| While the buff, non-specifically ethnic males look good in those heroic U.S. Army recruitment ads, one might do better picturing a chubby guy limping through a hot zone oblivious to his platoon’s warnings to “get down” due to the fact he’s partially deaf. An unsettling scenario to be sure—particularly to James Raymond, the bum-kneed, hearing-impaired vet who, after being discharged from Bush’s army in 2004, has now been recalled for active duty.
The 26-year-old Raymond lost the hearing in one ear and suffered a knee injury while serving in Afghanistan. Categorized as 10 per cent disabled, he was honourably discharged and added to the Army’s Individual Readiness Reserve database with the assurance he wouldn’t be called up “unless World War III breaks out.” An Army spokesperson, however, says those on the IRR list can be “involuntarily mobilized in time of national crisis,” such as the “Global War on Terror.”
Raymond—who, since leaving the military, has begun pursuing a university degree, packed on 50 pounds and settled into a life more Rockwell than Rambo—is among over 12,000 IRRs called up since Bush went to war. He has turned to his local representatives in the hopes of avoiding redeployment for himself and others who have earned some peace.
by SCOTT SAXON |
