Yumul: An experience of a lifetime in Iraq

The Saipan Tribune is running the following story as part of a continuing series of articles focusing on the CNMI’s men and women in uniform.

When terrorists slammed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in 2001, all Rep. Ray Anthony N. Yumul could think about amid the panic and commotion was his family on Saipan and what they were doing at that moment.

Yumul was then in the mainland at Fort Benning, Georgia, for his 14-week training as a military reservist. Although Georgia is far from New York, he recalled that there was chaos all around him, with the military training ground shaken to the core by the tragedy.

He said everyone was running but trying to keep calm about the incident. All soldiers were busy putting up sand bags all over the place, preparing for the worst.

“I tried to keep calm about it but all I could think about was my family,” he said. He was also thinking about the family business on Saipan.

Though phone lines were disconnected at that time, he managed to communicate with his family here on Saipan three times. He was relieved to learn that his only child Dominic and wife Marites were safe. He also had the chance to talk to his brothers and sister, as well as his parents.

“It was a very interesting period because it was the height of the state of alert,” Yumul said.

TVs and newspapers were controlled during the training; letters were encouraged, though, but when the attack hit New York, he said the atmosphere in the academy and in the entire state seemed as if “Armageddon” had come.

Fort Benning was declared a target at that time, so “chaos” was a pervasive term, said Yumul. All trainees took part in guarding the safety of the building. Everyone was in an extreme defensive posture.

“It was very traumatic,” he said. “I was really nervous.”

Yumul conceded, though, that what happened taught him and his fellow soldiers valuable lessons in securing the perimeters of the academy.

At that time everything was a possibility, he said. The crisis situation showed itself in their training, which was expedited so they could be deployed immediately.

After the training, Yumul came back to Saipan and worked for the family business. Despite this, he never missed a weekend drill at the U.S. Army Reserve office in Puerto Rico, followed by an annual training in Hawaii. He also managed to get himself elected to the House of Representatives as a neophyte congressman.

It was August last year when his call-up papers came; he was deployed to the north of Baghdad, Iraq in December 2004.

“The orders were for the purpose of serving in Iraq,” he said.

He said their cycle that time was Operation Iraqi Freedom 3. When he received the deployment letter, he had to talk to his family, who were all very concerned.

“There were unique circumstance in my case because of my position as an elected official, but still the call came out so I felt it was my duty to go,” he said.

Yumul recalled that there were several questions raised at the Legislature at that time but, as far as he is aware of, he is not the first elected official to answer the call of duty. He said there were representatives from Texas and Pennsylvania who also served in Afghanistan and other countries.

Being part of the infantry, Yumul said his deployment is the one closest to the battle, but he has yet to take part in actual combat. He said him being a congressman is an issue with the U.S. Army as they do not want to see an elected official killed in battle.

Yumul came home June 7 for a 15-day recreational vacation and to be with his family. He returned to Iraq on June 21 to finish another six-month tour.

“I’ll be going back to Iraq to continue with the mission,” he said.

It was not all war, though. Yumul said a state-of-the-art cinema was built for them, allowing him and his fellow soldiers the chance to see the world premiere of Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith.

Yumul said his next duty will overlap with the coming local election and, although he will be seeking re-election, he said he would not be able to campaign for the position. He said he has already had talked to election officials and they said he could still run because there is no law in the Constitution that prohibits him from doing so.

Being in the Army has taught Yumul several hard-earned lessons, including the realization of how it feels like to be away from one’s loved ones. He said he could now share the sentiments of overseas contract workers all over the world “and it is indeed painful to be away from their families.”

He acknowledged, though, that the Army has been very rewarding to him. He enlisted in February 2001 at the age of 27 and, despite the feedback he received at that time due to his age, he ignored them because he felt this is what he wanted in life: to serve the country and fight for peace and liberty.

Yumul said that it is always a choice to be in the Army, but he said he is encouraging interested youths to be part of the wonderful family of the Armed Forces. He said the government has been generous to those who enlist, taking care of them every step of the way.

He said he would never trade his wonderful experience in the U.S. Army where he said he fully learned to understand the “true essence of living.”