Iraq Stories - By Megan Brown

... Operation Religious Freedom
Shortly before press-time, 26-year-old Army Specialist Joe Kashnow?s right leg was amputated below the knee, a procedure necessary due to wounds he sustained during his tour of duty. Iraq ?was everything,? Kashnow says. ?It was miserable. It was wonderful. You?re away from home. You?re away from every creature comfort of your life, everything that?s been a part of your life. Every day was different.? ...
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April 18, 2004

Joe Kashnow, age 25, was a cavalry scout with the United States Army on an escort mission in Iraq. He was driving in the left lane of a highway on the road to Baghdad, where buried in the median was an artillery shell controlled by remote detonator. As Joe's humvee drove by, an explosion sent shrapnel through the floor of the vehicle, shattering Joe's leg.
Altogether it will take 10 reconstructive surgeries on Joe's right tibia bone -- including multiple metal spikes and bone grafts -- and ongoing rehab to save his leg and get him walking again.
While recuperating at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, Joe shared his story with Aish.com.

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NAME/RANK/AGE: Spc. Joe Kashnow, 25
HOMETOWN: Baltimore
IN IRAQ: Rifle at his side, he donned his prayer shawl.
Being an Orthodox Jew in the military has presented some complications. There are only an estimated 1,500 Jewish soldiers in the Army, which has nearly 500,000 active members. (That's 1,500 who identify themselves as such to the Army; there are those who choose not to.) Serving with the 4th Infantry Division, based out of Fort Carson, Colo., I was deployed with members of my division on April 3, 2003. When we got to Kuwait, I realized the kosher MREs ("meals ready to eat") I had packed were missing. It took six weeks to have replacement meals sent over.
Then one time, I wouldn't exercise on a Friday night and got some grief -- granted, from just one guy -- but it was the start of the Sabbath. I also need to pray three times a day, and that could be difficult. Still, I did it when I could, getting up early many days to put on my prayer shawl and other traditional items and do what I needed to do. Sometimes I had my rifle next to me, which seemed strange. I even did my prayers in Saddam's second wife's house -- I'll bet he'd be less than thrilled about that! But it was important to me to honor my traditions.
Before long, we were assisting as troops took control of Baghdad. We'd set up in an observation post and look out for anyone who intended to harm our troops. We'd also go out in a light vehicle, in advance of a convoy, to scout out the area to make sure it was clear.

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March 26, 2004
Army Specialist Joseph Kashnow, a 26-year-old Baltimore native, has found himself fighting for two causes over the past year.
The first was for his country, as an American soldier in Iraq. The second was for Jewish soldiers who feel they are being denied access to kosher food and the opportunity to practice their religion in the military.
Mr. Kashnow, a cavalry scout with the 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry of the 4th Infantry Division, was wounded in Iraq by a roadside bomb Sept. 17, 2003, and was first profiled last December by the Baltimore Jewish Times after enduring numerous surgeries and the possibility of a leg amputation.
Fortunately, his leg was saved and he now is fairly mobile, with the help of his wife, Sarai, and a cane. He said he is confident that one day he will walk unaided.
Because he is still undergoing physical therapy courtesy of the U.S. Army and Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., Mr. and Mrs. Kashnow have devoted their efforts full time to the Jewish Soldier Foundation, a non-profit organization that Mr. Kashnow hopes will one day be the gateway to providing kosher food and Jewish necessities to soldiers wishing to practice their religion while serving their country.
Mr. Kashnow, who lives in Colorado Springs, Colo., will be medically retired, but there is no date set. In the meantime, he has taken the opportunity to speak to groups within the Jewish community and outside, devoting a little time to his injury and the majority of his time to promoting his foundation. He has spoken to several elected officials, including Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-Md.) and Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-Washington, D.C.).
Last week, Mr. Kashnow was the guest speaker at the monthly meeting of Congregation B'nai Israel's Men's Club in Rockville. In addition to the approximately 20 men attending the meeting, about 40 students from the synagogue's confirmation and pre-confirmation classes listened as Mr. Kashnow described his experiences in Iraq as an observantly Jewish soldier.
For many audience members, it was their first encounter with an American soldier, and certainly one who was an observant Jewish soldier who had fought and been wounded in Iraq.

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December 12, 2003
Joseph Kashnow doesn't remember the moment of the explosion that tore through his Humvee and into his leg. He recalls only the second too late, when he realized what had happened.
His memories from that second and those that followed are minutely detailed, as if they took minutes or even hours ? veering off the Iraqi desert road and slowing the truck to a stop after the blast; the blood that covered the top of his boot when he finally glanced down; the words of his fellow American soldiers crowding around him as he lay, bleeding, on the sand.
Though Mr. Kashnow doesn't recall the exact second of the blast that happened too quickly, there is no question, said the 25-year-old Baltimore native, that it changed his life forever.
"This is all being made possible because of my injury," he said last Monday, Dec. 8, from his bed at the Mologne House Hotel on the Walter Reed Army Medical Center campus in Washington.
It's obvious that the "this" for which he is so grateful is not the hotel room itself, nor the metal device that extends its long poles into his shin to stabilize his damaged leg, nor the major surgery ? just one of many ? scheduled for dawn the next morning.
The Orthodox Jew, a cavalry scout for the U.S. Army, is reflecting on the twists of fortune that have led him to found the Jewish Soldiers Foundation, a non-profit still in its infancy, that will assist soldiers of his faith and their families.
He is grateful, too, he said, for an end to the long five months he spent fighting in Iraq before he was wounded Sept. 17, and for the lessons he learned there about himself, his faith and his place in the world as a frum Jew. And, more simply, as someone who faced death more than once during those months at war, he is grateful for his life.
"For some reason," he said, "it was not my time to die. I think it was direct divine intervention. God flicked the shots away."

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Joe Kashnow, an Orthodox U.S. soldier from Baltimore, was serving in Iraq when terrorists ambushed his unit on the roads to Baghdad. His right leg was broken, mangled, and penetrated by shrapnel below the knee. It would take much reconstructive surgery to get him to walk again.

Picking up the cause of the former NCSY?er, www.ou.org asked people to daven for Yosef Eliyahu ben Malka Ita, as well as to send emails earmarked for him to his brother at mikekashnow@yahoo.com The response overwhelmed Mike, who wrote:

There have been over 70 emails that have come in as a result of your posting! I am sure that is indicative of at least 5 times the amount of people who have seen the notice, and of only a fraction of those who are davening for a refuah shleimah because of it.
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May 2004
Joe Kashnow

Specialist, U.S. Army

SPC Kashnow, raised in Baltimore, is a fourth generation American whose grandfather fought in World War II and whose father volunteered for the Vietnam War. His dream, ever since he was a young child was to join the military. In February of 2002 Joe Kashnow went to Army Basic Training and Advanced Individual Training at Fort Knox, Kentucky where he was trained as a cavalry scout.

In April of 2003, SPC Kashnow left his wife Sarai (of less than three months) in Fort Carson, Colorado when his unit, the 4th Infantry Division, was deployed in support Operation Iraqi Freedom. After landing in Kuwait, SPC Kashnnow was part of the 4th IDs push to Baghdad and to airfields north of the city.
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Among the dozens of boxes that line the walls of Joe Kashnow's new apartment in Pikesville are four, marked "Marines." Inside sit pots and pans, hot-water heaters, potato peelers and can openers, all headed for his fellow Jewish soldiers serving in Iraq.
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