Daniel Isshak laid to rest in Muslim ceremony

Barihan Isshak knew she couldn't call her son on his birthday.

As a staff sergeant in the U.S. Army, Daniel Isshak often was assigned to a place where she couldn't reach him, but he could contact her.

When her son called on Sept. 26, Barihan Isshak was unaware he was in Iraq. As an only child, Daniel Isshak didn't want to worry his parents, so he never told them that he volunteered to ship out.

About a week after his 25th birthday, the couple found out his whereabouts when an Army official rang the doorbell with news that their son had been killed.

Isshak, a former Anaheim resident, died Oct. 3 after his vehicle came under enemy small-arms fire in Hawija, Iraq. Isshak was assigned to guard a colonel and was protecting him when he died, said Isshak's cousin, Sasha Maher. About 30 members of the armed forces from Orange County have died in fighting in the Mideast.

More than 300 people attended Isshak's funeral and Muslim burial Saturday in Westminster Memorial Park, Maher said.

Anaheim ties
Isshak spent his childhood in Anaheim, where he attended Hansen Elementary School.

After the family moved to Alta Loma in 1992, they stayed involved in the local Circassian community. Maher said about 1,000 Circassians – Muslims who originated from southern Russia – live in Orange County.

Isshak took Circassian language and dance classes when he was a child and teenager, Maher said. When he got older, Isshak played ice hockey.

Military decision
At age 17, after graduating from high school, the usually obedient Isshak shocked his parents when he insisted that he was going to join the Army.

"He said, 'Nobody fooled me. Nobody pushed me. Nobody is forcing me. This is what I want to do. With or without your blessing, I'm going to go. I'm going to join the U.S. Army,' " Barihan Isshak recalled. "I almost fell on the ground."

His parents signed the paperwork for him to leave before his 18th birthday because they didn't want to drag out the wait. But his sudden departure weighed on them.

"We were so sad. If anybody said, 'How's Danny?' we were torn to pieces," Barihan Isshak said. "I think I grieved for him back in July 1999."

Going to Iraq
Daniel Isshak spent most of his service in Fort Benning, Ga., as an Army Ranger. Isshak followed his roommates, Joel and Jessica Peterson, to a post in Hawaii. From there, he was assigned to Iraq, leaving Aug. 3.

Jessica Peterson, whose husband served with Isshak and remains in Iraq, said Isshak likened the situation of going to medical school to become a surgeon but never performing surgery.

He debated whether to tell his parents.

"He didn't want them to worry about him," Peterson said. "It was a hard decision for him to make. He knew it was going to be really hard to keep it from them."

During their birthday conversation, Isshak told his mother that he wanted to take a trip with his parents back East during a vacation in January.

Barihan Isshak teased him about wanting to visit a girl in New Jersey.

Barihan Isshak said she understands why her son declined to tell her where he was, and she's proud: "We know that's what he wanted. He loved what he was doing."

"Daniel told me, 'No matter what happens, no matter where I go, Mom, don't cry. Don't be sad. Don't worry about it.' "

From the Orange County Register

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