November 25, 2005 10:10 am

Cut and paste version of story Photos Staff Sergeant Tim Nein, a Henryville resident, was awarded the Silver Star in June for valorous achievement during Operation Iraqi Freedom. C.E. Branham/The Evening News Silver Star C.E. Branham/The Evening News

Uncommon valor: Soldier awarded Silver Star

“In July 1775, George Washington told Martha he’d see her at Christmas,” he said. “She didn’t know it would be four Christmases later."

By Larry Thomas
CNHI News Service

HENRYVILLE, Ind. — Tim Nein and nine other soldiers were given the most fundamental of human choices on March 20: live or die.
That was the day Nein was among a group from the 617th Military Police Company escorting a convoy through Salman Pak, an area of scrub land on Baghdad’s southeastern fringe. As many as 50 insurgents used rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons to attack the convoy of 30 civilian trucks.
Nein, a staff sergeant and Henryville, Ind., resident, and the soldiers set out to protect the group, engaging about 35 of the convoy’s attackers in a firefight. Thirty to 45 minutes later, 27 of the insurgents were dead, six had been wounded and one was captured unharmed.
Three U.S. soldiers were injured in the fight. All survived.
“We were able to get them to the hospital within the first hour” after they were wounded, Nein said. “Because of that, they lived.”
Intelligence gained from those who were captured led to the arrests of more than 90 other insurgents.
Nein doesn’t know why he wasn’t shot. At one point, he said, an insurgent standing 20 yards away from him sprayed bullets from an automatic assault rifle toward him. He is, however, sure of what would have occurred had he been captured.
“There would have been a video on the Internet of me being beheaded,” he said.
“That was a good day, overall,” said Nein, who grew up in Clarksville, Ind., and graduated from Jeffersonville High School in 1987. “It was just something we had to do.”
Since the incident, Nein, Sgt. Leign Ann Hester and Spc. Jason Mike, both of Kentucky, were awarded the Silver Star, which is presented to troops for gallantry in action against an enemy of the United States. Hester was the first woman to earn the honor since World War II.
Nein’s home unit is the 223rd Military Police Company, based in Louisville. He volunteered for a year of service with the Richmond, Ky.-based 617th Military Police Company after having already served in Bosnia in 2001 and Iraq in 2003. He volunteered for active duty with his home unit upon his return to the United States.

Sacrifice
Nein, who has spent three of the past five years away from wife Renea and sons Samuel, 10, and Ian, 5, speaks of the need for sacrifice among people.
“In July 1775, George Washington told (wife) Martha he’d see her at Christmas,” he said. “She didn’t know it would be four Christmases later. The minor hardships we endure today are nothing compared to what people have done for us.”
He said people need to be patient with the U.S. military’s work in Iraq, and scoffs at criticisms that Iraqis aren’t working hard enough to free U.S. troops of their responsibilities in the country. Change, he said, will take time.
“We can’t just back out,” Nein said. “Is it going to be an overnight thing? No. We have an obligation to the world to be there. People forget we still have troops in Kosovo.
“There are Iraqis sacrificing every day. The kids there that are 10 years old that, when they’re 20, they’re going to have a different way of life. Each and every one of them has the opportunity to make their lives better.
Concerning his own sacrifice — the time he’s spent away from his family and the risk to his own life — Nein is philosophical.
“I truly believe there are bigger things in life,” said Nein, holding sleeping son Ian on his lap. “I’ve been away from (Ian) for three of his five years. It was a hard decision (to volunteer for duty in Iraq), this last one.”

Saddam
Nein is somewhat reserved in his opinion of what should happen to former Iraq President Saddam Hussein.
“He deserves a fair trial and a chance to prove he’s not guilty,” he said. “If he’s guilty, he’ll pay their price.”
Even in a budding democracy, the speed of justice can be swift and its price steep, Nein said. When someone is convicted of a capital offense, sentences are often public hangings, taking place within a week or so of the completion of a trial and sentencing, he said.
Trials are conducted by three-judge panels, without juries, and the courts aren’t necessarily inclined to indulge prosecutors and defense attorneys, as is often the case in U.S. courts.
Seeing the Iraqi judicial system first-hand has given Nein a new appreciation for U.S. courts.
“I truly believe in our system; the way it works,” he said.

Larry Thomas writes for The Evening News in Jeffersonville, Ind.