The lieutenant colonel is
married to a woman whose parents live in Youngstown.
By WILLIAM K. ALCORN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN — "I don't think Americans fully understand the threat we face," said Army Lt. Col. Ross E. Davidson Jr., leader of an elite ranger/paratroop combat unit in Iraq.
"Our biggest fear as soldiers is that we will lose the support of the American people," Davidson said Friday at a meeting of the Youngstown YMCA's Service to the Nation committee organized by JoAnn Creed.
"I think it would be a huge mistake to pull out of Iraq [before the job is done]. It would embolden our enemies to attack other parts of the world. This is the most serious threat our nation has faced in its history," said Davidson, commander of the 1st Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment (recon) and Task Force Falcon of the 82nd Airborne Division.
Davidson, home on a two-week leave from Iraq, is married to Jodi Italiano-Davidson, whose parents, retired Army Col. Angelo J. and Joan Italiano, live in Youngstown. Davidson and Jodi met while they were students at Ohio State University.
Davidson, who called Youngstown his "home away from home," has the highest praise for American military personnel and their training and dedication to doing their jobs.
"As soldiers, we see ourselves as servants of the American people. Since 9/11, they have been raising their hands to volunteer over and over again with no illusions" about what they are getting into, he said.
Davidson said the mission of his strike force, which has been operational for about 12 months, is to "hunt terrorists and destroy their safe zones, where they cache weapons and build explosives."
"My troopers 'get it'. They are young Americans who understand this fight and the nature of the enemy," Davidson said.
But, he said, it is the "character and values of your young soldiers that set them apart on the battlefield."
It is what is "in here," he said — pointing to his head and heart — that is winning over the Iraqi citizens, he said.
Different perspective
From hearing national news reports, "you would think that all of Iraq is up in arms against us, when the opposite is what we encounter," he said.
The average Iraqi is oppressed and terrorized and doesn't support jihad and the war against the West. But they are in a period of time of vast hopelessness about their future, Davidson said.
Often, Americans at home don't see the day-to-day positive impact their soldiers are having in Iraq, he said.
"Our perception as soldiers is that when bad things happen, they get reported, and it takes time for the good news to catch up and for the story to get out," he said.
"Is this the right war ... a just war?"
"I'm not known for my political correctness," he said in answering his own question.
"We've been at war with this element since the late 1970s, but the nation didn't realize it until 9/11" Davidson said.
The jihad mindset is the destruction of the West. It's a scary thing, and if terrorists had access to nuclear bombs or chemical weapons, they would use them without hesitation, he said.
"I call this [being in the military] a service to the nation ... to give back to the nation for so much we have received ... and to prevent these terrorists from bringing their version of the world to us," Davidson said.
"I am more than willing to do this on my watch so my son doesn't have to do it on his," he said.
Helping soldiers' families
Davidson said something else that sometimes goes unnoticed by the general public are the families left back home when soldiers are deployed.
To help those people cope with the challenges of raising children alone and just being alone, the squadron's Family Readiness Group, headed by Davidson's wife, Jodi, plans activities and provides services to help them with the responsibilities.
The squadron has 700 soldiers with 343 spouses, all wives at this time. However, Italiano-Davidson said the Family Readiness Group has expanded to include parents and other relatives, and now numbers about 1,800 members.
Another important role of the unit commander's wife is to serve as an information link from the troops to the families so they know what is going on with the unit and don't have to hear or read it on the news, she said.
An example of the group's projects is sending DVDs to Iraq, on which troops are recorded reading stories to be sent to their children.
"Nothing is worse than to come home after being gone a year and not have your child recognize you," she said.
Audience reactions
In the audience Friday was Bonnie Emerick of Canfield, whose son, Jeffrey, also of Canfield, is in the Naval Reserve and is slated to go to Iraq when he completes combat training at Fort Bragg, N.C., and Fort Dix, N.J. Her grandson, Victor Emerick, is on active duty with the Navy at Groton, Conn.
Emerick said she was "encouraged to hear what the men in the military, who have been over there, have to say."
Also in attendance were Steve and Sharon Kimmet, who traveled from their home in New Riegel, Ohio, near Tiffin, to meet and hear Davidson. Their son, 1st Lt. Christopher Kimmet, is a platoon leader in Davidson's unit in Iraq.
"I have come to believe firmly in their mission and am concerned about the jihad that threatens our society as we know it," Kimmet said.
alcorn@vindy.com
Saturday, July 28, 2007
The lieutenant colonel is
married to a woman whose parents live in Youngstown.
