There's no place like home

Thu, 19 Aug 1999 16:00:00 +0000

On April 17, 1999, 90 Albanian-Americans boarded a chartered plane to Tirana,
Albania. The pilot thought he was transporting laborers. It was only after he
saw the news crews on the landing strip that he realized these men were
signing up to join the Kosovo Liberation Army. Today most of these soldiers
have returned to the United States, and many are struggling to readjust to
civilian life.

If you followed the progress of the "Atlantic Brigade," the makeshift group
of Albanian-American KLA recruits that set off from New York to defend their
motherland, then you know who Isa Kodra is. He is the plucky 19-year-old
Albanian who'd only been to Kosovo once on vacation before joining the KLA,
and has been in front of reporters' microphones ever since. A post-war ABC
interview with Isa in Macedonia is a favorite in the Kodra household. ABC
anchorman Charlie Gibson gives him a chance to display his devotion to
Albanian independence, which he does with a Marlborough Man bravado. He tells
the world that he drank melted snow when he was thirsty, and kept his
American flag clean long after everything else had succumbed to soldierly
grime.

Salon.com > Elsa Davidson

There's no place like home