Anthem dad, son meet for dinner in Iraq
by Jim Crawford

ANTHEM – Paul Edgington of Anthem is an adventurer.

After serving a tour of duty in Iraq and coming to the end of a 20‑year stretch in the Army, Edgington took a job with a British security company and returned to Iraq–for the fourth time.

Questions of sanity aside, the story gets better.

You’re half‑way around the world in a country dominated by sand and heat and war.

It’s certainly no fun. Not a place you’d want to run into one of your kids.

Zach Edgington, one of twin boys of Paul and his wife Susi, decided he wanted to see what army life was like and joined the service in 2006. He landed in the 82nd Airborne Division.

After basic training Zach got his orders for that most exotic of destinations–southern Iraq.

In a weird turn of events, Paul was stationed in Tallil, Iraq and Zach was to have a layover there in early August on the way to his final duty station.

What are the chances of a father and son running into each other in the middle of a war‑torn country on the other side of the world?

That’s exactly what happened to Paul and Zach as the two had a reunion on the post in Tallil.

“I can’t really sum up how I feel about him (Zach) coming over here,” Paul wrote in an e‑mail to The Desert Advocate. “I was excited, but at the same time, scared to death. I know of the danger here obviously, and wanted to impart that to him without giving him too much anxiety about what he should expect.

“When I came back from my mission the day he arrived, he had sent me a message from Kuwait saying that he would be in Tallil that day, and likely be leaving that night,” Paul wrote. “So when I got the e‑mail, I thought I’d missed him and my heart sank. Later when I went to dinner, I saw him looking around, obviously for me, and I can’t put into words the excitement or the pride I felt seeing him there.”

You’d think the next scene would be of the two of them hoisting a cold one at the post cantina.

Not so, said Susi Edgington, Zach’s mom.

“The whole country is dry,” she said. “There’s no alcohol anywhere, and Zach is about to turn 21. Paul said, ‘I’m living in the Betty Ford Clinic over here.’

“Paul told me he thought Zach didn’t realize he was really in the army until he reached Iraq. Until you’re dumped off in the middle of the desert and handed a gun, you can’t realize the full impact of the situation.

“Zach said he’s seen a lot of (Iraqi) kids and wants to visit with them, but they’re not allowed to interact with them,” Susi added. “You have no idea what they might be hiding under their clothes.”

Father and son visited once more before Zach left for his final duty station.

“When he told me he would be here for five days, I was leery because I know the Army way, and I knew our visit might be cut short,” Paul continued. “As it turns out, two days later he sent me another e‑mail while I was on a mission. This one said he’d be leaving later that day and again I thought I’d missed him. Again my heart sank. Later he walked into my room and you could feel the mutual relief as we realized we still had a few hours to visit.

“I know it may be hard to understand, but I don’t think I’ve ever felt closer to him than those two days. I am so very proud of him and I pray for him daily.”

Paul’s involvement in Iraq stemmed from a desire to see the situation for himself.

“He was a recruiter when we moved here from Ohio,” Susi said. “His job was to sell the Army. He said he couldn’t sell the Army if he hadn’t been there. Now he thinks it’s important for us to stay and finish what we started. He doesn’t tell me what he’s doing. I’m just waiting to see what happens next. The best part about it is both of them were used to the weather.”