Photo courtesy: Sean Peine

BYU-Idaho student experiences life in Iraq

He shares his story upon returning home

Jade Betzer BET05002@BYUI.EDU Scroll Staff

Editor’s Note: This is the first in a two-part series about two BYU-I students who served in Iraq. Part two will appear in next week’s Campus section.

Few are comfortable enough to leave their homes and pass through the barrier that makes the people of the army. Students who are Iraqi veterans, like Sean Peine, a junior of Sandpoint, Idaho, live life aware of a reality that seems more than distant to many onlookers.

Peine comments on life in Iraq frequently during class discussions with his personal stories.

“I think mostly it is good for the class to hear that perspective, it brings the war closer — it is so easy to detach yourself from it and it is interesting to have that perspective in class,” said Suzette Gee, part of the English Department faculty.

Some of Peine’s peers agree with Gee.

“I think we all relate discussions to what we have been through. For Sean, it is one way for him to deal with it and express his feelings,” said Darla Arnold, a junior from Boise, Idaho, who has a class with Peine.

Peine served on the border of Iraq and Iran, holding the position of a 91W-10 (Medic). Peine was responsible for training 300 medical staff members, assisting in building a hospital, getting ambulances and getting the medical operation streamlined.

Peine’s living situation was very different from an average dorm, though Peine considered himself lucky to have lived in a six-to-10-man room.

There were always new surprises to sort out each day. Peine remembered days when the power would go out and they wouldn’t have water, a vital necessity during days with 140 - degree temperatures.

“One day I had to drive a Humvee without any AC. We filled the floor pan of the Humvee with bags of ice to help keep it cold enough so we could handle the heat on the drive. After one and a half hours of driving you could not see even a drop of water from five bags of ice left,” Peine said.

Peine, who is hoping to join the nursing program, said the transition has been challenging.

“I have never had such a hard time with my school. It has been a great challenge for me to get back into the swing of things, but the more time goes by, the more comfortable I am being back in school,” Peine said.

Peine has been married for a year and three months and said one of the hardest parts about going to Iraq was the separation from his wife Jennifer Peine, a junior from Clarkston, Miss.

“She was always there for me in so many ways though her letters and when I was able to call. It really made being there a lot easier than I thought it was going to be,” Peine said.

Correspondence with loved ones is a challenging ordeal while one is overseas. Those who served in Iraq anticipated an occasional 30 minutes to phone call home. Peine was active in the army for 17 months before serving in Iraq. Six of those were spent training in Texas and all were away from home. He then spent “11 months and seven days too long,” in Iraq before returning to the states, he said.

Peine still keeps in touch with everyone in his platoon and even some Iraqis he worked with.

He is adamant about the respect the media have towards Iraqi news coverage and said, “there are still people who are serving our country in these areas … the story is not more important than ... those serving our country,” Peine said.