‘Doing God’s work in the Devil’s playground’

Less than two years after walking across the stage to receive his diploma at Creston High School, 2004 graduate Brenden Kinyon found himself in the desert of the Middle East, serving during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Eight years after leaving Iraq, Kinyon found himself back on stage at CHS, serving as the speaker Tuesday during the annual Veterans Day program.

Kinyon shared stories and poems of his time in Iraq, dedicating his speech to his fellow veterans, their families and the ones who didn’t come home.

Specialist Kinyon was in the Iowa National Guard and served as convoy security during Operation Iraqi Freedom. He spoke about his first time riding along with the convoy in Iraq.

“We’re in Humvees, and it’s a lot of Humvees. You have probably about 100 trucks, I mean these were very long convoys,” he explained. “I remember being on that first route, and it’s a rough route. There’s potholes; it’s a dirt road. It’s like being on a thrill ride at an amusement park that you can’t get off of. It’s going to be a thrill, but it might take your life.”

As time went on, Kinyon learned the routes and began to settle in, the fear subsiding.

“Is today your day? Complacency kills. Explosive thrills, cold sweat chills. It’s another day with a high-heat warning and a chance of mortar incoming,” the beginning of a poem written by Kinyon reads.

Things in the Middle East continued to escalate through the summer of 2006.

“The country was in chaos,” Kinyon said. “There was basically no government and you had all these different sects trying to take control of the country, and you had al-Qaeda that was also doing very bad things, trying to persuade their agenda.”

On June 17, 2006, was the Second Battle of Ramadi Iraq. A combined force of U.S. Soldiers, Marines, Army Delta, Navy DEVGRU and Iraqi Security Forces fought insurgents for control of key locations in Ramadi, including the Government Center and the General Hospital.

“Then the number-one al-Qaeda operative, named al-Zarqawi, he was also killed that month,” Kinyon said. “Of course that increased all the insurgency activity and increased all the attacks, so it was a very rough summer to be there.”

In early 2007, President George W. Bush announced a troop surge — an increase of military presence in Iraq.

“We found out we were going to be there another four months,” Kinyon said. “That was going to mean we were going to be there for another summer, and we were really not looking forward to that.”

He wrote a second poem about that dangerous time in the Iraqi desert.

“Open invitation to the land of Jihad, reinforcements diverted to Baghdad. Doing God’s work in the Devil’s playground, weapons of mass destruction nowhere to be found. Cell phone, remote detonate. Trip wire, pressure plate. Mortar round, shape charge, land mine, insurgent at large. Singing the River City Blues, more U.S. casualties on the evening news. One more season in the octagon, four more months and we’ll be gone. Strength through brotherhood, combat infantrymen. Cco 1-133rd Battalion Ironmen.”

Kinyon said morale was at an all-time low.

“That’s when we really had to rely on our fellow servicemen to get through. Those were the times we really had to dig deep,” he said. “You don’t know what the outcome is going to be. You don’t even know if you’re going to be able to go home after another four months.”

Some of them didn’t make it home. Staff Sergeant Scott Nisely, 48, of Marshalltown, and Specialist Kampha Sourivong, 20, of Iowa City, were killed on Sept. 30, 2006, during security operations in Asad, Iraq.

The two men were a part of Kinyon’s platoon, and he shared their names with the students, faculty and veterans Tuesday.

As time went on in the Middle East, things began to slow down. Kinyon said there were times that were “eerily quiet.” This came from work going on behind the front lines.

“We were able to train Iraqi army and police forces to patrol the city streets and roads,” he explained. “It really did make conditions a lot safer.”

This increase in safety helped Kinyon’s platoon be able to go home in July 2007, something he said was a big relief.

Eventually, Kinyon left the Army, and he now lives in West Des Moines.

After Kinyon’s speech, Quilts of Valor, handmade by Margaret Kneedler, were presented to area veterans.

In addition to Kenyon, people who received quilts were: Tim Rankin (Army), James Francis (Navy), Jaryd Merritt (Army), Dennis Smith (Army), John Shiltz (Marine Corps), Robert Williams (Army), Roger Francis (Navy), John Giza (Navy), Grace Root (Army), Jerry Carson (Navy) and Syd Hudek and Estella Jondle on behalf of the late Bob Hudek (Army).

Reese Strunk won the VFW Voice of Democracy essay contest, Hannah Kiley placing second.

Zayna Harvey and Izzy Spencer played taps and the CCHS women’s choir sang the National Anthem and “Battle Hymn of the Republic.”