Duty

[unixronin]

This is about a soldier.  We’ll call him Steve.  He was from Scottsdale, Arizona.

Steve joined the US Army at 17, and served in several theaters before returning to civilian life, where he earned a Ph.D in psychology from the University of Delaware and then went on to teach in California.  It seems civilian life didn’t sit well with him after 9/11, though, because after his wife died, he re-enlisted in 2007, and went first to Afghanistan then to Iraq.  It was in Iraq that he died on May 10 while training Iraqi troops, when his vehicle was hit with an IED.

But this isn’t just another soldier-killed-in-Iraq story.

You see, Steve Hutchison’s first enlistment was in 1966, and his first term of service began with two tours in Vietnam.  He was 58 when he re-upped in 2007 after retiring twice — once from the Army, once from teaching — and 60 when he was killed in Iraq six weeks ago.

That, friends, is dedication to duty.

Comments

[ithildae]

That is indeed excellent!

I suspect that you understand the motivations and drive of Steve, even if you do not share all of them. He spent his life doing his best every day. He spent his life helping others.

[unixronin]

Indeed. Many are the times I've regretted that circumstances and misinformation combined to steer me away from that path, because many are the times I think I should have taken it.