Dad keeps close tabs on war

By Peter Boylan
Advertiser Staff Writer

Joe Cordovano bows his head and whispers a prayer before he boots up his computer, and he continues to pray while he scours the Internet every morning for news about U.S. soldiers in Iraq.

Cordovano, a Pentecostal pastor for the past 18 years, prays for every casualty he comes across, and hopes he never reads about his son, Schofield-based Lt. Jeremiah Cordovano.

"A big part of Jeremiah's upbringing has been his faith and that is what he's hanging on to right now," said his father, a native New Yorker who lives in Ovideo, Fla. "He felt strongly that joining the Army was what God wanted him to do."

Lt. Cordovano, a Ranger with Company B, 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, in Kirkuk, has called home distraught once during his current deployment. He was the officer who hand-picked three soldiers for a patrol earlier this month that ended in an ambush.

The three soldiers Cordovano chose, Staff Sgt. Santiago Frias, Sgt. Israel Burks, and Staff Sgt. Timothy Pollock, suffered multiple gunshot wounds when the unmarked civilian car they were in came under fire while on a reconnaissance mission on the east side of Kirkuk.

Frias was shot in his right shoulder and right leg. Another bullet hit Frias in the buttocks and ricocheted into his stomach.

Burks, a forward observer attached to Company B, was shot in the left forearm. A bullet also broke both of his legs, officials said.

Pollock was hit in the eye by flying fragments.

All three soldiers were well enough to be evacuated to Landstuhl, Germany. They are all expected to recover, the Army said.

"His captain told him to pick three guys and Jeremiah was supposed to go ... but something came up and he remained behind," the senior Cordovano said. "He called that evening broken up about the three guys he was with since Schofield. He said they got shot up real bad."

Cordovano said his son has remained strong and hasn't let the experience affect his work organizing and training Iraqi police officers. He said his family, which consists of his wife, Kelly; Jeremiah, 24; Joseph, 16; and Jessica, 15, is close knit.

The last time they were together was in November, when Jeremiah returned home before being deployed to Hawai'i. Jeremiah graduated from the University of Florida last spring. He stayed in Gainesville for the summer to recruit for his ROTC unit.

Cordovano said Jeremiah had been involved in ROTC since the 10th grade, and that he attended Florida on an ROTC scholarship.

"When he was in the 10th grade he knew he wanted to be a battalion commander," Cordovano said. "He enjoys wearing the uniform. He enjoys the discipline and the structure of the Army; he finds it comforting. Jeremiah is very patriotic."

Jeremiah's platoon is in a safe house in Kirkuk, Cordovano said. He said his son patrols four sectors of the city, three of them on the east side of town, one of the worst areas in Kirkuk.

He said Jeremiah is not afraid, but his mother doesn't care — she just wants her boy back.

"Before he went we were all gung-ho for the war, but now I don't care what happens over there," Kelly Cordovano said. "When it's your kid who could be lying in a ditch bleeding it puts a different perspective on what's important in life."

Reach Peter Boylan at 535-8110 or pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com.