- Charles Thomas tended to wounded soldiers on the sweltering
killing fields of Vietnam, helped hurricane victims in Honduras and oversaw
finances for soldiers in Bosnia.
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- Sometime in the next few weeks, the 58-year-old Army
National Guard command sergeant major will leave his wife, Jeanette, their
11-year-old Maltese, Pebbles, walk through the door of his Old Bridge home
one final time and head to Iraq.
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- "I don't want to leave my wife, but I have to go,"
Thomas said during an interview last week at his house, which the couple
is selling. "I made her a deal. I promised her this is my last tour
of duty, and she gets a new house."
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- Thomas is among a group of soldiers age 50 and over being
called to active duty . Like many, he is a "citizen soldier,"
a member of the National Guard or Reserves, where soldiers serve part-time.
They tend to be older than their active-duty counterparts and are increasingly
being deployed overseas to augment active-duty troops.
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- Of the 160,000 men and women deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan,
4,119 are 50 or older. At a time in life when most people are looking forward
to retirement or eyeing Florida real estate, these soldiers are leaving
behind corporate jobs and grandkids. Some even voluntarily postpone military
retirement to go to war.
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- "The hardest part about going," Thomas said,
"is when my granddaughter asks me why I'm not going to be home for
Christmas."
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- A stout man with chiseled Irish facial features and a
crewcut, Thomas has 28 years in the military, six in the Navy. He has four
children and four granddaughters, the youngest 6 months old. He works as
an NJ Transit police officer and is a former state trooper.
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- He thought of retiring from the National Guard after
21 years, shortly before November 2003, when it became clear the 50th Finance
Battalion in Flemington, his unit at that time, was headed to Iraq.
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- "I contacted a couple of people and said, 'No more,
there's no way my wife is going to let me go,'" Thomas said while
taking a break from packing last week.
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- Instead of retiring, Thomas was offered and accepted
a promotion as the command sergeant major of the 42nd Infantry Division
Support Command, the highest rank for a noncommissioned officer. The part-time
role allowed him to stay in the U.S. and use his experience to help prepare
troops to go to Bosnia while holding his full-time civilian job. His military
salary is $60,000.
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- "My words to my wife were, 'Everyone will have to
go to Iraq before I get called.'"
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- But with military manpower stretched, the 42nd Infantry
Division Support Command was called up in March. The tri-state unit, located
in New Jersey, New York and Vermont, provides logistics and health service
support to all units of the 42nd Infantry Division. They assist in weather
disasters at home and typically prepare the equipment for troops heading
overseas and are rarely deployed.
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- "We were shocked," Thomas said. "But everyone
is going, and you don't want to show a kink in your armor."
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- "He's put in so many years," Jeanette Thomas
said as her eyes locked with her husband's from across the living room
of their Middlesex County home where paintings and sculptures of angels
adorn the small space and their frail Pebbles bounces lovingly between
the couple. "My first thoughts were, 'Why don't they send someone
else?'"
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- As of late last week, 10 of the more than 1,085 soldiers
to die in Iraq were 50 or older, according to the Associated Press' War
Casualty database. That is a tiny fraction of overall fatalities and those
men were more likely to die of medical causes, including heart attacks
and heat stroke, than their younger counterparts.
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- Three of the 10 older soldiers died in action, including
New Jersey National Guardsman Frank Carvill, 51, who was killed when his
convoy was attacked in Baghdad on June 4.
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- Army Command Sgt. Maj. Edward Barnhill, 50, of Shreveport,
La., died of a heart attack, collapsing in the hallway of the Coalition
Provisional Authority headquarters in Baghdad in May.
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- "His age was never a concern to him," said
Barnhill's widow, Paula Barnhill, in a recent interview. "His son
told him, 'Daddy, you're too old to go,'" Barnhill said. "But
he was in good physical condition."
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- STAYING PHYSICALLY FIT
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- The military has mandatory retirement rules that can
take effect anywhere from age 40 to 62, depending on a soldier's length
of service, and whether they're active duty or in a Reserve or National
Guard. Reservists and guardsmen cannot draw retirement benefits until they
turn 60, unlike active duty soldiers who can collect their retirement benefits
after 20 years of service.
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- For that reason and others, there are more older reservists
than active-duty soldiers.
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- No matter what their age, all troops must pass a physical
examination and periodic fitness tests that include a two-mile run, push-ups
and sit-ups. The rules require an exam every five years and Thomas last
had his in 2002. The military also allows soldiers to take medication for
blood pressure and other illnesses.
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- "It gets harder as the years go on, but it's not
as hard if you train every day and stay in good physical shape," said
Lt. Col. Joseph Richard, 53, of Pennsauken.
