Airborne!

Paratrooper Who Lost Leg in War Re-Enlists

(AP) -- FORT BRAGG, N.C. - George Perez lost his leg to a roadside bomb in Iraq more than a year ago, but despite the phantom pains that haunt him, he says he is determined to prove to the Army that he is no less of a man — and no less of a soldier.

"I'm not ready to get out yet," he says. "I'm not going to let this little injury stop me from what I want to do."

Good on him. And he's not the only one with a strong desire to stay in, to return to Afghanistan or Iraq, to return to his buddies, to get the job done.

Three things came to mind when I read this. First of all, the pride and respect I felt for Perez. No way not to.

Then I felt this was a prime example why there isn't a need for a draft in the US. There are brave men and woman with a strong sense of duty that willingly enlist. And there are people like George Perez who, even after losing a limb, want to stay in.

And then the inescapable difference between a trooper like George Perez, who was seriously wounded in combat, in a controversial war, and someone who was thrice wounded (none of which could be considered serious by any stretch of the imagination) in a controversial war.

Not only does Perez want to return to duty (and go to Ranger school, no less) he did not abandon his buddies, his men, and then stab them in the back by meeting with the enemy in unauthorized meetings or defame them in testimony before Congress and join the anti-war movement.

John Kerry can not make a similar claim.