When Johnny comes 'home'

BOYS TOWN, Neb. -- Smiling broadly, holding an American flag and wearing a Boys Town windbreaker, an Iraqi orphan credited with helping American troops in Baghdad said Tuesday it was good to be in the United States.

"Everything's OK," the 16-year-old boy said. "Real cool."

U.S. troops met the boy they came to call "Johnny" on Baghdad's streets in September last year.

They took him in as a janitor and he learned some English, eventually helping soldiers apprehend more than 40 insurgents and seize several weapons caches, said Lt. Col. Brian McKiernan, the 40-year-old commander of the 1st Armored Division's 4-27 Field Artillery Unit.

"He came to identify with the soldiers and admire them," McKiernan said. "He is a unique individual with a lot of heart, very loyal."

Knowing he would be transferred to Germany from Baghdad, McKiernan became concerned that insurgents could target the boy, and he contacted Girls and Boys Town about him on June 23.

"I thought if we could give him a better lot in life, a fresh start, it would be worth it," McKiernan said.

Boys Town officials immediately began the months-long process of bringing Johnny to the United States.

McKiernan left Baghdad in July, but not before finding Johnny a temporary place to stay with U.S. contractors working in Iraq.

Johnny's first meal in America was a hamburger at McDonald's when he landed in Chicago on Monday. He said he hopes to join the U.S. Army after graduating from high school.

Girls and Boys Town spokesman John Melingagio said the home has declined to release the boy's identity for privacy reasons.

Johnny, who had little schooling in Iraq, will start his life at Girls and Boys Town with Tony and Simone Jones, who live on campus with seven other boys and two of their own children. Tony Jones said that Johnny first would be getting some rest.

"It's now his house," Jones said. "It's his home."

Speaking in halting English, Johnny said he had no interest in returning to Iraq.

"No come back," he said. "Never."

The Rev. Val Peter, who is the executive director of Girls and Boys Town, said the young people at the facility welcomed Johnny because they know what it's like to be without a family.

Boys Town was founded in 1917 by the Rev. Edward Flanagan as a home for wayward boys.

It has grown to provide direct care and treatment to more than 40,000 girls and boys through programs in 14 states and in the District of Columbia.