User:Tonyklazar

Iraqi immigrant Tony Klazar’s journey to Frederick County included bullets, bombs

and the help of many people One day in 2004 Tony Klazar was racing through the streets of Baghdad on the new motorbike American soldiers had just bought him for his 14th birthday. Tony, an Iraqi who now lives in Winchester, had been doing favors for American troops. “I knew the Americans came to help the Iraqi people and that they didn’t come to kill, but most Iraqi people thought Americans like to go and kill and also help Jewish people,” he said.

He was on his way to the marketplace when a dark BMW pulled in front of him 20 feet away. The back window rolled down, and Tony saw an AK-47 sticking out the window pointed right at him. He slammed on the front brake and the sudden stop sent him sailing over the top of the car. “When I came down, they tried to finish me, but thank God there were a lot of Iraqis who came around me and helped me out,” he said.

Many other people have helped out Tony, who arrived in America in 2006, since being shot at that day. Now 21, he was born April 11, 1989, in Baghdad and grew up in a family that was devoted to the Assyrian Church of the East, a church similar to the Catholic Church and based out of Chicago. Tony served as an altar boy as a child, and always liked to help people around him. He grew up under the reign of Saddam Hussein, but was not aware of Hussein’s cruelty until his country was invaded in 2003.

When the Americans began bombing Tony’s city on March 20, 2003, his family huddled together in one room of his aunt’s house. The force of the bombs shook the house, but despite the terror Tony was excited because he knew this meant the American soldiers would come in and take over.

As the troops began to arrive, Tony asked his mother to cook meals for them so he could take the food to them. When Tony showed up in front of the 82nd Airborne with a home-cooked meal, the soldiers were skeptical, suspecting the food was poisoned. “I told them I’m going to try it first, and if I’m still alive after a half hour, feel free to try it,” he said. “So I ate, and after 10 minutes they starting eating and they really liked it.”

After Tony had brought meals to the troops several times, they began to trust him and asked him for other favors. The translators who were with the troops would charge $10 for a $1 pack of cigarettes, but Tony was honest with the troops about the prices, much to the translators’ chagrin. “I told them I would love to help you guys, but I’m going to be honest, I don’t have any money, but you guys don’t have to pay me,” he said.

In addition to the 82nd Airborne, Tony helped the 1st Cavalry and the Military Police. He quickly picked up English by spending time with the soldiers. When Staff Sergeant Evan Ellis of the 1st Cavalry first met Tony, he was fascinated by how well Tony could speak English. “One thing I did notice about him was that he was smarter than the rest [of the children]; he wasn’t all about candy, he wanted to learn as much as he could and improve his English,” Ellis said.

Tony was always in danger of being killed by terrorists because he would associate with the American soldiers in broad daylight. The fighting was intense, and 2003-2004 was the most dangerous time during the war. Despite warnings from American soldiers and his parents, Tony’s desire to help was too strong to keep him away. “I said if they wanted to come kill me, they can kill me,” Tony said. “I wasn’t afraid, I loved the American soldiers.”

Tony says the time spent with the American soldiers was one of the greatest times of his life. He loved to watch them buy fake Rolex watches in the marketplace and play BB gun wars with them. One of his good friends, Christopher “Big T.” Taylor, was killed by a bomb that went off underneath his car. “I was really crying,” he said. “He was my best friend. He was like a brother … I was always hoping to go visit his family.”

Tony had received many threats from terrorists, but finally in October of 2004 they told his mother the family had to leave the country the next morning or their house would be blown up and the whole family killed. That was it. Tony told the soldiers he had to leave, and they threw a party for him and gave him gifts like a sombrero and a Texas flag. “I had reservations about it; I was a little worried if they would actually make it,” said Ellis.

The family hired a company to drive them 12 hours from Baghdad to Amman, Jordan, and left the house at 5 a.m. on October 25. In Jordan, where he lived for almost two years, Tony made several friends and was eventually taken to an Evangelical Church by one of his friends, where he became a born-again Christian. A missionary friend who knew Tony from Jordan worked with a group at Shenandoah Valley Baptist Church in Stephens City to bring in some kids to the school associated with the church, Shenandoah Valley Christian Academy. One of the first names to come up for the school was Tony’s.

A process that normally takes years took two months. Tony’s plane landed at Dulles Airport at 1:05 p.m. on August 21, 2006. The very first thing Tony did when he arrived in America was ask to go buy some flip-flops, so his host family took him to Wal-Mart.

Tony finished high school at SVCA, and still resides in Frederick County with his host family. The rest of his family lives in Chicago now, and he often goes to visit them for holidays. His desire to help people never waned, and he did various jobs like mow the grass for his school or greet people at his church.

Tony and Sgt. Ellis reconnected on Facebook a month ago, and Ellis says he is surprised at how much Tony has grown into an adult. “We always knew that individuals like Tony, Tony’s family, a lot of families in our neighborhood—we knew things would be fine and we had their support for the most part,” said Ellis. “He told me not that long ago that he wanted to become a soldier; that was one of the dreams that he had. I think we made such an impression on him that I think he held on to that.”Bold text'''