You don’t hear much about them. They don’t often make the news. But they do exist.
27 Years After Retirement, Doctor to Serve in Iraq
Some might say he’s got it all: a military retirement, a happy marriage spanning almost 50 years and a successful medical practice in Fayetteville, N.C.
But today Dr. John Ritchey will close his ophthalmology office, turn over his patient records to two other local doctors, and prepare to put on the Army uniform he last hung up 27 years ago to serve in Iraq.
Ritchey, age 68, said he has volunteered to return to active duty to serve in every major conflict since Operation Desert Storm – but with one condition. He didn’t want to serve as “backfill” for deployed troops, but rather, to deploy to the theater.
So this time, when Ritchey got a call from the Army Surgeon General’s office telling him the Army needed eye surgeons in Iraq, he accepted.
“I think of it as payback,” he said. “The Army has always been very good to me.”
On a day when I’m a bit pissed off at some thugees in our military, this is a good one to remind me that most of our soldiers are good people.
