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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 8, 2021)
Wednesday, September 8, 2021 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon 17 WORTH IT?: Recent events have impacted veterans Continued from page 14 Battalion and 1st Special Forces Group at Fort Lewis, Washington. He is one of the very few who make the cut for DELTA, our premier counter-terrorist unit. Allen told us that evening that the powers-that-be were look- ing at our company mov- ing directly to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, with possible deployment to Afghanistan. A year later, in 2002, we deployed to Kuwait in the knowledge we would become <boots on the ground= in Iraq. Once he9d launched our oper- ational detachments Major Allen headed into Iraq by vehicle, where he participated in the liberation of several Iraqi towns and later in the rescue of PFC Jessica Lynch. s s s Greg [Walker] came out in the process as the number one candidate. I hope in the future there is an opportunity for him [Officer Walker] to com- pete again for another position with this agency. 3 Sheriff Les Stile, Deschutes County Sheriff9s Office, April 18, 2002 Putting our lives on hold As we continued to train and prepare for war, I9d inter- viewed with Sheriff Stiles and his staff for the open sergeant9s position with the agency9s search and rescue capability. I9d shared with him our unit9s upcoming deployment projection and that I would be part of that deployment. Carol and I were looking forward to returning to Central Oregon when the towers came down. Stiles needed the position filled 3 I could not in good faith accept his offer of employ- ment at that time. Sheriff Stiles understood. He is a former Green Beret himself. It wouldn9t be until late 2004, after multiple deployments to Iraq and Malaysia in sup- port of the global war on ter- rorism, that I would join the Sheriff9s Office. In 2005, I would honor- ably retire from the U.S. AUTHOR COLLECTION Company A, 1/19th Special Forces ramping up for war in Kuwait 2002. Operation Iraqi Freedom was the author’s (kneeling third from the left, front row) second U.S. wartime campaign. Army/Washington National Guard. In 2006, I would medi- cally retire from the Deschutes County Sheriff9s Office due to my service- connected wounds and inju- ries incurred over 24 years of honorable service to our great nation. I was a lucky one. We9d left men in the field in Iraq and Afghanistan since our deployments. Killed in Action. Others like myself had been injured, wounded, or made ill. After three intense years of care, treat- ment, and rehabilitation I would be blessed to transi- tion from a law enforcement career to that of a Warrior Care case manager 4 first for the U.S. Special Operations Command where I worked with our most seriously wounded, injured, or ill war- fighters and their families, and then in the private sector with conventional force and our veteran populations. Was it worth it? Even as I write this, Afghanistan has been aban- doned by the President of the United States, Joe Biden. Iraq is, likewise, a shat- tered country in great part due to the very poor political leadership of the Bush, then Obama, then Trump, and now the Biden administrations. And our country is once again facing a resurgence of global terrorism, newly inspired by these incredibly poor decisions that will haunt us and the rest of the free world for decades to come. Just prior to coming home from Iraq in May 2003 I wrote, in part, this for our local paper, the Daily Astorian, where we lived at the time: <The time has come for me 3 As the plane gathered speed and headed down the darkened runway, I offered a brief prayer of thanks for our safety during the past year. We9d come over here together, gone our separate ways and done our separate missions, then come back together to enjoy the libera- tion of a nation from under the twin heels of torture and tyranny. <I9d made great new friends and been privileged to serve with men [and women] 3 not only professional sol- diers in the most elite units in the world, but with citizen- soldiers who9d put their lives and families on hold and were now preparing to pick up where they9d left off when we9d watched the twin tow- ers of the World Trade Center fall under the weight of ter- rorist attack. <We knew we9d be going to war even then&and now we were coming home after delivering justice to many of those responsible for that sin- gular act of mass murder. <The plane lifted free from the ground and Iraq slipped away from beneath us. I shifted back in my seat, closed my eyes, and relaxed for the first time in days. It was good to be an <old guy,= good to be among friends and comrades, good to be alive and well, and especially good to be on the first leg of an 8,000-mile journey home.= Was it worth it? As I was given the oppor- tunity to draft, staff, and then supervise the execution of the Friendly Forces Combat Identification System (CIS) for the U.S./Coalition, Special Operations, and other government agencies 4 a system officially identified as having been <a huge suc- cess during Operation Iraqi Freedom, saving thousands of lives from possible blue- on-blue fratricide situations= 4 then yes. It was worth it. After becoming re-abled to enter the workforce in 2009 and in a role to provide care, treatment, and renewed hope to my fellow warfight- ers and their families, efforts described in part by Colonel (Ret.) David Heintz, my PHOTO COURTESY GREG WALKER We’re the lucky ones. We’re going home. (Greg Walker in sunglasses, holding flag). Say Aaahhh... General Cosmetic Implant Family Dentistry Author bio Greg Walker (Ret.) served with the 10th, 7th, USASFC, and 19th Special Forces Groups (Airborne). He is a veteran of the war in El Salvador and Operation Iraqi Freedom. He is a life member of the Special Operations Association and Special Forces Association. His awards and decorations include the Combat Infantryman Badge (X2), the Special Forces Tab, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (X2), the Meritorious Service Medal (X3), the Joint Meritorious Unit Award (El Salvador), the Iraq Campaign and Global War on Terrorism medals, and the Washington National Guard Legion of Merit. A DoD trained and certified Warrior Care case manager with the U.S. SOCOM Warrior Care program (2009-2013) Walker advocated for the most seriously wounded, injured, or made ill Special Operations Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, and Airmen serving during the global war on terrorism. He is the author of <At the Hurricane9s Eye 3 U.S. Special Operations Forces from Vietnam to Desert Storm= (Ivy Books, 1994), among other literary contributions to U.S. SOF history. Today, Greg lives and writes from his home in Sisters, along with his service pup, Tommy. employer during this period, noting <[his] unsurpassed level of compassion and com- mitment for this mission. His actions were directly respon- sible for the enhanced recov- ery of countless Wounded Warriors,= 4 then yes. It was worth it. <No fallen comrade left behind.= We’re here to help you SMILE with confi dence! Dr. Thomas R. Rheuben ~ Serving Sisters Since 1993 ~ 541-549-0109 | 304 W. Adams Ave. | Sisters