Posted on 08/03/2008 6:47:49 AM PDT by MissEdie
As a mother of three with no health insurance and a low-wage job, 32-year-old Brandielee Marendo was thrilled to get into the Army.
Last year, she entered basic training at Columbia’s Fort Jackson, full of hopes for a career in computers and high-tech air defense. Then she found a small lump in her breast during her third week of basic training.
A diagnosis of Stage II breast cancer meant a bilateral mastectomy, chemotherapy and what could be years of follow-up medication. But it didn’t mean an immediate discharge.
Marendo is now assigned to Fort Jackson’s “Wounded Warrior Transition Unit,” one of 35 outfits for injured soldiers recuperating from combat, training injuries or any illness that keeps them from serving in their normal units.
“Just because I have this illness doesn’t mean in any way, shape or form that life stops along the way,” Marendo said recently as she sat in a military hospital, her weekly dose of medication flowing into a stent in her chest. “I had fun in basic.”
If they can, wounded soldiers take online classes or hold part-time jobs while they heal. Several work as administrative assistants in the sprawling training installation’s offices. One woman stocks shelves in the hospital pharmacy. But medical appointments and physical therapy come first.
Marendo is using her free time to complete three online math classes. The education is among the benefits that attracted her to military service after 12 years of working at a screen-printing business in Fredericksburg, Va.
“If this had happened to me while on the civilian side, I don’t know what I would have done,” she said of her diagnosis.
Marendo lives in a two-bedroom apartment in an area normally reserved for senior officers, so she has the space to have her two sons or daughter visit. While she is recuperating, they are staying with relatives in Virginia.
She realizes her recovery comes first. And if she gets strong enough, she’ll have to start basic training all over, she said.
“I’ll have to start over at Day One,” she said. But the prospect doesn’t bother her. “I’m pretty resilient,” she added with a laugh.
Soldiers undergo medical evaluations before they get into the Army, and no cancer was found when Marendo first applied to enter. But about 7 percent of those who enter basic training still have to drop out due to some kind of health issue, Fort Jackson spokeswoman Karen Soule said.
Marendo said it helps to put on her Army uniform and keep as regular a schedule as she can.
“I’m very much a realist,” she said. “If you decide to roll over and sleep another 12 hours because you’re angry at the fact that you have cancer, you have the right to. But it’s not going to change the fact that you have it. Period.”
It seems she could continue to serve though at near 100% once she's healed.
I know I’m going to get a lot of grief for this... but should 32 year old women with kids really be allowed to sign up for the military in a time of war??? Seems nuts to me... just nuts.
You are right. It is nuts!
I would think they would be allowed to particularly in time of war. In time of war the need for actual tough men on the ground in theater means that the military is very understaffed in the non-combat roles. Somebody has to answer the phones, fill out the paperwork, be the technician, be the support staff, and generally keep the Army running. Might as well be women who can't fight.
It may be nuts, but she's filling a slot that some 18 to 21 year old did NOT volunteer for. They aren't turning folks away you know.
But that was not what she was going to do. She was going into Air Defense Artillery. Not a ground combat slot, but a combat slot nonetheless. Plenty of women driving trucks in Iraq and Afghanistan, and manning the guns on top of them too.
Just one more reason why federal guaranteed loans for higher ed need to be done away with. Let these folks serve their country and go to school on VA benefits like I and millions of others did - they will be better off for it (no loans to repay or default on) and the country will be better off (better citizens).
There was one military gun truck driver that I appreciated following on convoys and she wasn’t much over 5 foot tall and had shoulder length blond hair.
Maybe she felt she had some thing to prove and did it with extra aggression, but when things got tight on the highway she did not hesitate to give a hadji truck a nudge with her 5 ton truck to force him to make room for the rest of us.
She should be moved to a job with the civil service.
my female vet view:
the short answer, in my opinion, is absolutely! Family Care packets are mandatory, Powers of Attorney, etc. In the long run, she’s probably fortunate that the lump was found post-enlistment, as the military (despite so many horror stories) as a rule, receive excellent and timely health care.
I joined the Army at 24, just after the Iranian Hostage Crisis erupted. Felt it was my responsiblity as my 3 big brothers had already served. Had a child 3 years later behind the Berlin wall. I was a single parent (i know, i know, but i didn’t abort her!). I had to go away, several times over the next 12 years, for the needs of the military. I hated it, but I knew that she was well cared for.
A female soldier friend of mine turned 50 in Baghdad a couple of years ago. She is now preparing for redeployment at 53. Old? Depends on who you ask. Competent? Absolutely.
Just my opinion again, but I believe that anyone, male or female, unwilling or unable to defend their country, especially in time of war, should have nothing but praise for and pride in those who are. I cannot imagine where I would be now had I stayed in inner-city Toledo, Ohio, hanging out with folks who swore never to work as they could live off the system. Good for Brandielee Marendo!
She said it best:
“I’m pretty resilient,” she added with a laugh.
I agree that it’s not right for a single mother (and she does appear to be single from this story) to be in a dangerous position. Call me a sexist if you like. I’m a female, a strong, tough one who knows how to handle a gun, but I know I’m not as strong as a man. Doubtless there are exceptional women who would be good in combat positions, but they must be a tiny, tiny percentage.
I find that a lot of young women seem to have something to prove behind the wheel, not just in the military but generally. Despite the stereotype that it's 19-year-old guys who are the idiots, girls are very aggressive too, sometimes more so than the guys.
That aggression in convoy in Iraq was something I very much appreciated.
I have much more respect for the women in uniform now than I did prior to seeing them serve in hostile areas.
Would you say the same if it was a male soldier with cancer?
If he was a single parent with 3 kids, facing long term physically debilitating treatment and limited deployment status?
Absolutely. There’s more than one way to serve your counry (or get free medical care and other bennies) Plus civilians work regular hours.
How many single parents with cancer would you want in your unit, to pull extra shifts and extra deployments for, because they can’t deploy and can’t work 14 hour days?
There comes a time when long term treatment is not in the military’s mission or best interest and no one knows that better than I. There comes a time when treatment and recovery are possible but the time frame and restrictions to duty are not compatible with the military mission.
Evidently this is not yet the case in this story.
The military is not bashful about medical discharges when warranted.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.