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Capt. Daniel Riesesenberger, from the streets of Iraq back to JMU


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First Lt. Daniel Riesenberger used to patrol the streets of Iraqi towns and speak to civilians to find out if there was any trouble. The Iraqi citizens sometimes talked and other times, if they shied away, it became an obvious sign that there was suspicious activity in the area.

Riesenberger, a professor of military science since Aug. 2010, patrolled in West Karmah, Iraq, only a few months after he had graduated from JMU in May 2005. It was the beginning of a day he’d never forget.

As an overhead surveillance helicopter buzzed over, a marine attached to Risenberger’s unit relayed information about a sighting he’d made.

In a nearby town, the helicopter reported that there were 15-20 men in black outfits running what looked like a checkpoint on a bridge.

Members of Al-Qaeda were known for wearing black outfits, and the area they were sighted in was infested with the enemy.

Riesenberger’s platoon of 38 men moved quickly to get into their truck and drive to a point close to where the potential Al-Qaeda group men was sighted. The unit then clambered out of the truck and proceeded on foot to a palm grove near the bridge. The truck stayed behind them.

As enemy shots rang out, Riesenberger’s unit hit the ground as one, using a dirt mound for cover. Bullets hit the other side, making a sharp snapping noise, like people snapping their fingers, Riesenberger said. The only thing between his unit and the bullets was a wall of dirt about a foot and a half across.

Then, everything went quiet.

“It was like in the movies,” Riesenberger said.

It was about 110 degrees, and he was sweating. He wasn’t wearing earplugs, and the sound of his own weapon was deafening.

“In that moment, everything gets silent, and you can only hear your heartbeat,” Riesenberger said. “It’s impossible to explain. It sounds like shooting a cap gun. When they fly by, it’s like there’s a snap to it. You don’t have to have heard it before, to be aware of what it is and the dangers.”

After a three-minute firefight, one of the men in black on the bridge was shot and killed. The rest of the men fled. The dead man was clutching a trash bag filled with millions of Iraqi dinar — the equivalent of several thousand dollars — and an assortment of weapons.

Riesenberger and his unit searched a nearby village for the rest of the men, but couldn’t find anyone. The helicopter surveying the unit told them the group on the bridge was beyond reach, and they wouldn’t be caught.

On the way back, exhaustion drove Riesenberger to tell the driver to pull over. He then vomited all over the desert sand.

Troops will no longer have to go through situations like that in Iraq as Obama recently made an announcement on Oct. 21 saying all troops will be removed from Iraq by the end of this year, according to the BBC.

Riesenberger fully supports the president’s decision to take the troops out of Iraq.

“It is time for the Iraqis to be able to defend for themselves. They are in a better place than they were before,” Riesenberger said. “Now we can focus on Afghanistan and eventually bringing home everyone. That’s the goal.”

Riesenberger was a freshman at JMU when the World Trade Center fell. He immediately wanted to drop out and enlist, but he stayed in school upon his friends’ and family’s insistence. In high school, he wasn’t really sure what he wanted to do and had thought about getting a law degree.

“Once I came to JMU, I tried out the ROTC program and thought it was a lot of fun,” Riesenberger said. “You get the best of both worlds by going to college here and doing ROTC. It’s not just military; it’s also the typical college experience.”

Riesenberger has no family military tradition, never planned to enlist, and attended JMU as an out-of-state student from Newark, Delaware. He graduated in 2005 with a BS in public administration.

Three months later, Riesenberger was commissioned as a first lieutenant and deployed to Iraq on Oct. 5, 2006, for his first battle experience.

He always expected to go into infantry, which he did during his first turn in Iraq with the very men he graduated with.

After spending almost a year in Iraq, the first taste of home Riesenberger received was in Alaska, when he landed there at the end of his deployment right before Thanksgiving 2007.

The base was plastered with banners that family and friends had made as a welcome home. The men and women stood in formation to hear a few words from the commander, and then there was a swell of civilians and troops rushing toward one another with arms outstretched.

