Nicknamed "Steve-O" by American soldiers, he was just 14 when he gave up his family, his friends, and his country for what he believed in. Steve-O went to a U.S. checkpoint in Husaybah, Iraq, and asked the American soldiers to pretend to arrest him. He explained that his father was an officer under Saddam Hussein and that he didn't want to kill Americans. His father had been known for his brutality even against his own family, and Steve-O was driven to put a stop to him.

U.S. forces were getting pounded by the mujahadeen up to ten times each day, and to prove his story, Steve-O hid in an Army humvee and let them to a stockpile of weapons in his own backyard. From this point on, it was no longer safe for Steve-O to go home, so he moved in with the American soldiers.

Steve-O spent several months with the American solders and turned out to be one of the greatest informants they had ever had. He could identify mujahadeen by name and show the soldiers where they lived and what they planned to attack.

Unfortunately, word spread quickly that Steve-O was helping the Americans. They put a bounty on his head, and his mother was shot and killed.

Steve-O's bravery led to his own father's arrest and the destruction of a cell of over forty mujahadeen, as well as many other arrests in some twenty different missions with the U.S. forces.

For five months Steve-O lived and worked with the American soldiers, and they did everything possible to protect him, building a bond that became unbreakable and becoming his "family."

The soldiers were later able to get Steve-O into the U.S., as he was no longer safe in Iraq. They are also getting him medical attention for old wounds his father had inflicted and funds for his education.

-- Steve-O