Hay River (Mar 31/03) - Like other Northerners, David and Lilia Alexander are watching the war in Iraq unfold on their TV screen.

However, the Hay River couple have a much deeper personal concern than everyone else.

David and Lilia Alexander have a very personal interest in the war in Iraq. Their son, Gordon, is on the battlefield, driving a tank in the British army. - Paul Bickford/NNSL photo

That's because their 23-year-old son Gordon is on the battlefield -- driving a tank with the British army outside the southern Iraqi city of Basra.

The couple are understandably worried for their son's safety in the war.

"The longer it goes, the more concerned you get," says David. "It would be the same for any parent."

They watch television -- flicking between CNN and the BBC -- to stay up to date on the war and with the hope of even seeing Gordon. As they talked about their son, the TV remained on in the corner of their living room, with images of the war filling the screen.

However, David says, there is almost too much information. "It's hard to figure out what's fact and what's fiction."

Lilia says on the first weekend of the war they watched coverage of the war all day.

She admits it is especially difficult when she hears a news report about a British soldier being killed. "I say, 'Oh my God, I hope it's not him.' "

Gordon is a trooper in the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, in which he operates a Challenger tank.

David Alexander says his son's safety on the battlefield all comes down to his training.

Words of advice

When his parents spoke by telephone with Gordon before he left his base in Germany for Iraq, his father told him to look after himself.

Gordon's mother also gave him some advice. "I said, 'Watch your back.' And he said, 'Yes, Mom, I'm always watching my back.' "

David says when his son joined the British forces, there was always a possibility of military action. However, the elder Alexander didn't expect it to be anything on the scale of the Iraq war.

Both of the Alexanders work at Northern Transportation Company Ltd. -- David as a welder and Lilia as a clerk/radio operator.

They say co-workers are gradually finding out their son is fighting in Iraq, and offering their best wishes.

David Alexander says he supports the war his son is fighting. "Absolutely. I support the reason they're there."

And he says he also supports his son's choice of a military career. "I'll back him up 100 per cent."

In fact, David himself served in the Australian military, and his other son, Michael, was a member of the Canadian navy for 10 years.

A part of history

The Alexanders also have a younger daughter, Lisa, who shares in the worry for her brother, but at the same time expresses pride.

"I've got a great amount of respect for him right now, because he's a part of history," says the 21-year-old Lisa.

At the same time, she says, it is a big reality check to realize her brother is fighting in a war.

"But I know he'll be all right. I feel it," she says. "He knows what he's doing."

Her mother turns to her faith to help deal with the worry. She prays every day for her son's safety, even while she is at work. "I hope it helps."

David says he takes some comfort in the fact that his son has the protection of a tank. "The tank he's got can outgun any Iraqi tank."

Gordon joined the British armed forces in 2001.

In an interview last fall with News/North, Gordon said while there are other Canadians in the British military, "I'm the only one from the Northwest Territories."

Having spent 13 years in Hay River, he considers the town his home.

Although he was born in his mother's home country of the Philippines, he also has Canadian and British citizenship, since his father is originally from Scotland.

Gordon was a member of the Hay River Army Cadet Corps for seven years and rose to the rank of regimental sergeant major.

In last fall's interview, he recalled, "It wasn't 'til I was in the cadets in Hay River when I decided to join the army."