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Wow this story is awesome!
God Bless,
Beckers
Sympathetic Soldier Brings Iraqi Boy Home
POSTED: 6:31 am CST February 21, 2005
**MAUSTON, Wis. – **Capt. Scott Southworth took his soldiers to a Baghdad orphanage in 2003 to befriend the children, and a small boy with cerebral palsy immediately returned the favor, crawling across the floor to sit next to him.
http://images.ibsys.com/2005/0221/4216093_200X150.jpg
More than a year later, Southworth has made a return trip to Iraq and brought 11-year-old Ala’a to Mauston, where Southworth now works as Juneau County district attorney.
Physicians, social workers and some politicians in Wisconsin all came together to help Southworth bring his new foster son home.
Southworth, 32, who is single, knew the alternative for Ala’a was life in a government orphanage with little chance of adequate medical care or an education.
Iraqi law won’t allow Southworth to adopt Ala’a, but he was able to bring the boy to Wisconsin last month under a “humanitarian parole” that lets him make sure the boy gets medical care and goes to school. Humanitarian parole lasts a year, and Southworth says it can be extended or other immigration possibilities will be available.
“He will be staying with me,” said Southworth, who served in Iraq from June 2003 to July 2004 as head of the Wisconsin Army National Guard’s 32nd Military Police Company.
Ala’a understands both Arabic and English, but must use a wheelchair and can’t fully use his arms.
Southworth and his fellow soldiers visited the Mother Teresa Orphanage in Baghdad a few times a week for several months.
“Ala’a really adopted me,” he said. “By the time we left that first day, he was trying to take off my watch or to do anything he could to keep me from leaving the orphanage.”
He learned the orphanage would eventually transfer Ala’a to a government facility for older children and adults.
“One of the Iraqi doctors told me that if Ala’a went there, there was a good chance his life was over - and that wasn’t just because he’d be warehoused in a room; he meant his life might be 'over,”’ Southworth said.
When he returned home last summer, he launched his campaign for district attorney and his effort to bring Ala’a home.
“Humanitarian parole is very rare,” he said. “I don’t know if there has been another case like this.” http://images.ibsys.com/2004/0726/3578146_200X150.jpg Capt. Scott Southworth
Ala’a isn’t eligible for Southworth’s health insurance, but Wisconsin doctors have promised to provide free care. Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton offered to help with letters of recommendation, as did Sen. Russ Feingold and Rep. Mark Green.
Southworth started his new job Jan. 3 as district attorney in Mauston, about 60 miles northwest of Madison. A few weeks later, he learned the U.S. Department of Homeland Security had approved the humanitarian parole, and he soon was on his way to Iraq.
Ala’a was waiting for him at the Baghdad airport. Now he is enrolled in middle school, and already has two friends.
“I think I’ve been the lucky one,” Southworth said. “He’s making my life more fulfilling. I think, maybe, my lifestyle used to be focused on me. Now I have someone else to focus on.”
God Bless,
Beckers
Sympathetic Soldier Brings Iraqi Boy Home
POSTED: 6:31 am CST February 21, 2005
**MAUSTON, Wis. – **Capt. Scott Southworth took his soldiers to a Baghdad orphanage in 2003 to befriend the children, and a small boy with cerebral palsy immediately returned the favor, crawling across the floor to sit next to him.
http://images.ibsys.com/2005/0221/4216093_200X150.jpg
Credit: John Karcher
More than a year later, Southworth has made a return trip to Iraq and brought 11-year-old Ala’a to Mauston, where Southworth now works as Juneau County district attorney.
Physicians, social workers and some politicians in Wisconsin all came together to help Southworth bring his new foster son home.
Southworth, 32, who is single, knew the alternative for Ala’a was life in a government orphanage with little chance of adequate medical care or an education.
Iraqi law won’t allow Southworth to adopt Ala’a, but he was able to bring the boy to Wisconsin last month under a “humanitarian parole” that lets him make sure the boy gets medical care and goes to school. Humanitarian parole lasts a year, and Southworth says it can be extended or other immigration possibilities will be available.
“He will be staying with me,” said Southworth, who served in Iraq from June 2003 to July 2004 as head of the Wisconsin Army National Guard’s 32nd Military Police Company.
Ala’a understands both Arabic and English, but must use a wheelchair and can’t fully use his arms.
Southworth and his fellow soldiers visited the Mother Teresa Orphanage in Baghdad a few times a week for several months.
“Ala’a really adopted me,” he said. “By the time we left that first day, he was trying to take off my watch or to do anything he could to keep me from leaving the orphanage.”
He learned the orphanage would eventually transfer Ala’a to a government facility for older children and adults.
“One of the Iraqi doctors told me that if Ala’a went there, there was a good chance his life was over - and that wasn’t just because he’d be warehoused in a room; he meant his life might be 'over,”’ Southworth said.
When he returned home last summer, he launched his campaign for district attorney and his effort to bring Ala’a home.
“Humanitarian parole is very rare,” he said. “I don’t know if there has been another case like this.” http://images.ibsys.com/2004/0726/3578146_200X150.jpg Capt. Scott Southworth
Ala’a isn’t eligible for Southworth’s health insurance, but Wisconsin doctors have promised to provide free care. Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton offered to help with letters of recommendation, as did Sen. Russ Feingold and Rep. Mark Green.
Southworth started his new job Jan. 3 as district attorney in Mauston, about 60 miles northwest of Madison. A few weeks later, he learned the U.S. Department of Homeland Security had approved the humanitarian parole, and he soon was on his way to Iraq.
Ala’a was waiting for him at the Baghdad airport. Now he is enrolled in middle school, and already has two friends.
“I think I’ve been the lucky one,” Southworth said. “He’s making my life more fulfilling. I think, maybe, my lifestyle used to be focused on me. Now I have someone else to focus on.”