapons. I feel like we are accomplishing something."

Not every mission ends in a large cache find, but intelligence is always being gathered.

"The worst part of the job is waiting," Knight said. "We are trained for action. We are at our best when disaster hits. When we don't find anything, anxiety sets in and we are waiting for the worst."

When Knight isn't deployed or actively engaged in Army duties you can usually find him fishing. The youngest of three brothers, Knight said he is looking forward to going on mid-tour leave soon to get back to what he enjoys the most, the three 'f's' – family, friends and fishing.

When he heads back to Oklahoma for leave he will also get to meet the newest addition to his family for the first time, a new nephew, Knight said.

Knight wasn't the first in his family to live the military life. His grandfather is a Korean War veteran. Knight said he hopes to make his grandfather proud with his own military career.

Though the war now has much more media coverage than the Korean War, Knight doesn't want his family to know every detail. He said it is more important for America to know that the war is being taken care of by professional people, like him, who want to be here.

• Date Taken: 01.03.2007
• Date Posted: 01.03.2007 13:51
• Story ID: 8733
• Location: BAGHDAD, IQ