Journal: Called back to active duty — ‘No joke’

	Tom Deierlein, center, got stationed in Berlin instead of Iraq during the first Gulf War. This photo was taken in Berlin in 1991.
Courtesy of Tom Deierlein

Charity Begins at War

Part 1
From executive suite to slums of Baghdad
Tom’s journal: Called back to Army — ‘no joke’
Part 2
Training turns into ‘hurry up and wait’
Tom’s journal: Preparing for ‘very dangerous job’
Part 3
Venturing ‘outside the wire’ in Baghdad
Tom’s journal: ‘ThunderCat6’ gets his bearings
Part 4
In the end, it all comes back to garbage
Tom’s journal: 'I was minding my own business'
Part 5
Officer’s philanthropic spirit survives
Tom’s journal: Charitable work continues
Update, reader reaction
And NBC Nightly News profiles Tom's work

HOW TO HELP

The charity work that Tom Deierlein started in Iraq continues. Money donated to the Tom Deierlein Foundation is being used to purchase items in bulk for Iraqi children: clothes, shoes, vitamins, toys, soccer balls, school supplies, blankets and other provisions. The items are being shipped to designated U.S. Army soldiers who distribute them in the poorest areas of Baghdad. The charity also is helping to coordinate medical care for injured Iraqi children whenever possible. For more details, visit the foundation’s Web site.

Special to msnbc.com

updated 6:07 a.m. ET July 16, 2007

Editor's note: Tom Deierlein wrote a series of e-mail updates to his friends, family and colleagues after being called up by the U.S. Army and sent to Iraq. Here are the excerpts accompanying Part 1 of MSNBC.com's special report, Charity Begins at War.

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DATE: Oct. 14, 2005
TO: The Dynamic Logic staff

SUBJECT: Tom Deierlein Called to Active Duty Army

All,

I didn’t want you to hear it through the grapevine.

When I got home Wednesday night, there was a packet of military orders in my mailbox.

No joke.

I am being called up to serve for 545 days, reporting first to Fort Jackson and then to Fort Bragg and then likely to Iraq. Yes, I guess it has gotten so bad they are calling up 38-year-old, beer-bellied has-beens. Basically, four to six months of training and a one-year tour.

I have been in the IRR (Individual Ready Reserve) for 12 years. I haven’t been associated with any unit or been a part of any training whatsoever. I haven’t had a uniform on since October of 1993, so I never imagined that this would happen.

Aside from a medical exam or two, and an outside chance that Uncle Sam comes to his senses, it looks like I need to take a leave of absence from Dynamic Logic.

I have the full support of Hiwot, my fiancée, and something told me not to fight this but rather to embrace it and go ahead and serve my country with honor, dignity and pride. Therefore, unless my medical exams turn something up, I need to start getting my affairs in order.

As many of you know, I am a West Point grad and used to be an elite soldier (Airborne Ranger). I guess it is time to take off my business suit, don my Army uniform, set back the clock and become that soldier again.