Family celebrates soldier on furlough from Iraq

By Molly Miron Pioneer Editor

In a place of honor on the mantel above the fireplace in Bernadine Graves’ home lies the carved quartzite pipe of her late husband, Royce Graves Sr.

But the walls above the pipe and all around the room are dedicated to PFC Rawn Graves--basic training graduation photos, 57th Cavalry badges, Third Infantry insignia and an American flag. A map of Iraq has the town of Balad circled with the words “Rawn is here.”

“As you can see, they’re pretty proud of me,” Rawn said.

Rawn, deployed in Iraq since Jan. 31, returned to his home in Red Lake for a visit on Friday. His 15-day furlough was delayed from July to August, and then to September, and the journey home took nearly a week, but his extended family welcomed him with a feast.

“It’s been a long time for both the family and myself,” Rawn said.

He explained that his grandmother, Bernadine, raised him, and her youngest son, Joe Graves, is uncle, father and brother to him. His aunties, Darlene Lussier and Eloise Jallen-Graves, have also been important figures in his upbringing, he said.

Rawn, 20, a Class of 2003 graduate of Red Lake High School, enlisted on June 23, 2004. He deployed to Iraq from Ft. Stewart, Ga. He serves in the First Brigade of the Third Infantry Division and is gunner on a Humvee as a member of the Personal Security Detachment of the battalion commander, Lt. Col. Jody Petery.

“We provide security for wherever she wants to go,” Rawn said. “You’re protecting the battalion commander, so it’s a privileged position.”

He said the soldiers are trained in the three-S protocol: show weapons, shout, shove. If all three warnings fail, they shoot.

“We have to do that before we use deadly force. Fortunately, I never had to,” he said. “The other PFD guys weren’t so lucky. Fortunately, no one was hurt or killed, just shaken up.”

However, Rawn has seen regular action as his Logistic Support Area Forward Operating Base Anaconda comes under mortar attack regularly.

“Every other day we get incoming,” he said. “I had a pretty close call in June.” He was on tower duty with another soldier and a mortar shell detonated about 25 feet away. “We felt the concussion.”

Rawn said he enlisted in the Infantry because he wants to become a police officer. He said he believes the experience in the service will help him toward that goal. Besides, he said he wanted to serve his country. He is signed up for three years active duty and eight years inactive reserve duty.

A surprise meeting with his cousin, Wesley Graves, helped them both through basic training and deployment. Now they serve in the same unit, the 57th Cavalry, together. Rawn said Wesley moved to Rochester, Minn., in 2000, and they lost track of each other.

Rawn said his Infantry mates are interested that he is an American Indian and Red Lake Nation member. He said they were also fascinated to hear powwow music when he played it on his computer. “They ask me a lot of cultural questions,” he said. “I fill them in the best I can.”

He also talks to family members by telephone and e-mails pictures regularly.

He received a welcome e-mail just before he left for his visit home--pictures of his 9-month-old daughter, Jazmyn Joy Kingbird, dressed in miniature camouflage fatigues in the Ponemah Labor Day parade riding in a wagon with the sign, “My Dad’s In Iraq.”

Joe Graves also wears camouflage fatigues Rawn sent him as a present. The hat has his name embroidered in English and Arabic. “He told me when he got it he wouldn’t wear it until I got home,” Rawn said.

“After you leave, I won’t put it on until you get back,” said Joe.

Although Rawn said he’s seen some tough times in Iraq, people also attend to their normal activities, both the soldiers at FOB Anaconda, and the Iraqi citizens in the towns. However, he won’t forget one personal shock during his deployment. On March 21, he was watching CNN and heard about a school shooting. Suddenly he saw footage from helicopters circling over his school.

The Graves home is situated just north of the high school on a bluff above the lake. “I saw my truck on TV and I thought, ‘What the hell’s going on?’”

He said he tried to get emergency leave to attend the funeral of his uncle, Darrell Lussier, but the chain of command decided the family connection wasn’t close enough to let him go. “I was pretty disappointed. I had to call home and tell them and say, ‘Even in Iraq, you’re in my prayers,’” Rawn recalled. “I tried not to let it get in my way of doing my duty over there.”

Rawn said he expects to return from his tour of duty in Iraq in early 2006.

“I hope I’m back for my birthday Jan. 28,” he said. “That’s my 21st birthday. I feel a lot older than that.”