TALES FROM THE FRONT:

Editor’s Note: This is the fifth in a six-part series about war veterans who are members of UC Irvine’s Veterans Student Union.

Expecting to see family and friends soon, a unit of soldiers takes a break in front of a Post Exchange in an Iraqi base.

But not all of them make it home. Mortar fire is common in Iraq. It’s random, the targeting is frantic, and most soldiers learn to live with it as an everyday occurrence. The blasts usually inflict more panic than harm.

But this time the mortar struck the unit, causing severe casualties.

“They were just passing through — there was nothing they could do,” Sgt. Johnny Yang said. “That pissed a lot of people off.”

Yang isn’t sure what to make of the feelings he felt and the things he saw while in Iraq from March 2004 to April 2005. He wanted to capture the people who did this. He wanted to find those who caused this pain and bring them to justice.

But he isn’t sure where justice could be found.

“People think it’s this two-dimensional, war-type thing,” he said. “It’s not like that.”

Yang is referring to the confusion soldiers face in determining the enemy. He was trained to know the bad guy — at basic training they used Soviet dummies to practice warfare.

“For us, they don’t teach us the gray areas,” he said.

But in Iraq, terrorists or insurgent groups use the country’s desperate shape to manipulate its citizens, he said. They pay farmers and local citizens to fire on the troops, and to set off rockets and mortars, he said.

So when Yang gets angry about his fellow soldiers getting hurt, it can be difficult to determine whom to blame for the attacks.

“They are good people, some of them,” Yang said. “Out of desperation, they are seduced to take money. I can’t really blame them. It mixed my feelings about wanting justice.”

Yang has never really talked about the war prior to his interview. When he came home, most of his friends lacked interest in the topic. He doesn’t like telling long stories, so when people asked he didn’t say much.

After coming home he kept to himself and eventually transferred from UC Riverside to UCI. He felt isolated before, but feels more conformable at UCI, especially since he joined the Student Veterans Union and met the other veterans who share his experiences.

When he talks about the war, he shakes. Not violently, or anything very noticeable. It would easily pass as the shivers when it’s cold, but he pointed out it sometimes happens when he talks about the war. His hope is to one day sit down and digest his purpose and role there, but hasn’t yet.

Working in flight operations for the Army, he often helped organize and put together operations flying into and out of his base. He recalls helping on supply runs, bringing food, toothpaste, blood for transfusions, and clothing to needy families.

“Some kids walk on cardboard they tie to their feet,” Yang said. “To give them shoes — it’s a piece of heaven.”

But despite the humanitarian efforts he was a part of, he still is trying to figure out whether the things he did and saw were for something.

“I would like to think it is,” he said. “But I am not really sure.”

The dilemma is especially confusing for Yang, an immigrant who first moved to the states when he was 8 or 9 years old. His father fought for Taiwan, and when Johnny came to America with his family he was teased. His accent was different, his hair was funny, and he had trouble fitting in.

There were those who would tell him he didn’t belong, and who accused his family of not contributing to their new country.

So when Yang came across an opportunity to serve his country, he figured, “Why not?”

And while he is proud of his contribution to America, he remains unsure of his accomplishments.

“I don’t necessarily agree with war, but appreciate the effort,” he said. “I have seen things we have done and that [the Iraqi] people need our help, but at the same time people throw rocks at us. It’s very convoluted.”

Age: 24

Hometown: Cerritos

Career Goal: Unsure, but will attend medical school

Voting For: Declined to state

Most Common Misconception about the Military: There are two that I can think of. One is that all military members are gun totin’, Bush lovin’ conservatives and the other is that our service members were tricked into joining something they otherwise would have rejected via shady recruiting. First, it is not necessarily true that one must love and endorse anything and everything of his boss. Second, sure, people do get tricked, but there are those of us who actually read and understood the contracts and still wanted to serve.

DANIEL TEDFORD may be reached at (714) 966-4632 or at daniel.tedford@latimes.com.