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- Richard, a spokesman for the Pentagon, has served in
the Army 22 years and was among the first troops to go to Iraq. He was
the public affairs officer for a ground commander from March to July 2003.
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- "We saw our share of death and destruction and close
calls," Richard said. Still, he has no plans to retire for at least
another seven years.
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- "When you sign on the dotted line, the possibility
of war is always there," Richard said. "That's what we train
for, and that's the life we've chosen to lead. There is an element of the
warrior spirit that you keep in you mind day-to-day, because you never
know when you'll be called up to engage the enemy."
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- Most older soldiers, like Sgt. Maj. Thomas, tend to view
their age as an asset.
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- "I'm going to take my leadership experience and
mentor the younger troops, the middle managers," Thomas said. "My
whole job is to motivate the troops. I lead from the front. If I go into
push-up position, so do they."
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- PRIDE AND CONCERN
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- Once in Iraq, where temperatures can range from freezing
to 120 degrees, Thomas will oversee the health and welfare of soldiers.
He will travel from base to base overseeing logistical and equipment issues
and family related matters for enlisted soldiers, among many other duties.
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- Thomas' family said they are worried.
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- "I cry every night over it," said Thomas' 32-year-old
daughter, Kristen Thomas-Graichen of Forked River. "This is something
a military family is used to, but this time, it's frightening. The playing
field in Iraq is frightening. He has served his country, but at the same
time, they can't do without his experience and knowledge."
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- As for her father's age, Thomas-Graichen thinks he is
as sharp, as fit and as disciplined as the best soldiers.
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- "He's logical, he's calculating. He gets up and
runs every day at 4:30 a.m.," she said, describing how her health-conscious
father even turned down a banana ganache one night -- his favorite dessert.
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- Thomas' 10-year-old granddaughter, Jocelyn Thomas, said
she's "sad" that her grandfather is leaving for so long.
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- "But I'm mad at the same time because he's going
and I don't want him to go, but kind also happy because he's helping our
country and I just want him to be careful."
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- While Thomas is away for 18 months, his wife, Jeanette,
will move into their new house in South Jersey. She, too, said she is scared
but knows her husband feels a duty to the younger troops and will "
have to teach them how to stay alive over there."
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- WITH AGE, EXPERIENCE
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- Younger troops sometimes have mixed feelings about serving
with men and women old enough to be their parents or even grandparents.
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- "We have quite a few older guys in our combat unit,
and some it seems close to the time they should be retiring," said
Joseph Bates, 34, of Montclair, an Army National Guardsman deploying in
several weeks for Iraq with the 250th Signal Battalion out of Westfield.
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- "I don't mean disrespect, but some of them are physically
starting to slow down," Bates said. "It's 50-50. I also think
they're a great asset, a lot of them Vietnam vets. They know what they're
doing, even if they don't talk about it."
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- Chief Warrant Officer Kevin Barth of Macungie, Pa., 49,
who served in Vietnam and Desert Storm and drilled for 20 years with a
Marine Reserve unit in Red Bank, said he took a ribbing from the fresh-faced
troops in Iraq last year.
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- "It was primarily along the lines of 'Hey, grandpa'
or 'Hey, old man,'" Barth said.
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- But Barth's experience in war and as a general manager
for Impress Packaging in Emmaus, Pa., was invaluable, according to his
commanding officer, Marine reserve Lt. Col. Daniel Colfax.
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- "He had a lot to offer the unit. I suppose you want
an 18-year-old to run a marathon, but the experience that the older ones
bring is extraordinary," Colfax said.
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- Barth said he was "in agony" after hand-to-hand
combat training, but felt his experience was useful while on convoy operations
in the desert.
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- "Leadership is the same in the military world as
the corporate world. You have to be able to make decisions and have the
strength of your convictions, whether you're wearing a uniform or a three-piece
suit," Barth said.
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- Master Sgt. Carl Shissler, a 58-year old Army reservist
from Lancaster, Pa., served three tours in Vietnam, took an 18-year break
from service and then joined the Marine artillery reserves before transferring
to the Army Reserve. He's also preparing to ship off to Iraq in several
weeks.
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- "It's about mentality. The young boys don't always
think before they act. The older guys take their time," Shissler said.
"You can be in shape all you want, but you can't outrun a bullet."
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- Shissler said his granddaughter told him "Poppy,
you're too old to go, turn in your badge," but he refused.
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- "Gen. MacArthur said, 'Old soldiers never die, they
just fade away,'" Shissler said, quoting the military icon Douglas
MacArthur.
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- "Well, we're not fading away yet."
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