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Monday, July 4, 2005
Army cook on duty in Iraq follows family tradition
By MELANIE STAWICKI AZAM | News-Journal Staff Writer
NEW SMYRNA BEACH — Andre Isaac — a cook at a U.S. Army base camp in Baghdad in the middle of his second tour of duty in Iraq — didn’t have to lift a finger in the kitchen at home for two weeks.
Since June 16, his mother, Angela, has been regularly fixing his favorite — her special macaroni and cheese. On Friday, his family held a send-off barbecue for their 20-year-old soldier and prayed for his safe return as he prepared to fly back into the war zone.
They’ve gone through this before. Isaac, a 2002 New Smyrna Beach High School grad, served from January until June 2003 in Iraq. After more training in California and Louisiana, he was called back to the war in January, and Iraq this time around has been a very different place.
“(In 2003, Iraqis) were holding signs saying, ‘Thank you,’ ” Isaac said. “Now, they don’t like us anymore I guess.
“I didn’t want to go (back), but I don’t have a choice,” said Isaac.
His typical day starts at 3:30 a.m. cooking breakfast for about 420 soldiers and ends about 9 p.m., when he finishes cleaning up after dinner. The schedule leaves him little free time to venture outside the base, and that’s probably a good thing.
To go into the city, soldiers need to wear body armor for protection, he said. So far, he said no one close to him has been killed or injured. But even the base isn’t totally safe; a few months ago, an explosion rocked the earth near his barracks.
“(It’s) scary, because it’s like you don’t know what to expect,” Isaac said. “You have to pay attention to everything.”
His father, Anthony Isaac Sr., spent 20 years in the Army and said he’s “very, very proud” of his son’s service.
The military is a tradition in the family: Andre’s grandfather is retired from the Navy and served in Vietnam.
“He’s the best cook,” said his dad Friday night, bragging about his son winning military cook-offs. “(But) he’s on vacation now.”
Later in the weekend, Andre had headed back to war. Anthony Isaac’s pride is mixed with worry for the youngest of his four children. He said he was upset when he learned his son was given a second tour.
“This is my baby,” said the elder Isaac. “He’s the only one who followed in his father’s footsteps.”
Andre’s mother said she is afraid to watch the nightly news and fears seeing a strange car in the driveway carrying soldiers with bad news one day.
“I have faith in God that God’s going to protect him while he’s over there,” she said.
She will talk to her 6-foot-3 son several times a week when he’s back in Iraq. And she keeps praying that soon he’ll be home safely — and permanently.
Andre Isaac said he went into the military at 17, straight out of high school, and wasn’t sure what to expect. It helps that the New Smyrna Beach buddy he joined with — Benjamin DaShawn — is also a cook in Iraq.
Still, he said he has less than a year left of duty and looks forward to coming home to go to school to become a dietitian. He said he is tired of war and being afraid of an explosion around every corner.
“It’s made me grow up a lot faster,” he said.