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| Iraq |
| America’s ’Kenya cowboy’ in Iraq |
| 2004-01-25 |
| Nice human interest story about why a non-American signed up to fight the WOT. Also uses the phrase ’white African-American’. In the middle of a former granary-turned-U.S. military base in Samarra, Iraq, a U.S. soldier gently folds a Kenyan flag and puts it away. For Pfc. Michael Giraudo, a white 20-year-old with a slim build and quiet demeanor, the flag isn’t a souvenir — it is a symbol of home. "People get a kick out of me. I’m from Kenya and I’m white," he says with a laugh. "It’s not what people expect when they think of Kenya." Giraudo, the son of a British nurse and American safari guide, was born and raised in the East African nation. Giraudo split his childhood between Nairobi’s upscale, expatriate-heavy Karen district and the bush. He says he was brought up running in open spaces with animals at his side and listening to Masai tribesmen tell stories about lion hunts. "I guess you could call me a Kenya cowboy," Swahili-speaking Giraudo says of the moniker for rebellious, white, male youth who spend much of their time with black African Kenyans. "While most of my friends would be studying and that sort of thing, I’d be out riding my dirt bike, or drinking beer with my buddies," he says, with an accent he describes as a mixture of British and African. His father, Peter Giraudo, says his son was granted U.S. citizenship in 1991 even though he only visited America once as a child. "Michael was brought up to be proud of his heritage as best we could," he said in an e-mail. That pride would be emboldened by two pivotal moments: the terror attacks on the U.S. embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam in Tanzania; and the September 11th attacks on the United States. "When I saw the planes hit the twin towers — even though I had really never been in the United States, it really made me mad," Michael Giraudo says. "I decided something had to be done, somebody had to do something." That something was to fulfill his long-standing fascination with the U.S. military by heading over to the new U.S. Embassy in Nairobi to enlist in the U.S. Army. But getting to boot camp wasn’t easy, given post-9/11 tensions and security issues in the United States. "The U.S. military was discouraging. We could not, despite endless efforts, get them to send us the information packs because we had an address in Kenya," Peter Giraudo said via e-mail. "Even going to the military attaches here in Kenya did not help. They just could not easily handle recruiting applications from overseas." The younger Giraudo was so determined he moved to California, enlisted and finished Army basic training in 2002. Like many soldiers, he didn’t escape boot camp without a nickname: "Kenya" was the obvious choice. "One of the drill sergeants heard it and that was it, I was Kenya from then on," he says. "It was hard at first, getting to know the [American] culture and how to interact with people. We’ve had some times where it has been pretty hairy. I’ve had an Iraqi 120 mm mortar round land about 15 feet from me and it didn’t detonate. I’ve had an RPG (rocket propelled grenade) come through my window. Fortunately, no one was hurt." But the white African-American says he wants to be here: "I hoped for it. I wanted to get a chance to do my job and experience what really goes on when people go to war." This may sound mildly paranoid but I swear I selected Iraq as the file-under category, and then when I cut and pasted the text of the article the file-under category changed to Southern Africa before my very eyes - I saw it happen. |
| Posted by:phil_b |
| #2 ..If this man wants his citizenship papers, I hope somebody gets them to him NOW. He is a credit to his homeland, the US, and the Army. Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2004-1-25 3:42:33 PM |
| #1 Since when is Kenya in Southern Africa? Its East Africa and straddles the Equator! |
| Posted by: Jack is Back! 2004-1-25 10:13:43 AM |