Judy Little

The Warrior Family: when a Reservist Goes to War Judy Little

Imagine having to leave the comfort and security of home and bid farewell to life as you know it. Imagine being cast into the horrors of war, inadequately trained and inadequately prepared; where everything you thought you knew about yourself is tested. "As a wife, mother, grandmother and career woman I was heavily engaged in life and loving it. I was also a navy nurse corps reservist. I served believing that we reservists were being trained to relieve active duty counterparts as they moved forward in deployment; this, in the event of a national emergency requiring a call to arms. I was recruited into the military for the purpose of teaching operating room nursing skills. But, the onset of war in the Middle East changed all the rules. As a member of the reserve military I was bound to follow, without question. I was not expecting to be called to serve in a fleet hospital; positioned as the forward most medical support system within the gulf war zone. And, I quickly became aware that I was no longer an individual; free to function with independent thinking. I was a member of a mobilized reserve unit and working to adapt to the military mind set. I was committed to serving at the discretion of my designated superiors; where the criteria to lead was based solely on rank." This book is taken from the author's diary entries and letters; written when she was a deployed reservist in the first gulf war. The message here is as relevant today as it was then and will be in future wars where there is American participation and military reservists are deployed as its primary fighting force.