By WILLIAM K. ALCORN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN — "I don't think Americans fully understand the threat we face," said Army Lt. Col. Ross E. Davidson Jr., leader of an elite ranger/paratroop combat unit in Iraq.
"Our biggest fear as soldiers is that we will lose the support of the American people," Davidson said Friday at a meeting of the Youngstown YMCA's Service to the Nation committee organized by JoAnn Creed.
"I think it would be a huge mistake to pull out of Iraq [before the job is done]. It would embolden our enemies to attack other parts of the world. This is the most serious threat our nation has faced in its history," said Davidson, commander of the 1st Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment (recon) and Task Force Falcon of the 82nd Airborne Division.
Davidson, home on a two-week leave from Iraq, is married to Jodi Italiano-Davidson, whose parents, retired Army Col. Angelo J. and Joan Italiano, live in Youngstown. Davidson and Jodi met while they were students at Ohio State University.
Davidson, who called Youngstown his "home away from home," has the highest praise for American military personnel and their training and dedication to doing their jobs.
"As soldiers, we see ourselves as servants of the American people. Since 9/11, they have been raising their hands to volunteer over and over again with no illusions" about what they are getting into, he said.
Davidson said the mission of his strike force, which has been operational for about 12 months, is to "hunt terrorists and destroy their safe zones, where they cache weapons and build explosives."
"My troopers 'get it'. They are young Americans who understand this fight and the nature of the enemy," Davidson said.
But, he said, it is the "character and values of your young soldiers that set them apart on the battlefield."
It is what is "in here," he said — pointing to his head and heart — that is winning over the Iraqi citizens, he said.
Different perspective
From hearing national news reports, "you would think that all of Iraq is up in arms against us, when the opposite is what we encounter," he said.
The average Iraqi is oppressed and terrorized and doesn't support jihad and the war against the West. But they are in a period of time of vast hopelessness about their future, Davidson said.
Often, Americans at home don't see the day-to-day positive impact their soldiers are having in Iraq, he said.
"Our perception as soldiers is that when bad things happen, they get reported, and it takes time for the good news to catch up and for the story to get out," he said.
"Is this the right war ... a just war?"
"I'm not known for my political correctness," he said in answering his own question.
"We've been at war with this element since the late 1970s, but the nation didn't realize it until 9/11" Davidson said.
The jihad mindset is the destruction of the West. It's a scary thing, and if terrorists had access to nuclear bombs or chemical weapons, they would use them without hesitation, he said.
"I call this [being in the military] a service to the nation ... to give back to the nation for so much we have received ... and to prevent these terrorists from bringing their version of the world to us," Davidson said.
"I am more than willing to do this on my watch so my son doesn't have to do it on his," he said.
Helping soldiers' families
Davidson said something else that sometimes goes unnoticed by the general public are the families left back home when soldiers are deployed.
To help those people cope with the challenges of raising children alone and just being alone, the squadron's Family Readiness Group, headed by Davidson's wife, Jodi, plans activities and provides services to help them with the responsibilities.
The squadron has 700 soldiers with 343 spouses, all wives at this time. However, Italiano-Davidson said the Family Readiness Group has expanded to include parents and other relatives, and now numbers about 1,800 members.
Another important role of the unit commander's wife is to serve as an information link from the troops to the families so they know what is going on with the unit and don't have to hear or read it on the news, she said.
An example of the group's projects is sending DVDs to Iraq, on which troops are recorded reading stories to be sent to their children.
"Nothing is worse than to come home after being gone a year and not have your child recognize you," she said.
Audience reactions
In the audience Friday was Bonnie Emerick of Canfield, whose son, Jeffrey, also of Canfield, is in the Naval Reserve and is slated to go to Iraq when he completes combat training at Fort Bragg, N.C., and Fort Dix, N.J. Her grandson, Victor Emerick, is on active duty with the Navy at Groton, Conn.
Emerick said she was "encouraged to hear what the men in the military, who have been over there, have to say."
Also in attendance were Steve and Sharon Kimmet, who traveled from their home in New Riegel, Ohio, near Tiffin, to meet and hear Davidson. Their son, 1st Lt. Christopher Kimmet, is a platoon leader in Davidson's unit in Iraq.
"I have come to believe firmly in their mission and am concerned about the jihad that threatens our society as we know it," Kimmet said.
alcorn@vindy.com
Saturday, July 28, 2007
"I don't think Americans fully understand the threat we face," said Army Lt. Col. Ross E. Davidson Jr., leader of an...
