NORMAN Okla.
University of Oklahoma student Jeff Gray knew he had a choice to make when he heard last month that his National Guard brigade had been called up for duty in Iraq.
The 19-year-old National Guard private first class could join the ROTC and continue with his second year at the university, or he could go with his brigade to Iraq.
“It’s probably the hardest thing I’d ever decided between,” Gray said. “I had to choose between self and country. I chose country.”
He hopes his decision to go to Iraq will lead to just a one-year disruption of his college education.
“Hopefully I’ll go back to college, live a normal life again,” he said.
Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, many Reserve and National Guard soldiers have had to withdraw from school for deployment one or more times, said Patricia Ingram, OU veteran student services coordinator.
