Local soldier finds Iraq battlefield more than an adventure

David Toll served in the Navy during the Korean Conflict, and often told his son, John, tales of his military experiences.

"On long car rides, he would tell stories, and I wanted that kind of adventure," said the son, now known as 1st Lt. John Toll. "One piece of advice Dad gave was don't join the military. So what do I do? I join the military."

He joined the Army, serving with the 82nd Airborne's 1st Battalion 504 in Iraq. It is his first deployment.

Since then Lt. Toll, 24, of Virginia City, whose 18 days home on leave ended Sunday, has seen things that go far beyond adventure, and beyond what most Americans know goes on in Iraq.

"I've seen some people do some incredible things," he said. "And I've seen some Iraqis do horrific things."

For example, Lt. Toll was involved earlier this year in an eight-hour firefight and though he wasn't injured, a fellow platoon leader was.

"He was on a rooftop," Lt. Toll said, explaining that it was military practice to control the top, or "super surface," in order to limit enemy movement on the battlefield. "A woman threw a grenade on the roof. He threw his interpreter down some stairs and rolled away from it, but was injured."

His friend survived, but the experience taught Lt. Toll that it wasn't just Iraqi men he and his troops had to watch out for, even though men do most of the fighting against the coalition.

"Women are used as human shields," he said. "They hide pistols on them." Lt. Toll said when armed Iraqi men walk with women, they keep women between themselves and American or Iraqi soldiers.

And women aren't alone among non-traditional recruits of the insurgents. Often children are used as well.

"Kids in Iraq are kids," he said. "The little ones are great, but when they start to get older they are so easily influenced."

Lt. Toll said he and his men were on a rooftop during a fight with insurgents, when they killed an enemy fighter and watched the man fall into the street, with his weapon. The U.S. soldiers then watched as the man's fellow insurgents sent a child out to retrieve the fallen fighter's weapon.

"The kid was about 7 or 8, and went over and picked up the weapon and ran it over to the other fighters that were crouched behind a wall," he said.

The incident was indicative of the quandary of fighting insurgents and terrorists. Lt. Toll said that in Iraq, as in the Vietnam War, the distinction between combatants and noncombatants is blurred. The Americans knew that the rifle brought back by the child would be used to kill U.S. soldiers, or even other Iraqi civilians but, as the insurgents counted on, they weren't going to kill a child even if it meant saving other lives.

"When you see a kid, who in America would be playing Little League, do that, what do you do?" he said. "By picking up the weapon, does he become a combatant?"

He feels fear, he said, but not so much during the fight.

"I think it happens more after the battle, when you realize what could have happened," he said. "There's this incredible adrenaline rush during the battle."

Lt. Toll leads a platoon of 27 paratroopers, along with a squad of scouts and two snipers, and was the first unit that deployed for the surge, as they were the 82nd Airborne's standby unit at the time.

"I had five days notice, and we didn't even know where we were going," he said.

After a week's training in Kuwait, Lt. Toll and his men were assigned to a forward operating base, or FOB, in New Baghdad, between the Shiite stronghold of Sadr City and a neighborhood of Sunni residents. Mortars hit the base regularly, and could be shot by members of either Muslim sect.

"If we're not the hottest place in Baghdad, we're probably the second," he said.

Asked if the surge was working, he responded that the issue was more complex than most people realize.

"There have been good things that I've seen, but we're still out there dealing with the same problems," he said. "Our battalion is good at dealing with counterinsurgency, and now we're trying some new things we hope will work better. There are some signs of success."

But he said the best way to gauge if the surge is working is to look at its intent.

"The surge was used to set the conditions for political situation," he said, "because in the end it will be in the hands of the Iraqi people. The military situation is stable enough for Iraqi people and the Iraqi leaders to start working on the political solution."

Lt. Toll's service is up in 2009, and he said it will be time for him to find other adventures.

"It's not that I don't love the Army because I do," he said. "But by 2009, It will be time to move on."

That may be easier said than done, and he knows it, because when his hitch is up it will be three weeks from his next deployment, and he believes he will be stop-lossed, or prevented from leaving the military by the Pentagon's "stop-loss" program, something he believes makes servicemen less likely to re-up.

"I've seen guys who have gotten screwed over this," he said. "They were supposed to be out of the Army, and then they end up nine months into a 15-month deployment."

Lt. Toll considers stop-loss a temporary solution to a long-term problem. Though some do re-enlist, in the long-term, it might be costing the military more.

"We're losing a lot of top notch combat leaders," he said. "When we stop-loss units it is to make sure these guys stay in, but then they become more upset."

He said he has met soldiers and officers in their sixth deployments, in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq.

"It's tough to see those guys stop-lossed, and have to come back when they, in my mind, have already done their bit for their country," he said.

Lt. Toll owns a home in North Carolina, and spent his leave in Nevada, visiting his parents. He said he is grateful for their support and that of the community.

"I am really lucky to have family that is really supportive," he said. "My dad threw a party up here (last week) and there were people I hadn't seen since I was a little kid. They wanted to wish me luck. It was a humbling thing."

Not only that, but during the party the wine train the V&T was running as part of the Railfest stopped across Gold Canyon from his father's house, and the passengers sang "God Bless America" to him.

He said the support he has received goes farther than just his family and community, and he's confident he and his fellow Iraq vets will not face the hostility that greeted those of the Vietnam War.

"I was flying back, I changed planes at the Dallas airport and people stood and applauded," he said. "Whether or not people believe in the war or think we should stay in or get out, they're still supportive of the troops."

When not deployed, Lt. Toll lives in North Carolina, with many visits to Florida to see his high school sweetheart, who attends the University of Miami.

"She feels a lot like my family does," he said. "She gets nervous and there are a lot of sleepless nights. But she's really supportive of me. So are my mom and dad.

David Toll, a writer for Nevada Magazine, suspected his son would turn to the military.

"There was never any question but that he would disregard my advice," he said. "But he became a good soldier. Every day he tries to be a good man in a bad place."

After the Army, Lt. Toll isn't sure which direction he will go in; write a book or possibly pursue a political career.

"I'm not sure where to start, but I'd like to, at some point, serve in the federal government," he said. "We need smart people who are making sure the tip of the spear is aimed at the right things."

• Contact reporter Karen Woodmansee at kwoodmansee@nevadaappeal.com or 882-2111 ext. 351.