George Rebane

Bill Krissoff, a Nevada County orthopedic surgeon, recently lost his son Marine 1st Lt Nathan Krissoff in Iraq.  Yesterday the Union and today NPR told how Bill Krissoff has decided to become a living memorial to his late son – Bill Krissoff has been permitted to re-up and is going to Iraq to provide his skillful expertise and work in a modern MASH unit.

Krissoff’s example brings to mind some thoughts I had a few years ago on the larger matter of using older ex-service personnel in service areas such as Iraq and Afghanistan.  Using older fighters for many in-country duties would spare the requirement for and the loss of younger lives with families and hopeful futures.  I wrote then Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld a letter outlining such a program, and hoped to be contacted as the first such volunteer in what I termed (working name only) the Old Fighters Corps.  Well, I didn’t even get the courtesy of a ‘thanks, but no thanks’.

But now that Bill Krissoff has gotten the ball rolling, maybe it’s time to revisit the idea of forming an OFC.  To read my letter to Rumsfeld, click here Download RumsfeldOFCltr.pdf.  And if you think the idea worthy, let me hear from you and/or pass it on; who knows … ?

[gjr_11dec07] In the original post I had mispelled Krissoff as Kristoff.  This egregious error was pointed out by Jeff Pelline, The Union’s editor, who does a yeoman’s duty patrolling these blogs in his best attempt to keep us all on the straight and narrow.  A hearfelt thanks.