A Sun Devil in Iraq
By John Greenya

With apologies to Forrest Gump, sometimes life just isn't a box of chocolates. Ask U. S. Army Capt. Bill Hampton. But even if it isn't that doesn't mean you give up. Ask Hampton about that, too. He knows all about bad breaks.

But he also knows all about keeping promises. That’s why it’s no coincidence that Hampton finds himself participating in Operation Iraqi Freedom a little more than 10 years after his graduation from ASU. He had the Army in his sights from the day he arrived on campus in Tempe. A four-year ROTC member who earned his B.A. in political science in 1994, Hampton began his active duty as a ROTC Gold Bar recruiter in Tempe.

One of Hampton’s favorite things while at ASU was the company of his Sigma Nu fraternity brothers. So when Hampton arrived in Iraq in February of last year, he was delighted to find himself with a familiar band of brothers.

“There are quite a few Sun Devils here in Theatre, as well as in my unit,” Hampton wrote in a recent e-mail. “We all have the same two things in common: we all went to ASU and we are all in Iraq.” Hampton’s known ASU comrades in Iraq include Scott Carpenter, 1995; Darron Fritz, 2000; Sean Tomlinson, David Kasten and Rob Jarzyna, all 1996 graduates; and Ted Capra, who graduated in 2001.

The alums have kept in touch mostly by e-mail, and, occasionally, by face-to-face visits. Hampton has needed that special camaraderie because his leave-taking was quite different, and even more wrenching, than that of his fellow Sun Devils.

On June 27, 2003, following a slow and increasingly painful struggle with cancer, his wife, Ginger (Ingram) Hampton, died, leaving Bill as the single parent of their five-year-old daughter Savannah Grace. That meant Hampton could have opted out of serving in Iraq, but instead he chose to go. In a recent message from Iraq, he explained why. “All I had ever wanted to do was the Army,” he said. “They took care of me for five years while my wife was sick, and her medical bills were paid. When she was pronounced “terminal,” it was a low period in my life. I sat around the house for about six months by her side, not wanting to miss a minute with her.”

Ginger encouraged Hampton to stay with his military career, even as her illness cast uncertainty on the future. “Part of our conversation was about my future, both for me and for our daughter. We knew the risks, but one day after that six months was over, my wonderful and beautiful wife told me I needed to stay in the Army for three more years because I hadn’t commanded an infantry company, which was my next job, and if I didn’t give it a shot, for the rest of my life I’d have wondered what it would have been like. So it was something we decided on together. Right now I am obviously in the worst-case scenario, since I am deployed, but I am a man of honor and my word. I committed to the Army for three years, and it is my duty.”

Hampton commands an infantry rifle company of 135 men. Their primary mission is security for the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, whose ethnically diverse population of 800,000 contains Arab, Kurd, Assyrian, and Turkoman groups. Maintaining security for all of these different groups and areas means sending his men out on combat patrols around the clock, Hampton reports. “As we try to turn over the security mission to the Iraqi government and security forces, we try to do all patrols ‘joint,’ meaning we involve them in all aspects.”

It should probably come as no surprise that Hampton has a soft spot for the children he encounters in Iraq. “The kids are always on the streets playing, hanging around, and doing what kids do. We can have a patrol stop, talk with them, and pass out candy to them. They smile, we love it, and it is another way we can establish relationships with the community.”He said that rebuilding the city’s infrastructure, including its schools, is also an important duty for the troops. “As for the schools, we repair them [and] doing so has a tremendous impact on the city, the kids and the communities,” he said. “With the children, it is a way in, a foothold to the community.”

Obviously, all of the Sun Devils now serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom will be glad to get back to the United States, but Hampton may well be the most grateful. He gets to talk with his daughter and his mother (who cares for Savannah) for about 20 minutes once each week. Thanks to digital photography and the Internet, pictures zip back and forth with ease. But Hampton has a lot of catching up to do, and maybe even, he thinks, some explaining.

“When my daughter grows up, she will ask me why I left her and went to Iraq. As a father I want her to know, as I was taught, that a person’s word is a trust you have to have. I believe that, and I also believe that what we are doing here is honorable.”

While he is certain he made the right decision by continuing his Army career, there are still moments when Hampton wonders how everything will turn out.

“My wife and I decided that if I was to move on with my life following her loss, I needed to be happy, for my sake, as well as my daughter’s … Did I make the right decision? I believe so, but the true test will be when I get home from here, because if something does happen to me here, it would be catastrophic for my five-year-old daughter.”

Bill Hampton is not afraid to say he believes in “God and country.” That is not, he says, “a punch line, but a way of life. I serve so others don’t have to, and to protect the values, freedoms, and way of life that we have that most people take for granted.”

John Greenya is a Washington, D.C.-based freelance writer.

Editor’s Note: Bill Hampton finished his tour in Iraq safely after this story went to press.

To provide feedback on this article, click here.

Photos: Courtesy of Bill Hampton

Capt. Bill Hampton with his infantry rifle company.

Hampton has a soft spot for children, including the Iraqi children he met during his patrol stops in Kirkuk.

Hampton and daughter Savannah Grace.