COM Staffer Returns from Iraq Duty

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Maddox-Reception
March 30, 2004
Contact: John Holder (979) 458-0669
Office of Communications
The Texas A&M University System
Health Science Center
http://www.tamushsc.edu
College of Medicine Welcomes Returning Staff Member Home from Iraq Duty
The Texas A&M University System Health Science Center College of Medicine proudly welcomes back Sergeant Matthew Maddox, a laboratory attendant at the college who recently returned from a 14-month tour of duty in the U.S. Army Reserves which included a year with the Army’s Military Police in Iraq. Sgt. Maddox will be honored at a reception in the lobby of the Joe H. Reynolds Medical Building, on Texas A&M University’s west campus, on Thursday, April 1, 2004 at 10 a.m.
Sgt. Maddox’s duties in the Iraq theater included providing force security, as part of the Military Police, around bases and installations, convoy security and security along main supply routes. He assumed these duties in March 2003 and served in this capacity until his return earlier this month. He describes conditions in Iraq as physically demanding – involving extremes in weather, as well as the inherent dangers of wartime – but he was able to get to know some local citizens and see a number of biblical landmarks in the country during his tour of duty.
Now that he has returned to the U.S. and the College of Medicine, Sgt. Maddox will resume his duties as a Lab Attendant II in the college’s department of anatomy and medical neurobiology. This position involves working with students in laboratories during dissections and maintaining the department’s laboratories in proper condition. He worked at the College of Medicine approximately two years before being deployed to Iraq.
Sgt. Maddox now plans to attend Blinn College for a two-year course in sports medicine, then move on to Texas A&M University for a four-year degree program in physical therapy. He remarks, “The College of Medicine and the student body here really stood behind me during this time. It’s amazing how everyone has supported me and all the soldiers in Iraq, and I appreciate it very much.”
The Texas A&M University System Health Science Center provides the state with health education, outreach and research. Its five components located in communities throughout Texas are Baylor College of Dentistry, the College of Medicine, the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, the Institute of Biosciences and Technology and the School of Rural Public Health.
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