Riesenberger’s mother, Heidi, was one of them.

“When the brigade marched into the gymnasium, and we laid eyes upon him, it was an overwhelming rush of pride, love and relief,” she said.

After a joyous reunion, they went out to eat at a restaurant named Moose’s Tooth, and Riesenberger immediately ordered a pizza and a 16 oz. beer.

“It was a large beer. I won’t lie, it got to me. That’s what not drinking for 13 months does to a man,” Riesenberger said with a laugh. “It tasted wonderful; it tasted good to be home.”

As he adjusted to life stateside, there were some changes he had to make. Riesenberger said that everyday tasks took on an extra meaning.

“A lady behind me dropped a box she was carrying, and I immediately jumped and turned around because my senses were still on high,” Riesenberger said.

Riesenberger said these days, he pays more attention to his surroundings.

“Driving at home I find myself scanning the sides of the road, being more cautious,” Riesenberger said.

On his second deployment from August 2009 to July 2010, he worked with members of his military translation team on an advisory team as a captain and intelligence officer that worked hand-in-hand with the Department of Border Enforcement for Iraq.

Riesenberger has been working at JMU as a professor of military science since August 2010.

“Since his return from the second deployment, I know he had been looking forward to establishing some permanent roots here at home,” Heidi said.

Terry Hoover, a senior international affairs major, said Riesenberger is a good trainer and relatable because of his past roots.

“He is a former cadet of the same program,” Hoover said. “He speaks to us like a teacher and doesn’t look down on us or yell at us.”

Riesenberger is the instructor in charge of training juniors and the overall planning of ROTC training.

Riesenberger doesn’t plan on deploying again because he’ll be leaving the army next summer.

Instead, Riesenberger will be getting married to fiancée, Heather Vazquez, a 2010 JMU graduate, whom he met at Dave’s Downtown Taverna. Life has come full circle for this JMU alumnus.

First Lt. Daniel Riesenberger used to patrol the streets of Iraqi towns and speak to civilians to find out if there was any trouble. The Iraqi citizens sometimes talked and other times, if they shied away, it became an obvious sign that there was suspicious activity in the area.

Riesenberger, a professor of military science since Aug. 2010, patrolled in West Karmah, Iraq, only a few months after he had graduated from JMU in May 2005. It was the beginning of a day he’d never forget.

As an overhead surveillance helicopter buzzed over, a marine attached to Risenberger’s unit relayed information about a sighting he’d made.

In a nearby town, the helicopter reported that there were 15-20 men in black outfits running what looked like a checkpoint on a bridge.

Members of Al-Qaeda were known for wearing black outfits, and the area they were sighted in was infested with the enemy.

Riesenberger’s platoon of 38 men moved quickly to get into their truck and drive to a point close to where the potential Al-Qaeda group men was sighted. The unit then clambered out of the truck and proceeded on foot to a palm grove near the bridge. The truck stayed behind them.

As enemy shots rang out, Riesenberger’s unit hit the ground as one, using a dirt mound for cover. Bullets hit the other side, making a sharp snapping noise, like people snapping their fingers, Riesenberger said. The only thing between his unit and the bullets was a wall of dirt about a foot and a half across.

Then, everything went quiet.

“It was like in the movies,” Riesenberger said.

It was about 110 degrees, and he was sweating. He wasn’t wearing earplugs, and the sound of his own weapon was deafening.

“In that moment, everything gets silent, and you can only hear your heartbeat,” Riesenberger said. “It’s impossible to explain. It sounds like shooting a cap gun. When they fly by, it’s like there’s a snap to it. You don’t have to have heard it before, to be aware of what it is and the dangers.”

After a three-minute firefight, one of the men in black on the bridge was shot and killed. The rest of the men fled. The dead man was clutching a trash bag filled with millions of Iraqi dinar — the equivalent of several thousand dollars — and an assortment of weapons.

