Reservist Marquis Jackson was attending a faculty meeting Jan. 14 last year at Hillside High School, where he teaches, when his cell phone rang.

It was his Unit Administrator informing him that he had been involuntarily transferred to another unit in Florida, which was preparing to go to Iraq.

Jackson’s wife was eight months pregnant, but he had to leave for Florida to join his new unit before leaving for Iraq on Feb. 7.

“To be in the military, you are a number,” Jackson said. They put you where they need you.”

Jackson, who majored in political science at N.C. Central University from 1997 to 2001 and is expecting to finish a second degree in English education, was stationed at Camp Bucca prison for about 10 months. The camp is 300 miles southeast of Baghdad

In the unknown world, he looked back at his days at NCCU and remembered many words of wisdom from his professors.

“Dr. Ferebee told me to look at the world in a broader view and to be optimistic,” Jackson said.

“Dr. Ware, Harrington- Austin and Bockting taught me to appreciate life. You never know when your education is going to be valuable to you.”

After seeing the struggles that the people of Iraq face to make a living, Jackson said he came back “much wiser and grateful.”

“The Americans don’t know poverty,” Jackson said. “The level of poverty blew my mind.”

Jackson served as a processing non-commission officer — he ensured that new detainees at the camp had proper identification and that the right data were collected.

He said at times he processed the data of 200 to 300 detainees a day and the camp had about 4,000 detainees. Their crimes included illegal possession of weapons, assault and rape.

Some of the detainees were from countries such as Syria, Lebanon and Palestine.

Jackson said the prisoners were rarely violent and he was inspired to see the prisoners face the same direction to bow down and pray.

“They were some of the most sensible people I have ever encountered,” Jackson said.

Jackson said he did not witness any ill treatment of the prisoners, but he said he heard about the prisoner abuse scandal by American soldiers at Abu Ghraib, another American run detainee camp in Iraq.

At Abu Ghraib, some American soldiers were accused of inhumane treatment of Iraqi prisoners by putting them on leashes and piling them up naked, among other things.

Jackson would not comment on the Abu Ghraib scandal. He said he treated detainees with respect and never received illegal orders from his superiors.

Jackson said he cheated death one day when a missile landed 10 feet from him. He’s alive today, he said, because the missile didn’t detonate.

“Had it detonated I would not be talking to you,” Jackson said.

Jackson, who said he had to work 12-18 hours a day during his stay in Iraq, said he thinks American soldiers have overstayed their welcome in Iraq.

“I believe there was a time when the United States’ presence was needed in Iraq, but I believe we surpassed that time,” said Jackson.

The long working hours did not deter Jackson from reading his books. He found some time to read books like Nelson Mandela’s “Long Walk to Freedom” and the “Autobiography of Malcolm X.”