Ala. Doctor Reactivated for Iraq War at 68

[baldguy]

At 68, many people are slowing down. Not John Wicks: He's going to Iraq (news - web sites). Wicks, a psychiatrist, has been called out of military retirement by the Army to fill a shortage of mental health experts needed to help soldiers cope with combat. He could be gone as long as a year.

...

Wicks, who is beginning a week of training in Texas, will have the rank of colonel. His previous military experience includes two years active duty with the Marines and 18 years in the Alabama National Guard.

Wicks is a veteran of the U.S. war with Iraq in 1991, but his wife said things are different this time.

"In Desert Storm, he was in the 109th Evacuation Hospital and they had drilled together for years," said Jan Wicks. "He felt good about going with this team that he knew. He doesn't have that support this time."

more:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=519&ncid=718&e=8&u=/ap/20040719/ap_on_re_us/activated_at68

[nini]

1. GOOD GOD ALMIGHTY

this is pathetic..

[dave29]

2. Mental Health Experts

Need to be called up and sent to the White House.

[mom cat]

3. I don't think that the hazard pay is high enough for that assignment.

[dave29]

4. yes, you might as well be in a warzone

if you say something contrary to the Prez's wishes.

[damnraddem]

7. Too late for that:

send a hazmat team.

[rocktivity]

5. Sorry, Doctor Ham, you no longer hold the record

(From yesterday's NJ.com)

Seven years ago...psychiatrist Charles Ham retired from the Army...Then...he got a call telling him to report to Fort Jackson for a physical examination.

Ham, who wore a U.S. Army uniform for 41 years, knew 5,600 veterans who recently had left the service were being called up. But he never thought he would be on the list. "You know, I'm 67 years old. Why do you need me?" Ham asked.

The caller explained the Army needed psychiatrists to counsel troops.

A recent study found the suicide rate of soldiers serving in Iraq is higher than for other GIs. The suicide rate in Iraq was 17.3 per 100,000 soldiers, compared with 12.8 for the Army overall.

Dr. Ham was ordered to report for a physical, whereas Dr. Wicks was asked to determine his own fitness, and they're only a year apart? How long do you have to be in the Indivdual Ready Reserve before you ARE completely out of the military?

From the article:
(Dr. Wicks says) "I believe that the morale in general is not that good since the scandal at that prison...When morale is high, you have fewer of these kinds of problems. And when morale is low you have more."
Well, maybe it's the people who SET UP the scandal who need to have their heads examined!!!

Wicks said recruiters initially hinted he could go to Europe or a stateside base to relieve a younger psychiatrist who would go to Iraq..."(N)o way," he said. "I'm going to Iraq."
Well, I'm glad he learned SOMETHING during his enllistment. And with the paucity of services for wounded veterans who've been sent home, I think serving at a local military base or veteran's hospital on a part-time basis is a much smarter idea.

:headbang:
rocknation

[Pachamama]

6. They say Sr Citizens are needing work to cover costs in retirement...

...so maybe this is the plan by Bu$h for his future "wars"...send in the Senior Citizens...heck, he'd be happy - it would stop the drain on Social Security, Medicare and besides if the die, they already lived a long life...

*Sarcasm Off*

[Merlin]

8. So THIS is why Rummy thinks we won't need the draft.

Jesus! I could be next!

[JDPriestly]

9. The draft is not far off.

An unforeseeable emergency that the Bush administration could not have planned for, of course.