Therese Apel

The Clarion-Ledger

To many Mississippians, the battle against ISIS seems impersonal and far away.

To a family from Meridian, it's very personal. Veteran Jeremy Woodard, 28, couldn't stand the thought of the horrible things the Islamic State was doing, so he paid his way to Turkey and got himself smuggled into Syria to fight alongside the Kurds.

"I figured if I came over here more Americans and other people from other countries would come here," Woodard told CBS News.

Woodard's uncle Stephen Woodard has kept contact with Jeremy during the times he's been able to get phone service. Stephen Woodard said his family is fully supportive of what Jeremy is doing.

"We support him in his actions. These people, they need help," he said.

Stephen Woodard, of Texas, said if he didn't have a family to take care of, he would be in Syria alongside Jeremy, fighting ISIS.

"They're killing us. They're coming into our country as we speak," he said.

Jeremy Woodard served with the Army in the 2nd Infanty Division, with tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Since reaching Syria, he has been in several battles, including one close to Syria's border with Iraq that he said raged for 24 hours.

"I've killed two, in my first battle in Jezaa, and that's it so far. Hopefully my numbers will go up," Jeremy Woodard said. "I never thought I'd be over in Syria killing people, but they've killed innocent people."

Some believe the fight against ISIS is not America's to wage, but Blount said ISIS is a viable threat to the western way of life.

"They've espoused that they'd like to see the west fall and they're fighting to have their own extremist Islamic State that will never be happy with what they have, they're always going to want to fight the west," Blount said. "Containing them is not the right solution. It's not going to solve the problem, they're still going to be a threat to the middle east and to the rest of the world."

Stephen Woodard said his family has gotten a lot of feedback on Jeremy's decision.

"A lot of people think he's stupid or crazy or dumb for what he's doing, but he's doing the right thing," he said. "It's the right thing that should be done. He's standing up for people that can't stand up for themselves, and they're outnumbered."

Maj. Gen. Buford Blount, who led the charge into and capture of Baghdad in 2003, said he expects more Americans to follow in Jeremy Woodard's footsteps, though their efforts may not be well-publicized.

" I think you're going to have some Americans that feel strongly enough to go ahead and fight against ISIS, and I think that's a good thing," he said. "I believe that any support the Kurds see coming form America is a positive thing."

Stephen Woodard pointed out that the Kurds are farmers and herders, and that ISIS is taking weapons from bases left by friendly forces.

"ISIS has all of our nice gear and (the Kurds) have got sticks, literally sticks, and they're outnumbered and outfunded. ISIS has got billions of dollars," Stephen Woodard said.

In addition to the reasons given, Stephen Woodard said his nephew is a Christian, and that a lot of his choice had to do with his faith. He said Jeremy is close friends with Jordan Matson, an American Army vet who received a lot of press for fighting ISIS as well. Stephen Woodard said that Matson went over just behind Jeremy Woodard, and that both of them shared a strong conviction to defend those who are being persecuted.

"Our family, we're all believers in the Christian faith," he said. "There are Christians being persecuted by ISIS. They are just a target is what they are, along with everyone else who doesn't believe in their beliefs."

After ISIS has publicly beheaded several westerners and posted videos to the internet to terrorize others, Jeremy Woodard says he knows the threats of being an American if he's taken captive. He's not afraid, however.

"It's not frightening to me. If I have one bullet left, I'll take my own life before that happens. I'm not gonna get put on YouTube by ISIS, and let them put me on my knees and cut my head off for publicity."

ISIS has beheaded two American and two British captives, in addition to terrorizing innocent civilians.

"It's hard to speak for all our American soldiers, but I know some feel the job is not complete," Blount said. "We have an enemy of America over there and it's something that's going to have to be dealt with. "

Stephen Woodard said that is the reason there are others now trying to find their way into Syria to fight with YPG, as Jeremy and Matson are doing.

"We went over there and liberated these people and look what they're doing," he said. "Our troops died in Iraq, and the government wanted to pull out and the job's not done. That's what he's fighting for, is the job wasn't done.

"Who cares about WMDs, it was all about what's going on right now, this is what it was all about. We liberated them, and that's what he's fighting for," Stephen Woodard said.