By Jim Belshaw
Of the Journal
Joe and Nicky Jung are on the road to North Carolina to welcome home an 82nd Airborne platoon leader, 1st Lt. James Jung, their 23-year-old son.
It is a journey they never expected to make, just as they never expected the lessons that would come along the way.
Friends and strangers would both trouble and bring comfort to them. Some would mystify them with views too narrow to allow courage and simple human decency a place in the conversation; others extended a generosity of spirit that buoyed them.
Some offered an "enraging pity"; others set aside the politics of the war.
In short, people were "all over the place with this."
Joe and Nicky knew James would have a military commitment after college, but it would be in the Air Force, not the Army; and it would be doing intelligence work, safe behind a desk, not leading an infantry platoon into Baghdad streets.
At Colorado State, James studied criminal justice, his long-term goal being the FBI. He thought intelligence work in the Air Force would help. He came up for a position with the Air Force's Office of Special Investigations but just missed being chosen for a spot.
"We didn't know how disappointed he was until six months later, when he said there was a program that would allow him to transfer to the Army," Nicky said.
His first Army choice was intelligence; his second infantry.
He went to the 82nd, then Ranger school, then Baghdad. Back home, his parents began a different kind of life.
"The revelation for us has been how friends and total strangers have responded," Nicky said. "Almost all of have clearly learned a lesson from Vietnam and are at pains to explain that no matter how much they disapprove of the U.S. being in Iraq, they support the troops."
Still, there are awkward moments.
"Shaking their heads slowly," Nicky said. "Even if I said something good, like, 'Those guys are so hardworking and mature,' no one ever said, 'That's really nice.' Instead, it was, 'Well, how long before he's out?' ''
She told a story of heroism, a soldier with unexploded ordnance stuck in his body, other soldiers violating rules and risking their lives at every step to save him.
"I'm telling this story to a group of friends," Nicky said, "and they shake their heads and say, 'This war is terrible.' I thought, I'm not talking anymore. They can't hear about anything good if it comes in the form of a military person."
Joe and Nicky set up Google alerts on James' outfit. They spoke to him frequently via cell phone.
They soon learned that with a platoon leader in the family that they had acquired a platoon, too.
"We know how seriously he takes his role of platoon leader," Nicky said. "He has a mission, of course, but his mission beyond that is to do what is best for his guys. The thing we dread the most is something happening to him, but we knew he felt responsible for his men, and so we did, too."
James recently called and told them (with pride and relief, Nicky said): "My guys all made it safe out of here."
Nicky speaks of nuance frequently, of the many dimensions of Iraq and her son, questions with no answers.
When a political survey called and asked her whether America should be in Iraq, the caller offered a wide variety of responses.
"I just sat there for a minute," Nicky said. "Finally, I said, 'You know what? I have a son in Baghdad and I don't know the answer. I just don't know. I don't know that any of us will know for a while.' ''
So the wiry, funny kid with a light-up-the-room smile has wound up leading grunts in a war. On Monday he comes back to the U.S. and his parents will be there to greet him.
"Some people see this merry, people-oriented kid and wonder what could have happened," Nicky said. "Sometimes I want to say, 'Who do you want in the military? Do you want swaggering bullies or do you want someone who really cares about people and will make choices based on that?' ''
The platoon leader has been offered and accepted a Ranger command. It means he will return to Iraq.
"I don't think we're looking at a career as an infantry officer," his mother said. "But never say never. We never thought we'd be here, either."
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