Belizean soldier returns from Iraq
Along with his parents, we have kept an anxious vigil on the career of Sergeant Frank Kuylen the third as he and a small number of other Belizeans in the U.S. military pursued that country’s war in Iraq. Tonight he is safe at home…where he spoke to News 5’s Jacqueline Woods.
Irma Kuylen, Mother
“Words can’t explain, I was really excited when he walked out. He came all dressed up, you know for us. We are happy to have him home and I want to thank everybody that prayed for him.”
Jacqueline Woods, Reporting
A year ago, Frank Kuylen III, a Belizean citizen serving as sergeant in the U.S. Army, was deployed to fight in Iraq. On Friday he returned home for a brief visit with his parents, Irma and Frank Kuylen Junior. The joyous homecoming was an emotional reunion for the family, which had not been together in three years.
Sgt. Frank Kuylen III, 101st Airborne Division, U.S. Army
“It was different, definitely different. I mean I have never seen combat before, so I can’t tell you if I liked it or not. I don’t know.”
Jacqueline Woods
“What did you guys do to calm your nerves?”
Sgt. Frank Kuylen
“That’s a good question. We basically sat around, talked to each other, talk about what we were going to do once we get back home. I mean we didn’t know when we were coming back home, so that’s all we could have done, talk to each other and we definitely made really good friends over there.”
Kuylen says besides the rigours of the war zone, it was also very hard to keep in touch with his family.
Sgt. Frank Kuylen
“It was very difficult. Most of the time we had to use the Iraqis phones and they would charge you like a dollar and thirty cents a minute, but the reception was so bad. And not only that, I couldn’t call to Belize because of the international calls. The only time I could have talked to my parents was through the internet.”
Jacqueline Woods
“You wanted to go to the war?”
Sgt. Frank Kuylen
“Yes, definitely. I really wanted to, I always wanted to be in combat. When I went to Kosovo it was peacekeeping that was okay, but this was definitely something exciting.”
“I was in 2nd 502nd Infantry battalion, the 101st Airborne Division, infantry. We are the guys that go around and basically find the enemy and kill them.”
Jacqueline Woods
“Did you lose any of your friends, did your unit lose anyone?”
Sgt. Frank Kuylen
“Yes, we lost a few guys and they will be remembered definitely.”
Jacqueline Woods
“How difficult is that Frank, when you are in combat and you lose a friend or a number of people from your unit. How do you keep on going?”
Sgt. Frank Kuylen
“Well we use them as an example. They gave their lives for us and I would give up my life for any of my guys. I mean we have a bond that there are no words to describe it, but we love one another and we are brothers; that’s how it is.”
One person who was more than overjoyed to see Kuylen safely back home is his former homeroom teacher McKingley King.
McKingley King, Frank’s Former Homeroom Teacher
“Wow. I’m really ecstatic really. It’s nice. I’ve heard that he went to Iraq and now he’s back in Belize safe and sound, so I feel really good for him and his family.”
Jacqueline Woods
“Some soldiers who have been to the war said its nasty over, people really have it hard, and they wouldn’t want to return. How are things actually over there?”
Sgt. Frank Kuylen
“Well, you said all right there. It is nasty and these people don’t have any really good living conditions whatsoever. Dysentery and a lot of diseases are over there. But no, I would never want to go back there.”
Reporting for News 5, Jacqueline Woods.
Kuylen could not say where his next posting would be, but given the U.S. commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is likely that Sergeant Kuylen has not seen the last of the Middle East.
