Page 17 - Lubbock Senior Link Magazine Fall 2019- Online Magazine

Gulf war Era
his service specialty a code for canceling his army rEsErvE
indicator of “general deployment.
medical officer”
didn’t fit the Army’s “I finally contacted our
current medical commanding officer and said I would rather just
needs. go ahead and deploy,” Mitchell said. He was
banking on the customary six-month volunteer
As Desert Shield deployment. Taking charge would allow
escalated to Desert Mitchell to return by summer when he was
Storm, so did the scheduled to begin as a staff physician at Cooper
potential need for Clinic in Dallas. The one drawback: his wife, Dr.
medical services. Janet Tornelli-Mitchell, was a couple of weeks
away from delivering their first child.
False alarms
punctuated the Mitchell’s deployment orders took longer
next several days as to process than the second phase of the Gulf
Mitchell waited for War. Bush declared a cease-fire Feb. 28 ending
the call. The phone would ring. “This is Raging Operation Desert Storm and deployment of U.S.
Bull,” Mitchell would answer in approved code. military personnel to the Middle East. The Iraqi
“You have two hours to report,” came the reply. government took two more months to accept the
And then, in the middle of goodbyes, a second cease-fire agreement, officially ending the Gulf
call. “Raging Bull, the cow’s in the pasture,” War on April 6, 1991.

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