Riesenberger and his unit searched a nearby village for the rest of the men, but couldn’t find anyone. The helicopter surveying the unit told them the group on the bridge was beyond reach, and they wouldn’t be caught.

On the way back, exhaustion drove Riesenberger to tell the driver to pull over. He then vomited all over the desert sand.

Troops will no longer have to go through situations like that in Iraq as Obama recently made an announcement on Oct. 21 saying all troops will be removed from Iraq by the end of this year, according to the BBC.

Riesenberger fully supports the president’s decision to take the troops out of Iraq.

“It is time for the Iraqis to be able to defend for themselves. They are in a better place than they were before,” Riesenberger said. “Now we can focus on Afghanistan and eventually bringing home everyone. That’s the goal.”

Riesenberger was a freshman at JMU when the World Trade Center fell. He immediately wanted to drop out and enlist, but he stayed in school upon his friends’ and family’s insistence. In high school, he wasn’t really sure what he wanted to do and had thought about getting a law degree.

“Once I came to JMU, I tried out the ROTC program and thought it was a lot of fun,” Riesenberger said. “You get the best of both worlds by going to college here and doing ROTC. It’s not just military; it’s also the typical college experience.”

Riesenberger has no family military tradition, never planned to enlist, and attended JMU as an out-of-state student from Newark, Delaware. He graduated in 2005 with a BS in public administration.

Three months later, Riesenberger was commissioned as a first lieutenant and deployed to Iraq on Oct. 5, 2006, for his first battle experience.

He always expected to go into infantry, which he did during his first turn in Iraq with the very men he graduated with.

After spending almost a year in Iraq, the first taste of home Riesenberger received was in Alaska, when he landed there at the end of his deployment right before Thanksgiving 2007.

The base was plastered with banners that family and friends had made as a welcome home. The men and women stood in formation to hear a few words from the commander, and then there was a swell of civilians and troops rushing toward one another with arms outstretched.

Riesenberger’s mother, Heidi, was one of them.

“When the brigade marched into the gymnasium, and we laid eyes upon him, it was an overwhelming rush of pride, love and relief,” she said.

After a joyous reunion, they went out to eat at a restaurant named Moose’s Tooth, and Riesenberger immediately ordered a pizza and a 16 oz. beer.

“It was a large beer. I won’t lie, it got to me. That’s what not drinking for 13 months does to a man,” Riesenberger said with a laugh. “It tasted wonderful; it tasted good to be home.”

As he adjusted to life stateside, there were some changes he had to make. Riesenberger said that everyday tasks took on an extra meaning.

“A lady behind me dropped a box she was carrying, and I immediately jumped and turned around because my senses were still on high,” Riesenberger said.

Riesenberger said these days, he pays more attention to his surroundings.

“Driving at home I find myself scanning the sides of the road, being more cautious,” Riesenberger said.

On his second deployment from August 2009 to July 2010, he worked with members of his military translation team on an advisory team as a captain and intelligence officer that worked hand-in-hand with the Department of Border Enforcement for Iraq.

Riesenberger has been working at JMU as a professor of military science since August 2010.

“Since his return from the second deployment, I know he had been looking forward to establishing some permanent roots here at home,” Heidi said.

Terry Hoover, a senior international affairs major, said Riesenberger is a good trainer and relatable because of his past roots.

“He is a former cadet of the same program,” Hoover said. “He speaks to us like a teacher and doesn’t look down on us or yell at us.”

Riesenberger is the instructor in charge of training juniors and the overall planning of ROTC training.

Riesenberger doesn’t plan on deploying again because he’ll be leaving the army next summer.

Instead, Riesenberger will be getting married to fiancée, Heather Vazquez, a 2010 JMU graduate, whom he met at Dave’s Downtown Taverna. Life has come full circle for this JMU alumnus.

http://www.breezejmu.org/news/article_aa492b14-0b66-11e1-bc8f-0019bb30f31a.html

Edited by k98nights
removed contact info
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