Wednesday, February 13, 2002
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Wednesday, February 13, 2002 |
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Teacher is school system's first Reservist to be deployed For more than 24 years Charles Buckle's mission has been to teach and enlighten Fayette's students about American history and government. Now, he is on a different mission one that will place him directly into history as it unfolds. Following Sept. 11, Buckle, a U.S. history teacher at McIntosh High School and Army Reservist, knew that the likelihood of members of his unit being deployed to help with the war on terrorism was high. He began preparing his classes for the possibility of his departure just before final exams of the first semester. "I knew this might happen in late December. I told my students that I might not come back after the semester break," he recalled. Buckle did return after the break only to receive his activation orders three weeks later. Buckle is the only reservist in the Fayette County School System to be called to active duty in support of Operation Enduring Freedom since the war on terrorism began. Now he has to prepare not only himself but also his family for an overseas assignment that is scheduled to last for at least one year. Buckle's wife is the head of the physical education department at McIntosh and his daughter is an eighth grader at Rising Starr Middle School. "My wife and daughter are very concerned about my safety and the uncertainty of where I am going. This is going to be very hard for us because it will be the longest time we have ever been apart," he said. Buckle, a sergeant major with the 335th Theater Signal Command out of East Point, will assist in the mission to provide for theater communications and combat signal support to the U.S. Armed Forces troops who have been deployed to Southwest Asia for Operation Enduring Freedom. He will serve under the command of Maj. Gen. Lowell Detamore, a Peachtree City resident who has had three children graduate from Fayette's school system two of which have been students in Buckle's classes at McIntosh in the last several years. Although he is leaving in the middle of the school year, Buckle said he has received a great deal of support from school system administrators, fellow teachers and parents. He is especially appreciative of the efforts of McIntosh Principal Greg Stillions and human resources director Judy Byrd for working with him to hire a long-term substitute teacher for his classes. The hiring of the long-term substitute will allow Buckle to return to McIntosh and teach the same classes when he returns from his overseas military duties. "I want to thank everyone for their support. It is important for me to keep a sense of stability back here for my family. Everyone with the school system has worked very hard to ensure that the transition back to the classroom from my military duties will be a smooth one," said Buckle. Buckle has been an Army Reservist for 25 years. He joined during his senior year in college partly because of his fascination with the military and to continue his family's service to America. "My father was a Marine in World War II and as a son of that generation I wanted to follow in his footsteps and continue to serve my country. I am the only person in my family that is in the military," Buckle said. "I have been concerned over the last few years that there seems to be a lack of the basic American core value which is service to one's country. I hope that others will embrace that concept and decide to take an active role in defending the freedoms which we all share as American citizens." This will be the first time that Buckle has been deployed out of the United States during wartime. He served at the 81st ARCOM headquarters during the Persian Gulf War. "This will be a challenge. Other than three- to four-week deployments for Army exercises such as Bright Star, I have never served in an eminent danger area for an extended period of time before," he said. "I am very proud to serve my country and I look forward to meeting the challenges of this military operation. If everything goes well, I hope to be back in my classroom by this time next year sharing stories about what took place."
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