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Faith Patterson has been in the Army Reserve since 1998.

Being all that she can be
Radiographer Faith Patterson joined the U. S. Army Reserve the day after she graduated from Boston College. While eligible to become an officer due to her college degree, Patterson opted instead to enlist. "I was interested in the radiography program, which was only offered through enlisting," she explains. "I had always thought of going into medicine, so it seemed like a good opportunity."

For the next year and half, Patterson trained all over the countryóin Missouri, Texas and Washington, DCóobtaining her radiography license and returning to Boston in January 2000. She joined Children's Department of Radiology shortly thereafter, but continued to attend drill weekends once a month and two-week training sessions annually as part of active duty.

Just one year after joining the Children's team, Patterson's unit was deployed to Kosovo for a peacekeeping mission. "I was really scared, to be honest," she says. "It was my very first deployment, and all of the training I'd had up to that point was finally becoming a reality."

While in Kosovo for seven months, Patterson was responsible for diagnostic imaging of wounded soldiers, from the U.S. and other joint forces from England, Sweden, Iraq and beyond. She also delivered food to the surrounding communities and helped train local health care workers. "We worked 12-hour days while overseas," says Patterson. "But I was also able to take a biology class and sing in the choir on the base. They offered a lot of activities to keep you busy and engaged."Patterson is currently in the final stretch of her service, with just one and a half years left to go in the Army Reserve. While she doesn't plan to re-enlist once her time is up, she says that she would absolutely do it all over again, if given the chance. "I have so much pride in my country and in wearing my uniform," she says. "I love telling people that I'm in the military. You learn such amazing discipline that you can apply to your life every day. It's really improved me as a person."

Marsh's base camp in the Philippines

The few. The proud. The Marines.
After Engineering's Forrest Marsh received the call in 2003 that he would be joining the more than 1,100 reservists from his U. S. Marine Corps unit overseas, he had just two days to get his affairs in order before shipping out.

"It was my first time being called up as a reservist," Marsh recalls, explaining that after enlisting in the Marine Forces Reserve in 1984, he served more than four years of active duty, including some time in Iraq during Operation Desert Storm. "It wasn't a total shockómy platoon had a rough idea that it was comingóbut it's still never easy to get the call."

Marsh spent the first six months of his year-long mission training at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. "I attend drill weekends once a month, and a full, two-week training session annually," he says. "But at Camp Lejeune, we received more specialized training to prepare us for the mission at hand."

Following training, Marsh headed overseas, spending the next six months in Japan and the Philippines. "As part of the infantry, I went into towns and villages in the Philippines and conducted searches for Al Qaeda training camps and materials," says Marsh. "I was nervous every time I entered a new village, but to be honest, you just go forward and do it."

Having been back for nearly nine months now, Marsh is looking ahead to retiring as he hits his 20-year mark in the Marines this month. "Even though I could retire any time now, I feel like the United States is just too close to leaving Iraq for me to get out at this point," he says. "I love being a U.S. Marine, and I plan to continue serving my country until we leave Iraq."

Marsh is one of more than 20 veterans of wars dating back to Vietnam in Children's Department of Engineering.

(l to r) Pilot Todd Homan, COO Sandra Fenwick and Peter Gerbino, MD.

It's not just a job; it's an adventure
Orthopaedic surgeon Peter Gerbino, MD, initially joined the U. S. Navy to help pay for his medical education. But his adventures with the military extended well beyond his degree.

After attending the University of Pittsburgh's School of Medicine on a full Navy scholarship, Gerbino traveled to California, where he completed his orthopaedic surgery internship at Oakland Naval Hospital. Following his internship, he headed to Okinawa, Japan, to take care of people in the field as part of his operational year. The next year found him in Portsmouth, Va., for a four-year residency at the Navy Medical Center. And after that, he spent his final two years of active duty back in California at the Naval Hospital in Long Beach.

"I hit both coasts and Japan during my eight years of active duty," says Gerbino, who hails from Dedham, Mass. "There's a lot of mobility in the military."

Gerbino chose to join the Navy Reserve after finishing active duty. He also chose to specialize in Sports Medicine, coming to Children's Hospital Boston for his fellowship. And after a few years at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center post-fellowship, Gerbino returned to Children's Division of Sports Medicine in 1997.

But his travels were far from over. In March 2003, while in the OR with a patient, Gerbino received an urgent page from his wife. "The Navy was trying to get in touch with me," he recalls. "So my wife gave me a number to call. The voice on the other line said that I had 72 hours to report for duty."

Three days later, Gerbino found himself back at the Naval Medical Center in Virginia. "I was called to help back-fill for physicians who were deployed overseas," he says, explaining that while in Portsmouth, he managed mostly standard orthopaedic surgery. Fortunately, Gerbino's reservist duty only lasted for three months of the year he had anticipated.

Today, he is part of the Ready Reserveóa group of reservists who will be recalled should something happen to necessitate an expanded force. In the meantime, he'll continue to serve Children's patients every day and military patients at Hanscom Air Force Base every other Thursday. "I enjoy my association with the Navy," he says. "It's great to see patients from all different perspectivesókeeps things interesting."

John Cioffi

The pen is mightier than the sword
When Army reservist Frank Pigula, MD, associate in Cardiac Surgery, writes letters to his family from his post at the 325th Field Hospital in Kandahar, Afghanistan, he doesn't use just any ordinary penóhe uses a Freedom Pen custom-made by Children's locksmith John Cioffi.

A woodworker in his spare time, Cioffi volunteers as part of the Freedom Pens Project, an effort spearheaded by members of SawMill Creek Woodworkers Forums to provide custom, handcrafted pens to American service men and women overseas. "Woodworkers across the country are donating their time and talents to create these pens," says Cioffi. "It's our small way of showing support for our troops."

Cioffi found out about Pigula serendipitously. While answering a call to repair a lock in the Department of Cardiac Surgery one afternoon, Cioffi casually asked who would be occupying the vacant corner office. Upon learning that it belonged to Pigula, a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve Medical Corps currently serving overseas, he immediately thought of making him a Freedom Pen.

"Dr. Frank's pen is a slim line variety that I beefed up a little to make it sturdier," says Cioffi, who has been working with wood for more than seven years. "I hope he enjoys it."

Cioffi has personally made just under 100 pens for the Freedom Pens Project since it started in January 2004. The project has already exceeded its goal of shipping 20,000 pens this year. For more information, visit www.freedompens.org.

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