Prof takes break from Iraq to see his son graduate
There are some things in the world even a war can’t stop. For Terry Messmer, his son’s graduation from boot camp was one of those things.
Messmer, who was a Utah State University professor in the College of Natural Resources and an extension wildlife specialisthas, been in the Middle East since April, working as the commander for the 200th Medical Detachment out of Salt Lake City.
The preventive medicine unit was placed on alert in February and then headed to Fort Carson, Colo. in March to prepare for the tour that encompasses Qatar to southern Iraq.
Messmer was told to pick 10 men to come on the journey with him. Three of the soldiers’ wives had just had babies and two were enrolled in school.
“Every one of them willing because it was part of the commitment they made,” Messmer said to a classroom of about 40 USU students Wednesday.
Messmer, who came to Logan the first week of October and heads back to Iraq Saturday, spoke to professor Denise Conover’s military history class.
Conover, who is a personal friend of Messmer’s, said it was nice to have him come to her class because he helped show what the military really exists for.
“He has given us food for thought for the rest of the semester,” she said.
One of the most emotional parts of the presentation came when Messmer described how hard it was to leave his family.
“It was very hard when I left on March 12 to say goodbye to my family,” he said. “I didn’t think it was going to be tough, but it really was. All of a sudden, overnight, your life changes. The things that were important the day before are no longer important. My focus changed to getting my soldiers ready for war. The day before I was working on getting grad students jobs.”
In the 13 years he has been with the Army Reserves, including the last five with the preventive medical unit, it was the first time Messmer was mobilized.
The short trip back to Logan was made on his own nickel, but Messmer said it has been well worth it because he has been able to use an actual porcelain toilet, sleep in his own bed and watch the news in the morning, he said.
And while back, Messmer has had the chance to do ‘dad’ things with his 19-year-old son, Brandon.
“We’ve hung out every day,” Brandon said.
Terry has been working on helping Brandon get a new car and signing him up for Army ROTC at USU. Brandon has been a member of the Logan 854th Quartermaster and is planning on enrolling at USU in January.
Terry’s leave is not part of the Army’s rest and relaxation policy. Soldiers who have been deployed for six months and have at least 60 days left have the opportunity to fly to Germany or Boston, Mass. and then find their own way home for a 15-day vacation.
“The policy is working,” Terry said.
In his unit, only one solider can come home at a time. Those who recently had babies born at home or are injured are at the top of the list.
And when Terry is back on duty this weekend, another solider will fly home.
“It’s been good to be [in Logan], but I have go back,” Terry said.
He said he will likely be gone another five or six months, but he needs to finish his part of the big picture – helping people in Iraq find a better way of life.
Terry’s specific job in Iraq is to work with sanitation issues and try to help prevent disease that are prominent in Iraq such a malaria and rabies. He is to limit disease and non-battle injuries to soldiers.
He said a lot of the soldiers work long hours, are sleep-deprived and are just putting personal hygiene on a back burner.
“That is when you are at the greatest risk for disease,” Terry said.
Terry compared the importance of his job to an expedition Napoleon Bonaparte took with his grand army. He lost 70,000 soldiers within three weeks because of a flea that was spreading typhus.
Terry’s job is to prevent anything like that from happening to the troops stationed in Iraq and the surrounding areas.
In 1970, Terry volunteered for the draft and served two years in Okinawa.
“My feeling was, I was done,” he said. “I had no intent whatsoever of getting back in.”
A few years later Terry joined the National Guard and changed his military occupational skill to photojournalism. He finished his master’s degree and eventually his doctorate before coming to USU in 1990.
He said the educational benefits he has received were a major motivation for joining the military. But there are also other perks.
“In a lot of ways you feel you are providing a service, and you get a paycheck,” Terry said.
When he got to Logan, Terry switched to the Army Reserves and has been with them ever since.
-juag@cc.usu.edu