Jeffery Vollmer on a mission, (Photo Courtesy: Jeffery Vollmer)
(WTAQ-WLUK) — Northeast Wisconsin has been home for Jeffery Vollmer since he retired from the United States Army’s 82nd Airborne Division in 2009.
After enlisting in 1985, Vollmer spent time in Iraq and Afghanistan during his 24-year military career.
Now, in the wake of American strikes on Iran, Vollmer is sharing his perspective about what life is like in and around combat zones.
Currently, there are no U.S. troops stationed in Iran, although President Donald Trump hasn’t ruled out the possibility of putting boots on the ground “if necessary.” However, American forces are operating in the region.
Vollmer said when you’re in a combat zone, you never know what the next day will bring.
“I think it’s something that everybody that’s there, it’s in the back of their mind at all times. You start becoming hyper vigilant. You hear something strange and you’ll stop what you’re doing and you’ll look around,” said Vollmer.
As for his thoughts on the Iran attack, Vollmer said, “Just because we haven’t been in an open declaration of war with Iran doesn’t mean they haven’t been our enemy. They’ve been doing everything through proxies — the Houthis, Hamas, Hezbollah. So, I don’t have a problem with it.”
He added, “Objectives need to be met or there’s no point in doing it. I think that’s a thing that most veterans would be very cognizant of. They want to see objectives being met. You know, ‘What does victory look like?'”
So, what does victory look like to Vollmer?
“We’re hopefully giving them the opportunity to decide what comes next, and it should be up to them,” he said about the Iranian people.
Kevin Hermening, a U.S. Marine veteran from Wisconsin, was taken hostage at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979. He echoed Vollmer’s sentiment while speaking on Fox News Channel.
“We’ve been encouraging the Iranians to take to the streets to take back their government. We’ve been encouraging them to throw off the yoke of Islamic fundamentalism and reenter the community of nations,” said Hermening.
Though experts on U.S. military history and policy say it’s highly unlikely.
“Everybody just wants to be happy. I’ve been all over the world. I’ve been in so many third-world countries, different conflict zones. Everybody just wants to raise a family, feed their family in relative security, grow old and enjoy their grandkids,” said Vollmer.
He also said he believes everybody should have the opportunity to achieve those things and stressed he thinks this could be a watershed moment for Iran.
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