Military Service

After five deployments and 20 years of military service, Army Sgt. First Class Marcel Pruner will realize a lifelong dream Saturday: earning a college degree. Pruner, who has served in Central America and Iraq, will earn his associate degree in criminal justice during Burlington County College's commencement for 1,011 students in Pemberton. Pruner, 38, an instructor at Fort Dix, began his military career directly out of high school at age 17. He started college in 1991. "Somewhere along the line I didn't feel like I could continue," he said.

After five deployments and 20 years of military service, Army Sgt. First Class Marcel Pruner will realize a lifelong dream Saturday: earning a college degree. Pruner, who has served in Central America and Iraq, will earn his associate degree in criminal justice during Burlington County College's commencement for 1,011 students in Pemberton. Pruner, 38, an instructor at Fort Dix, began his military career directly out of high school at age 17. He started college in 1991. "Somewhere along the line I didn't feel like I could continue," he said.

John Murtha, who was laid to rest last week, left a controversial legacy. While noted for his public and military service, he had a vision of the national interest that often seemed confined to the borders of his 12th Congressional District. Murtha was a consummate pork-barrel politician - just like his mentor and fellow Democrat, Rep. Daniel J. Flood of Luzerne County. When Murtha was first elected to Congress, in 1974, Flood was chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee on labor, health, education, and welfare, and vice chairman of the defense appropriations subcommittee.

One in an occasional series. Any day now, Lisa Mathews' husband will be on American soil after a yearlong tour of duty in Iraq. When his week of deployment-ending activities at Fort Dix is over, Staff Sgt. Joseph Mathews II, an Army National Guardsman in the 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, will walk through the front door of his Northeast Philadelphia rowhouse. He will be back into the daily, chaotic lives of his wife and children. Only then, when the family is reunited, will Lisa be done with her contribution to the military - serving as the lone caretaker of their five children, three of whom have special needs.

One in an occasional series. Any day now, Lisa Mathews' husband will be on American soil after a yearlong tour of duty in Iraq. When his week of deployment-ending activities at Fort Dix is over, Staff Sgt. Joseph Mathews II, an Army National Guardsman in the 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, will walk through the front door of his Northeast Philadelphia rowhouse. He will be back into the daily, chaotic lives of his wife and children. Only then, when the family is reunited, will Lisa be done with her contribution to the military - serving as the lone caretaker of their five children, three of whom have special needs.

John Groves Richter Sr., 84, of Haddonfield, a retired systems analyst, died of heart failure Aug. 4 while vacationing in Drogheda, Ireland. Mr. Richter grew up with eight siblings in West Philadelphia and attended West Philadelphia High School. During World War II, he was drafted into military service a week after his 18th birthday. He served in the Navy and was aboard the destroyer Otter when it helped sink a German submarine in the North Atlantic. After his discharge, Mr. Richter graduated from Temple University High School and earned a bachelor's degree from Temple University.

Tony Whitehead was a man on a mission. A 23-year veteran of the Coast Guard, he came to Citizens Bank Park yesterday looking for a management job at a career fair organized by RecruitMilitary, a veteran-owned company that specializes in finding work for vets. He had plenty of competition. About 350 job hunters showed up to talk to representatives from about 40 companies. But Whitehead, who hasn't been unemployed long - he was laid off from a management job with a standby power company in May - was unconcerned.

Last week, an Army board recommended that Lt. Daniel Choi be discharged from the Army National Guard under the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. Choi - a West Point graduate, Arabic speaker, and Iraq veteran who has demonstrated an exceptional commitment to the nation's values - was the most recent example of the thousands of servicemen and women affected by the policy. I understand that the military must follow the law as it's written. But Choi's discharge further underscores the need for President Obama and Congress to work together now to change this discriminatory policy.

As an Army officer, I led a platoon of Black Hawk helicopters into combat in Afghanistan. After I was seriously wounded in a helicopter crash while conducting combat operations, I feared my time in service was over. I'm glad to say I was wrong. Over the next four years, I carried out a new assignment from the military: recovery. After 10 major surgeries and thousands of hours of physical therapy, I was medically retired from military service, with a permanent disability rating.

A matron of some considerable bearing is standing at a complaints window, confronting a hapless clerk. "Don't get polite with me," she imperiously commands, in a cartoon that ran decades ago in Collier's, the now-defunct weekly magazine. It might have been cartoonist John M. Price's favorite, because when he self-published a collection of his work, the catchy title was Don't Get Polite With Me. On Jan. 19, Mr. Price, 90, a cartoonist for magazines such as Collier's and the Saturday Evening Post, died of pulmonary hypertension at his home in Radnor.