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