We are very proud of her.
Posted on 07/29/2005 4:37:46 PM PDT by gitmo
Rebecca Tomsyck wore a pink dress and pearls to take the oath.
She has an old back injury and a knee she messed up in high school.
She stands 5-foot-2.
She's 53 years old.
On Thursday, she joined the Army.
We'll stop here, let that sink in a second.
Here's more: Tomsyck (say it TOM-sick) is a Charlotte psychiatrist. She's had a practice here for 18 years.
She is giving it up for three months of training and four years of commitment to an army in the middle of a war.
She had her swearing-in ceremony at St. Gabriel Catholic Church. Friends and family leaned in extra hard on the prayers.
One friend hugged her and said: "Holy catfish."
"Every once in awhile," Tomsyck says, "I do look around and think, `How did this happen?' "
Here's how.
Go back about a year. Tomsyck's practice was fine. Charlotte magazine would soon name her one of the area's top doctors. For years she'd felt she was exactly what she was supposed to be.
But she started itching for more. She wasn't sure what that meant, except that she needed to serve her country.
She had kept the card of an Army recruiter she'd met at a conference. The recruiter was interested in her son, Jay, a student at Virginia Military Institute.
She called the recruiter and said: How about me?
Anybody who enters the Army has to be fit, but the physical requirements for the medical corps aren't always as strict.
The age cutoff is a little vague -- the Army's Web site says 46, a recruiter Thursday said 52. Either way, doctors and nurses who are older can get in through waivers.
Tomsyck had to sign a stack of forms as thick as a magazine and take the Army physical for women. Including the pregnancy test.
Because of her experience, she's starting as a lieutenant colonel. In a month or so she'll report to Fort Sam Houston in Texas for officer training. Then she expects orders to one of the Army bases in Germany. Her husband, John, will go with her.
She asks him at least five times a day: Am I doing the right thing?
He answers: Absolutely.
She supports the war but says she's not a hawk. It's unlikely that she'll end up in Baghdad or Guantanamo Bay, but she knows it's possible.
She wrote an essay to explain her thoughts: I am ready to come forward and take a new oath to begin a new chapter in my life. ...
On Thursday she took the oath. The whole thing didn't last 10 minutes. She posed for pictures with her family and her pastor. She waved to her friends who were out in the pews staring at her, still not sure this was real.
Her husband and son pinned silver oak leaves -- the lieutenant colonel's insignia -- to her shoulders.
She went to hug her friends and the oak leaves fell off. She couldn't get them to stay on.
"Lot to learn," she said.
We are very proud of her.
think they need a 57 year old divorce lawyer?
I think the divorce rate is pretty high in the military.
proud to say I've done several cases for folks in the military at no cost.
Starting off as a LTC? Damn! Thats a good start.
Of course she missed all the good stuff, police call, KP, guard duty, latrine details. And oh yeah, the shock to her system of meeting a Drill Instructor. God bless her.
NC ping.
HOT ziggity zag! Good on her! Prayers and her family.
Good for her....with this war, you think about "What am I doing?" I might consider it, but my pupster would never go for it.
(you know what I meant)
NC ping, somebody?
Cute story, and best wishes to the doctor.
Now this is a real story!
Now this is a real story!
And military lawyers can't touch a divorce. I know from first hand experience.
I wonder if they could use a 57 y/o former corpsman? I can get back in shape. :)
Damn, that would be a mess, wouldn't it?
Thanks for posting this. Very inspiring.
If / when you see her again, let her know we at FreeRepublic are proud of her and of her service to our country.
JM
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The above list shows those who want to get in the action what's available. Check out the listings in Afghanistan and Iraq!
Anybody here know if there is any way a 54 year old male can re-enlist?
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