Hero: German immigrant takes bullet for U.S. 'ideals'

-- Jeffrey Jamaleldine took a bullet to his chin that blew out much of his jaw and nearly killed him while deployed in Iraq last year. The sacrifice is just part of his job, he says, and he'd go back to Iraq in a second if asked.

That is something that troubles his family, especially his father. Bashir Jamaleldine says his son is fighting an unjust war for America -- a sentiment shared by the majority of Germans. He wishes his son would get back to his "German roots."

Of his son's time in Iraq, the father says, "He went there to receive this bullet. If he would not have gone there, he wouldn't have been wounded; he wouldn't be in the hospital; he wouldn't be treated by a doctor. He would be living in peace with his family." Shaking his head with his son at his side, he adds, "He is more American than German."

Jeffrey Jamaleldine, a 31-year-old U.S. Army scout who proudly wears a Stetson hat agrees with his father on one thing: His love for America is unwavering. Jeffrey Jamaleldine moved to the United States to go to college in Missouri at the age of 18 and immediately fell in love with the United States and its culture. "You can go from rags to riches there. People still believe in that. It is not something that has gotten lost,"

And when the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, happened, he felt it was time for him to do something. By accident, he says he found out that with his green card, he could join the U.S. military. And in 2006, he did just that.

Last year, he paid a heavy price for his patriotism. Pinned down in a firefight with insurgents in the Iraqi city of Ramadi, Jamaleldine was shot in the face. While many Americans would consider Jamaleldine a hero, most in his home country don't. Germans largely oppose the Iraq war. The criticism doesn't bother him. He says even after getting wounded on the battlefield, he would go fight for America again if ordered back to Iraq.

"I still don't want to die, I love life, I enjoy life," he says. "But I would still make the sacrifice to go to Iraq again if I am called. If I have to go, I will -- to stand up for what I believe in," he says,

His father looks on in disbelief as he listens to his son, now an American citizen. "Why he's more American than a German, I don't know," he says. But Jeffrey Jamaleldine says joining the military was never about that, it was about defending American ideals.

"If we have people who want to change those ideals or take them away," he says, "then there are people like me or my platoon who stand up and fight for those ideals"

[personally I think his father is right on both counts: Jeffrey is more American than German in character, and Bashir never will get why. Our gain.]

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