Earlham Echo

Earlham mom’s thoughts are with her son stationed in Syria

December 12, 2023

While the United States is not ‘officially’ in any wars right now, our nation is still directly involved in many conflicts around the world. The situations in Ukraine and Israel/Gaza, and our nation’s role in those, have dominated the headlines, but our American troops are in harm’s way in many other places where freedom is being defended.

One of those is Syria. Kaleb Samuels, son of Earlham’s Amy Hopkins, is a soldier in the U.S. Army and has been stationed in that country for several months. Recently, American troops and contractors in Syria have come under fire, likely from Iranian-backed militias and/or the Islamic State, a jihadist movement based in several countries.

Parents worry—that’s what we do. But for most of us, our most pressing concerns regarding our children are whether they get where they are going okay or how they did in a recent game. Imagine getting the news that somebody is shooting at your son.

“It’s really hard,” said Amy. “Because, one, he’s the baby of all my boys. And two, just knowing that he and his (Army) brothers are over there in an extremely dangerous place. I always have to tell myself that we have a very modern military and things are much different now than they were a long time ago. We have things like drones that can intercept a missile coming in. Thankfully, we have all this technology and a very modern military. I always put that at the forefront of anything. I’m 100% scared for him all the time, but I can’t live there. I can’t live in that space.”

Kaleb serves with the 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment out of Fort Drum, NY. On October 15, the brigade commander wrote an official release that the Syrian base where they were stationed had come under fire. Amy already knew.

“He told me that the first time when that particular event happened, there was a missile that was fired at their base and it hit 30 meters from where he was sleeping.”

It wasn’t an isolated incident—and the attacks have not abated.

“We were warned that if we became involved in this mess that’s happening right now (in Isarael/Gaza) that our troops that are in the Middle East would experience some danger, and that (the enemy) is 100% going to hold true to their threat,” said Amy. “Kaleb told me, ‘I am so sick and tired of hearing these sirens.’”

Fortunately, Amy and Kaleb get to communicate often. Because the Army does not want the soldiers on their cell phones, they set up an app for communication with parents and loved ones. Frequent contact is another result of the modern military technology that aids in keeping everyone’s morale up.

“He can message me and send me pictures just like you would if you were texting,” said Amy. “Just like if you were using your phone to FaceTime. He’s able to reach out to me any time he’s free. I think that’s helpful for him that he can reach out to his brothers, his dad, any time he has a free moment. So we get to hear from him quite a bit, which is nice.”

When a young man or woman signs up for the military, they know what they are getting into—that combat in some faraway place is a possibility. We are fortunate in America that there still are brave, young people that are still willing to fight for all of us. Still, when combat becomes a reality, it can be daunting. Nobody at the base has been critically injured, but the mental stresses they face are very real. Fortunately, Amy says, Kaleb is holding up well and just doing his job.

“He stays positive—and that’s just his personality,” she said. “He’s pretty motivated with how he goes about what he’s experiencing. We see it with veterans who have PTSD or struggles outside the military. I’m always telling him, ‘Don’t keep any of this in.’ He’s like, ‘I know, Mom.’ He’s a pretty positive thinker. He’s a sensitive type, but not to the point where I think it will be a problem for him down the road, hopefully. I just tell him I want him to come back whole. Whole meaning ‘mind and body’—all of it.”

The U.S. mission in Syria

The U.S military presence in Syria dates back to 2015 and has been critical in the fight against global terrorism. The U.S. is not friendly with the dictatorial Syrian government—the Assad regime—which has been in power since the 70s. The Syrian government considers American presence in the country a violent incursion.

The American role is Syria is multi-faceted. In 2011, civil war broke out in Syria. The U.S. supports the Syrian rebels and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces opposed to both the Islamic State and Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. In addition, the presence of American forces in Syria makes it more difficult for Iran to move weapons into Lebanon, for use by its proxies, including the Lebanese Hezbollah, against Israel.

On any given day there are at least 900 U.S. forces in Syria, along with an undisclosed number of contractors. U.S. special operations forces also move in and out of the country, but are usually in small teams and are not included in the official count.

(Sources: Military Times, Reuters, Britannica.)