Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
New York Post
April 28, 2008 By Neil Graves
A New York soldier thought he had done his duty battling America's enemies overseas after losing the hearing in his left ear and injuring a knee.
But Uncle Sam isn't finished with James Raymond, yet.
Now he's headed to Iraq.
"I thought it was a joke," said Raymond, who lives in suburban Rochester.
Raymond, 26, suffered permanent partial hearing loss - he says from friendly fire - while fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2003. He later hurt his knee before getting an honorable discharge in September 2004.
But the Army recently sent papers to the former specialist with the rugged 10th Mountain Division saying it needed him to saddle up and report to Fort Benning, Ga., on May 18 for medical and mental evaluation.
After that, it's a deployment to Fort Dix to meet up with a New Jersey Army Reserve unit.
Then, in September, it's on to Iraq.
Raymond - a communications major at the University of Buffalo who joined the Army in August 2001 - is part of the military's Individual Ready Reserve policy.
Under the policy, a soldier is considered ready to fight for up to eight years after signing up, even after being discharged.
Raymond is among more than 12,000 troops to be called up again under the policy since 2001, according to reports.
He said that, had the Army come knocking in 2004, he would have been pleased to fight another round.
"I was in good shape then," he said. "But I got out of the military four years ago. My health issues are completely different now."
Raymond said he fears that other GIs may get hurt because of him not being able to hear or move fully on the battlefield.
His plight recently came to the attention of Rep. Brian Higgins (D-Buffalo), who said his office received a letter from an inmate who heard about Raymond's story and volunteered to take his place.
Higgins has sent a letter to the Defense Department, asking for a postponement of Raymond's deployment order and a subsequent hearing.
Raymond said he is disappointed with the Army.
"I served my three years. I served 100 percent," he said. "I got hurt in a war zone. And they say, 'Your three years just isn't enough. You've got to go back to do it again.' And that's wrong. It's a travesty."
April 28, 2008 By Neil Graves
A New York soldier thought he had done his duty battling America's enemies overseas after losing the hearing in his left ear and injuring a knee.
But Uncle Sam isn't finished with James Raymond, yet.
Now he's headed to Iraq.
"I thought it was a joke," said Raymond, who lives in suburban Rochester.
Raymond, 26, suffered permanent partial hearing loss - he says from friendly fire - while fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2003. He later hurt his knee before getting an honorable discharge in September 2004.
But the Army recently sent papers to the former specialist with the rugged 10th Mountain Division saying it needed him to saddle up and report to Fort Benning, Ga., on May 18 for medical and mental evaluation.
After that, it's a deployment to Fort Dix to meet up with a New Jersey Army Reserve unit.
Then, in September, it's on to Iraq.
Raymond - a communications major at the University of Buffalo who joined the Army in August 2001 - is part of the military's Individual Ready Reserve policy.
Under the policy, a soldier is considered ready to fight for up to eight years after signing up, even after being discharged.
Raymond is among more than 12,000 troops to be called up again under the policy since 2001, according to reports.
He said that, had the Army come knocking in 2004, he would have been pleased to fight another round.
"I was in good shape then," he said. "But I got out of the military four years ago. My health issues are completely different now."
Raymond said he fears that other GIs may get hurt because of him not being able to hear or move fully on the battlefield.
His plight recently came to the attention of Rep. Brian Higgins (D-Buffalo), who said his office received a letter from an inmate who heard about Raymond's story and volunteered to take his place.
Higgins has sent a letter to the Defense Department, asking for a postponement of Raymond's deployment order and a subsequent hearing.
Raymond said he is disappointed with the Army.
"I served my three years. I served 100 percent," he said. "I got hurt in a war zone. And they say, 'Your three years just isn't enough. You've got to go back to do it again.' And that's wrong. It's a travesty."