While the U.S. continues moving toward war with Iraq, a Dubuque native has just returned from a six-month stint as an army paratrooper in Afghanistan. 21-year-old Zach Krapfl joined the army shortly after graduating from Dubuque Senior High School in 2000. Krapfl says getting into the country was the toughest part. He says they turn the lights out on the C-17 and land and leave the plane as quickly as possibly. Krapfl says there was constant action in Afghanistan, but it did become routine.He says it was real monotonous, with a rocket attack every other day. Krapfl says they developed an attitude to deal with the daily threat of death.He says he’d rather have the other man die for his country than me die for mine, but if it’s going to happen, there’s nothing he can do about it.
