Lee resident risked her life to save fellow serviceman in Iraq. Now, she runs Herbal Oracle in DeKalb.

DeKALB – It was Sept. 11, 2001, when this nation as we all knew it changed forever.

The World Trade Center’s towers were struck by a series of hijacked planes, prompting mass evacuations. First responders were dispatched to the scene to save those still trapped or injured and put out fires set off by the impact of the attack.

For Dezaraé Haley, moments such as this remind her why she decided to serve and why she stayed in the U.S. military for as long as she did. It’s her call to duty, after all.

“I enlisted before 9/11, so it didn’t seem near as scary enlisting then,” Haley said. “I would say the motivating factor was I was graduating high school at age 17, and I did not want to stay at home. What else was I going to do?”

The Lee resident touts what she accomplished as a combat soldier in the U.S. Army before being honorably discharged in 2006. Haley has been bestowed with a slew of military honors, including those recognizing her service in Iraq and, most notably, an Army Accommodation Medal.

Haley was honored with an ARCOM, a mid-level award given to members of the U.S. armed forces for meritorious service, heroism or outstanding achievement, for risking her life to save a fellow service member during her tour in Iraq.

“My memory is sketchy, but through the years, other people that were there have been able to help put things together,” Haley said. “The gist of it is that I was a driver for a Humvee, and we were doing roving guards around the base, looking for the [unexploded ordnance devices] or [improvised explosive devices].”

While Haley and fellow soldiers were going around, they usually would have two smoke tracks and two Humvees. That day, however, the two smoke tracks had gone out to Samarra, a city north of Baghdad. Haley and her unit had four Humvees. In this particular day, they ended up with a fifth Humvee because the higher-ups wanted to make sure they were doing their job.

Haley said she couldn’t have suspected what would happen next.

“When you’re going around, that sand kicks up,” Haley said. “You don’t see much. We’ve done it so many times before. So, it wasn’t anything really new. But I did see something on the ground, but I was like, ‘You know, three Humvees have already gone through here.’ If it was something, it would have already gone off by now. So, I straddled it, but the Humvee behind me, the higher-ups, they hit it. It ended up being an anti-tank mine. Luckily, it was upside down. We did not discover until later that it was supposed to be a daisy chain.”

A daisy chain is used to place explosives far enough apart but close enough together that if one goes off, every single one has a domino effect. An anti-tank mine is a type of land mine specifically designed to damage or destroy tanks or other armored vehicles.

“I look in the mirror, and the Humvee is engulfed, completely in flames,” Haley said. “We get out. We’re able to zero-out the radios and everything. Luckily, everyone survived, but I remember talking to somebody, and then I remember pulling security because you’ve got to pull security to let the medics come in and do their job. I couldn’t remember any other details besides that until a few years ago.”

I believe that every mistake, every tragedy that you go through once you get to a certain part of healing, you look back [and] you can see the blessings that came out of it.”

—  Dezarae Haley

Haley said she and her unit worried that the explosion had been caused by an anti-tank mine or that it turned out to be a daisy chain.

Haley said she encountered a mutual friend of a fellow service member online years later that helped her connect the dots further about why she was awarded the ARCOM.

“He goes, ‘You saved my buddy’s life,’” Haley said. “I was like, ‘What buddy? What are you talking about?’ ... ‘When the explosion went off, shrapnel went everywhere. He got hit under the kevlar and above the flak vest. He went down, and you pulled him out of the Humvee.’ He said that I gave him an IV, and I kept him awake until the medics got there. They said that that was the only thing that saved his life.”

Haley admitted that she struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder, likely in part because of the explosion that went off.

“I don’t have all the memories,” Haley said. “Like, I’ll get choked up or feel tightness in my chest, but it’s almost as if I’m telling someone else’s story and my body’s reacting. But that’s part of PTSD. That’s why I got the ARCOM.”

From Army to holistic health

Haley served in the U.S. Army from June 2002 to July 2006. She has since traded in her combat boots to take up the practice of holistic health care by establishing Herbal Oracle, 161 E. Lincoln Highway, DeKalb.

At Herbal Oracle, patrons will find natural dried herbs, essential oils, gems and crystals, natural skin care products and more.

The shop also offers courses on tea blending, herbal medicine making, lotion making and carrier oils, and more.

Haley said she prides herself on returning to school a few years ago to continue her education.

“I went back to school in 2019 during COVID with four kids,” Haley said. “Balancing all of that, I ended up getting my degree in complementary alternative medicine through the American Academy of Healthcare Sciences with a 4.0 GPA. To me, that showed that this is something that comes natural to me. I just have to keep building the confidence, that just because somebody is louder and seems more confident doesn’t mean they know, which I’m learning.”

Haley said she has experience consulting with clients to create blends to treat a variety of ailments, ranging from eczema to diabetes.

Amboy resident Mary Jane Shaw said she’s been one of Haley’s regular clients for years.

“It had gotten so that once a week I was going out to her shop because I thought she had helped me,” Shaw said.

Shaw said she believes in the power of holistic health care thanks to Haley.

“Without access to Dezaraé’s things, my skin today would not be in the shape that it is, because I have real bad psoriasis, eczema and severe allergies,” Shaw said.

Haley said her experience in the army taught her the importance of being mindful of her physical well-being and mental health.

For Haley, it’s the experiences she had in the army that she will forever remember and is grateful for.

She recalled her time spent serving overseas in Iraq from 2004 to 2005. It was in 2003 when U.S. military forces captured Saddam Hussein.

Haley said it was “insane” the way people in Hussein’s hometown perceived the U.S. military forces in the aftermath of his capture.

“We were an aviation unit, so we were more in the air, but we had to fly low,” Haley said. “I would say that it was actually mixed. A few bad apples make the whole barrel bad. Most of the Iraqis that we dealt [with], especially hands-on, they actually wanted us there. They wanted help. But it’s that few that just put a bad taste in people’s mouths that they just assumed that everybody’s like that – and that’s not true.”

Haley said she believes the news media coverage portraying relations between the Iraqis and U.S. military forces didn’t always tell the whole story back then.

“We were actually – and this is stuff you may not have seen in the newspaper or anything – but we were actually helping build schools, we were donating school supplies, and we were helping do a lot of that there,” Haley said. “And that was 2004. That was early in the war. We’re still sitting there building schools and helping the locals because it wasn’t the locals that were mad.”

But things weren’t always rosy for Haley during her time in service.

She said she’s had to learn some hard truths about life while serving in the U.S. Army.

“When I went into the service, I was told, ‘Listen, men are going to see you as fresh meat. Women are going to see you as competition,’” Haley said. “I could not understand at the age of 18 what the heck did that meant. I had no idea what that meant. Now I do, and they’re absolutely correct. Women have to not only establish themselves in the men’s force but also hold themselves strong against the opinions of other women because, let’s face it: You would think that women have women’s backs, but they don’t. They don’t. So, you really are by yourself. You can’t trust anybody.”

Still, Haley said she doesn’t regret her decision to choose the U.S. Army. She said if it weren’t for the military, she doesn’t think she would have met her husband, had her children or opened a business.

“I believe that every mistake, every tragedy that you go through once you get to a certain part of healing, you look back [and] you can see the blessings that came out of it,” Haley said. “You may not be able to see the blessings right away. You may not be able to see the blessings right now, but there are always blessings.”