[Vision2020] War Vet, 50, Stunned By New Deployment

[Tom Hansen]

The Army recalled a 50-year-old vet, who separated over 15 years ago, to 
deploy overseas until 2010. Talk about hitting bottom of the barrel.

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Courtesy of WSMV (Nashville, Tennessee) at:

http://www.wsmv.com/news/18391549/detail.html

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War Vet, 50, Stunned By New Deployment 
Former Soldier Last Served During 1st Gulf War

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -- A veteran who has been out of the military for 15 
years and recently received his AARP card was stunned when he received 
notice he will be deployed to Iraq.

Video: Gulf War Veteran Will Head To Iraq

The last time Paul Bandel, 50, saw combat was in the early 1990s during 
the Gulf War.

"(I was) kind of shocked, not understanding what I was getting into," said 
Bandel.  

In 1993, Bandel took the option of leaving the Army without retirement and 
never thought he would be called back to action.

"Here he's 50 years old, getting his AARP card, and here he's being 
redeployed with all these 18-year-olds," said Paul's wife, Linda Bandel.

"I can understand, say, 'Here, we have this assignment for you stateside. 
Go do your training,'" said Paul Bandel. "But, 'Hey, here's a gun, go back 
to the desert.'"

Involuntary recall allows the military, regardless of age or how long 
someone has been out of service, to order vets back into active duty.

"Anger's not the word. I was more concerned about the financial impact 
it's going to do. My pay's probably cut in half," said Paul Bandel.

"Right now, I'm just in disbelief because it's like the disbelief that 
this could be happening 15 years after being out of the military. It's 
like a dream or a nightmare," said Linda Bandel.

The veteran is dusting off his old uniforms and torn between his duty to 
his country and obligations as a grandfather.

"I certainly never thought I'd be going back there at this point in my 
life," said Paul Bandel.

The last missile system the veteran was trained to operate is no longer 
used by the military.

Calls to the Army and the Pentagon about how many men and women in their 
50s are being called back to duty were not returned Wednesday.

Paul Bandel will be deployed overseas until 2010. His wife plans to move 
in with her elderly parents until his return. 

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I unpacked my A-bag on June 3, 1987 and do not plan on EVER repacking it.

Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho


"For a lapse Lutheran born-again Buddhist pan-Humanist Universalist 
Unitarian Wiccan Agnostic like myself there's really no reason ever to go 
to work."

- Roy Zimmerman


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