Former Iraqi interpreter for the U.S. Army shares his story of hope and his journey from Baghdad to Apple Valley
Posted: 3/30/06
by Jeff Achen
Thisweek Newspapers
On March 15, 2006, Fadi “Freddie” Fadhil pulled an envelope from his mailbox that would determine his fate. His hands shook. Taking it back to his Apple Valley apartment, he gazed at it for about five minutes before he was able to open it.
“I needed to prepare myself mentally and spiritually,” he said.
Upon opening the letter inside, his eyes fixed on two words ... asylum granted.
After spending his entire life under the tyranny of Saddam Hussein and surviving numerous attempts on his life, the former Baghdad resident and Iraqi interpreter for the U.S. Army had been granted the right to stay in America.
The 27-year-old said he cried at first. Then he smiled. Then he jumped around his kitchen table. It was snowing that day, so he opened the glass door and laid in the snow making an “Iraqi” snow angel.
His service
Freddie hadn’t intended to come to America, though he admits being raised with less traditional, more Western values. His journey started in March 2003 when he approached a U.S. Army gate in the southwestern Baghdad neighborhood of Rassalah. He told the guards that if they needed any help, he would try to help them.
The guards were surprised his English was so clear, but visibly excited to have an Iraqi offering his help. Soon, Freddie was visiting the base every day volunteering his services as an interpreter.
Eventually he started getting paid for his service when he was hired through the Titan Corporation, the U.S. military’s contractor for interpreters. He earned $300 a month. It wasn’t much by American standards, but quite a sum in Iraq. Eventually he would earn more as the risks to interpreters became more apparent.
In March 2004, Freddie was connected with Lt. Col. Michael Baumann. Baumann, now retired and living in Lakeville, was the commander of the Army’s Task Force 1-21, a part of the First Cavalry Division. As the governing authority in the southwestern part of Baghdad Baumann had a high profile job and needed a competent interpreter for the sensitive talks he held with Iraqi religious and civic leaders.
“Most of my efforts were trying to build a local governance where none existed,” Baumann said. “All the civic things of a city, trash, public works, community activities, police, all of that collapsed and there was nothing in its place except the U.S. Army. We weren’t budgeted for it and we weren’t trained for it.
“To find a guy like Freddie, who’s got a B.A. and an M.S. and the ability to think critically, which was rare in that culture, it’s like God sent me an angel to help me do what I had to do there.”
In late May, Baumann began talks with one Sunni Muslim cleric in particular. The prominent imam had a strong influence on the Sunni Muslim population west of Tigris River in Baghdad.
“As I was dealing with him, we formed a mutual respect friendship. That relationship kept us from having a higher body count on both sides. Freddie was instrumental in that,” Baumann said.
He said Freddie’s sensitivity to culture, context and vital understanding of his intentions while translating set him apart from other interpreters.
By January 2005, Iraq was gearing up for its first set of elections. Baumann’s goal was to stabilize his sector of Baghdad for the elections. Freddie helped Baumann lay the groundwork for meetings between the Sunni cleric and then U.S. Ambassador to Iraq John Negroponte’s advisor Robert Ford to achieve that goal.
Freddie said he realized the significance of his contributions when he saw the cleric walk out of his mosque in broad daylight to shake hands with Lt. Col. Baumann.
“Culturally, it was so significant. I don’t think I’ll ever live to see anything like it again,” Freddie said.
The day of the election, Baumann says his neighborhood didn’t have any issues.
From March 2004 until February 2005, Freddie risked his life many times as Baumann’s interpreter. There was even an insurgent campaign to kill any Iraqis working with the Americans. Interpreters were special prizes. Freddie’s name hung on banners in Baghdad declaring the bounty for his head. Yet, despite the fact that many Iraqi volunteers abandoned the U.S. authorities, Freddie stayed on.
“You know you’re making a change and you look at what you’ve achieved. If you turn your back, who’s going to do it? Somebody has to step forward,” Freddie said.
“I know he didn’t have to do what he did, but I guess I thought he could see what tomorrow might look like in his mind’s eye and his commitment to that, that’s what was fueling him,” Baumann said. “He wanted to help change Iraq.”
His upbringing
Freddie was born in Baghdad in 1979, the same year Saddam took power. He’s the son of an Iraqi father and Jordanian mother. Both were university graduates and had traveled abroad.
He describes his family as financially comfortable and politically open minded. Many of his neighbors viewed them as “westernized.”
During Saddam’s regime, families like his had to keep a low profile. The fact that none of them were members of Saddam’s Baath party was risky.
“We’ve always lived under this oppression. Us having to hide our thoughts and will to be free and under the fear of prosecution,” Freddie said.
Freddie said he learned English from watching television and movies. His parents told him about the freedoms they’d witnessed in the countries those images and stories came from, but cautioned him not to talk about it outside the home.
Just before the second U.S.-led war against Iraq started in 2003, Freddie was studying for his master of science in computer networking at the University of Technology in Baghdad. He had already completed his bachelor of arts in computer engineering.
He recalls being dragged out of class one day by Saddam’s secret service officers because he wasn’t a Baath party member. Luckily, he was only verbally reprimanded. He was told he had to join the Baath party before he started his next semester of school. During his break from school, the war started.
He never joined the Baath party.
“After the war, hopes were high and we started seeing the American troops trying to interact with the community and trying to put the government back together. But, nobody would step in, everyone was afraid,” Freddie said.
Despite having to sever all ties with his family, Freddie was compelled to help the Americans.
“At 25, I knew absolutely nothing of freedom. There comes a point where all the chains are broken. There’s a hand, an American hand, reaching down saying help me help you. All of a sudden I get this chance, this hope I had lived for for 25 years,” he said. “Yeah, I’ll put my life on the line.”
His opportunity
When Lt. Col. Baumann was preparing to leave Iraq his concern for Freddie’s welfare grew. He didn’t want him to be passed on to another unit where he’d be taken for granted. He also didn’t want to see him continue interpreting until an assassin’s bullet or bomb stopped him.
That’s when Baumann said he began writing letters to anyone he thought could help bring Freddie to America.
He wrote to the State Department, the Department of Defense, and to universities. In the end, he didn’t get a response.
Then, an independent filmmaker showed up to document the daily lives of soldiers under Baumann’s command. Eventually it evolved into a story about Freddie.
The film director came up with an idea to bring Freddie to the U.S. on an “O” Visa, which meant he could come to work on a limited project, but they had to demonstrate that he was the only person that could do that job.
Freddie arrived in New York on June 19, 2005 to work on post production for the documentary. Later he came to Ft. Hood to meet up with Lt. Col. Baumann, who had decided to retire in October. 2005. Baumann brought Freddie to Apple Valley and helped him file for political asylum in November. With the help and support of several Minnesota politicians and affidavits from those in the military who’d worked with Freddie, he was granted asylum.
“The things he did were of the highest degree of honor I can think of,” Baumann said.
Baumann has since helped Freddie find employment and a place to live. Freddie is currently interning in the Technology Department of St. Paul Public Schools where Baumann is a technology services manager.
“Freddie being in Apple Valley is truly a dream come true,” Baumann said.
“It’s that thing, you don’t dare dream about,” Freddie said.
Freddie said he doesn’t know if he’ll ever see his family again. But then, he never in his life dreamed he’d be making a snow angel in America.
Jeff Achen can be reached at av.thisweek@ecm-inc.com.
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