“Being in the military, you don’t really have a say. You’re doing it because you’re told to. You don’t know why it’s going on,” Lee says. “You see children come up to you, grown men come up to you asking for help. [The soldiers] go there to help.”

While on border control, Lee says he met all different people. Many were tired, some were malnourished.

“The little kids loved to play sports,” he says. “They were very intrigued by everything about us. It didn’t feel any different than playing with any other kid.”

Once Lee and his unit were back at camp in Kosovo, things were safer. He says it was easier to relax there, or try to relax. Sometimes his unit would be shot at, but because of the rules of engagement, no one could shoot back.

“My mother was more scared for me than I was. I knew there would be some kind of conflict,” Lee says. “Everybody has a chance, and anybody who says they aren’t nervous is lying.”

The best way to deal with the nervousness is to be well prepared and listen to those who rank above you, he says.

“It is very intense,” Lee says. “I guess you never think of it as something you have to do. Your job is your life. You always take it seriously.

“Iraq is a tough situation. You can’t take your personal beliefs with you. People are still going to die, and sooner or later they’re going to ask for our help.”

Lee says it is up to people to have their own opinions, although it can be frustrating to hear some talk negatively about the military.

“Does that mean I make a scene, get irate? You know, I can’t change them,” he says. “I try to tell another side of the story.”

He talked to some anti-war protesters in the spring about the hunger strike the Kent State Anti-War Committee set up.

“Just sitting there — what does that do for the Iraqi people? Nothing. By sitting there you might get yourself on TV.” Lee says. “If they’re so worried, why don’t they come up with a plan, put a little effort into it?

“American life may not be great, but it’s a hell of a lot better than other places."

the opposition

Senior English major Claudia Cortese began opposing war when, in elementary school, a video arcade offered Gulf War-related prizes such as toy soldiers and tanks in exchange for tickets.

“I looked at the toys and said I thought it was gross that people were making money off of a war,” Cortese says. “It just seemed so wrong I could get a toy. It’s a path I was on since I started thinking.”

Cortese says she was involved with the Kent State Anti-War Committee since day one, which was within three weeks of Sept. 11.