Something pathetic about forcing Grandfathers to go to war!

[Craig3410]

Hi. I'm Craig's mother and he asked me to tell you about this:

I work for a staffing company. We had a very nice gentleman who applied for a job through us a few months ago.
He lived out of the area, but when a client of ours offered him a technology job that he was well qualified for, he gave up his apartment lease in the other state and got one here. The client had him there for less than a week, when we were informed that they didn't want to continue with this man. Why? He didn't "fit in". This man was 56 years old, and the rest of the force there were in their 20's and 30's. They didn't come out and say it exactly, but we knew that this had to be it, because his work performance was great. When we informed the gentleman that his job ended, he was practically in tears, since if he didn't have work, he would be homeless. So all of us in our office scrambled and found him a job that he was way over qualified for, but with a company we knew didn't care if the workers were young, old, fat, thin, etc. It was for $4 an hour less than he was making at the other position, but the guy was grateful....he just wanted a paycheck to support his family...we found out his disabled wife was taking care of a grandchild while he worked. He did his job well and the 2nd company really appreciated his enthusiasm for such a bland job. I talked to him often on the phone and always took care of his timesheet. Well last week, I noticed I hadn't seen a timesheet for him for a couple of weeks, so I asked if he quit or went perm with the company. I was dumbfounded when I got the answer...this GRANDFATHER received a notice last month that due to his skills and previous military experience from VIETNAM era he was forced to "re-deploy" for Iraq service, even though he is sole support for a disabled wife and a grandchild!!! What the hell???
This just makes me sick to my stomach, knowing that a guy who was too old to get a decent job in civilian life, isn't too old for the army to drag back into the line of fire. Hell, the poor guy survived Viet-freaking-nam, hasn't he paid his dues to his country already??? What kind of nation would force Grandfathers (and I'm sure grandmothers) to go fight someone else's battles thousands of miles away? I'm sorry but this just ain't right.

[ScreamingMeemie]

1. Jesus!

That is all kinds of wrong. :(

[MADem]

2. Basically, if you have the right skillsets, they'll grab you back if you

have any kind of hook to them--retirement pay is a hook, because it's really not a pension, it's a "deferred salary" payment.

If Iran gets ugly, I'll be gone. I have the right skillsets for that place, unfortunately.

[peacetalksforall]

3. I am stunned. How is the wife coping?nt

[Craig3410]

4. Honestly, I don't know.

He had a cell phone which has been disconnected, so no idea of how to get in touch with her. I'm hoping she had other children or family to go live with, but considering they've forced married couples to go, leaving children behind with relatives, I doubt our military cares too much about personal situations.

[teryang]

5. Too old to get a decent job in civilian life?

I don't follow that part.

How do you get "forced" to active duty at age 56? You either are in the reserves or on the reserve list because you are receiving retirement pay from prior active duty service or perhaps separated with separation pay that obligates you for a limited period of years.

[Pierre.Suave]

6. This is so wrong

on so many levels...