Lyn Jerde / Daily Register
With bells in their hands to demonstrate how to “let freedom ring,” students of Rascals & Rockers Christian Day School near Cambria serenade Terry Medema, below, who recently returned to his job at the United Wisconsin Grain Producers ethanol plant after service in Iraq.

FRIESLAND - A few days ago, some of the children at the Rascals & Rockers Christian Day School near Cambria didn't know the words to "America" or "This Land is Your Land."

But they knew who Terry Medema is, and his favorite fruit-flavored drink.

On Friday, they celebrated Medema's homecoming from military service in Iraq by singing the patriotic songs they'd learned - complete with ringing hand bells on the line "Let freedom ring" - at Medema's workplace, the United Wisconsin Grain Producers ethanol plant near Friesland.

Suzanne Wendt, spokeswoman for UWGP, said Medema returned to work Monday, about a month after he came back from seven months of deployment near Fallujah.

The workplace celebration, she said, included not only the serenade from the Rascals & Rockers youngsters, but also a picnic lunch of roast chicken and a visit by the University of Wisconsin SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) Formula Racing Team and Snowmobile Team. Both the teams, from the UW College of Engineering in Madison, use UWGP ethanol in the vehicles that students design.

Medema, of Waupun, is an operator at the plant who's been employed there since October 2006. He's a member of the Milwaukee-based Fox Company Second Battalion 24th Marines reserve unit. His deployment in Iraq came after four months of training in California.

Linda Hughes, a teacher at Rascals & Rockers, said Medema visited the children at the school before his deployment, and gave them his address. Pupils at the school will write to any deployed service member, from anywhere, who provides an address.

Medema said he greatly appreciated the candy and crackers that came in the care packages from the Rascals & Rockers.

But he particularly appreciated that the kids knew what kind of beverage powder he likes.

"I like orange Kool-Aid," he said. "I remember having that as a kid. So I always asked people to send me orange Kool-Aid. You get sick of drinking plain water, so we'd splash a little flavor into it."

As an infantry member in Iraq, Medema's role mainly entailed security patrol - sometimes in trucks, sometimes on foot - looking for "anything out of place," such as weapons caches, contraband or roadside bombs.

A roadside bomb, he said, wasn't always easy to spot.

"Sometimes, if you look closely, the dirt on the ground is a different color," he said. "Or, sometimes, the parts are hidden in tires, or they sew a bomb inside a dead animal."

The first thing Medema tells people about Iraq is "it's hot."

When they ask him what he missed most about home, he'll say, "There's a lot nicer weather here. I'm a cold-climate kind of guy, and I don't get along with 130-degree heat."

Medema said he's not inclined to talk about the specifics of his experience in Iraq, and feels particularly uncomfortable with questions such as "Did you kill anybody?"

"War," he said, "is not like a video game. And it's not a happy experience, like a birthday or winning a race. I tell people that, if they want to learn about war, then sign up. Not everybody's war experience is the same. And there are a lot of things more fun to talk about than war - like hunting or ‘how's the weather?' or stock prices."

One aspect of his experience, Medema said, is rarely discussed in the media - the connection between U.S. service members and the people of Iraq.

He once helped provide security to a group of U.S. Navy corpsmen and Iraqi physicians who provided medical treatment for Iraqi people. There have been times when service members gave out food and water to children.

"The kids were coming up to us asking for candy," he said, "and we gave it to them."

Medema faces the possibility of being called back to Iraq, but "I'm not worried about it. If you sign up for the military in times of war, you'll get called. You should think about that before you sign a contract."

ljerde@capitalnewspapers.com

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