O&P Clinics in Iraq

I’m glad to see that the Army has changed its motivation and support regarding the New Beginnings Clinic in Baghdad [see “Helping Patients Walk in a War Zone,” April 2008 O&P Almanac]. You see, I was another recalled reservist and CPO deployed to the Green Zone. I was recalled with the understanding that my civilian skills would be used. Needless to say, I was pretty excited at the prospect of not only serving my country, but being able to actually effect some real change and good will.

In fact, Chris was one of my instructors at BioSculptor before I deployed in April 2006; I needed the training and familiarization on the CAD/CAM system setup in the clinic. I had some overlap with the Walter Reed team, but the Army Colonels in charge had decided they weren’t going to pursue the project after the Walter Reed team left the theater. So it [took] some effort just to get transferred from Camp Victory to the Embassy closer to the clinic to get involved. In short, I could only get involved on a “not to interfere with regular duties” level after the Walter Reed team left. It was a very frustrating time.

The irony of it all was that there was a leadership change shortly before I was to redeploy back home. The new leadership approached me five days before I was to step on a plane home, all excited about having me in Baghdad to facilitate training and transition of the clinic to autonomous Iraqi control. Apparently, the previous leadership failed to inform the new leadership of my presence; mouths were agape when I told them I only had five days left! Having already been away from home 18 months by then, with a wife and three young children, I declined to extend in theater. I later declined, after I had returned stateside, to return as a civilian.

As a professional, military officer and patriot, I was torn over my decision not to return to Iraq. But as a father, I felt I had made the right decision. I had known the small Iraqi team well. They were brave people, who risked not only their own lives but that of their families every day they came to work. The assassination of the translator hit hard, but unfortunately that was the reality of life in Baghdad at that time. Remember, the surge had [been] under way for about a month at [that] time, and the insurgents were especially overt and aggressive then.

I wish Chris the best, and a safe return home.
Joey Pollak, CPO, LPO
Comprehensive Brace and Limb Center LLC
Salem, Ohio

Remembrance: Richard R. La Torre

Edward Van Hanswyk, CO(E), contacted the O&P Almanac to provide more information on his friend Richard R. La Torre, CO(E), who passed away in September 2007. The following is taken from La Torre’s obituary and eulogy.

Richard R. La Torre, CO(E), passed away on September 4, 2007 after a battle with cancer. La Torre was born March 22, 1930 in Schenectady, N.Y. A graduate of Cobleskill College, he wed his wife of 50 years, Kathryn Foster La Torre, in 1957. He also attended Columbia University, Northwestern University, NYU and UCLA. The pair raised four children, Kathryn, Tish, Donna and Richard, and were blessed with nine grandchildren.

La Torre established La Torre Orthopedic Laboratory in Schenectady, which he managed for 35 years. He was highly regarded not only for his skills as an orthotist/prosthetist, but for his compassion for his patients. His children are often approached by his former patients and told stories of his kindness and exceptional abilities. He also served as a teacher and mentor to many professionals who followed in his footsteps.
A charter member of the Academy, La Torre was also a member of AOPA and served as treasurer for ABC, acting as chairman of national boards twice.

La Torre was the son of immigrants, a self-made man who built his own business, served in the Korean war, and was the foundation of a large and loving family. He embodied the traditional American values of hard work, integrity, kindness and tolerance.

He was a genuinely modest, self-effacing person, entirely lacking in pretense. La Torre loved John Wayne westerns, and was himself like John Wayne without the swagger, an authentic American hero who served as a model for his children and grandchildren to emulate.

La Torre was devoted to his family and found in them his greatest source of joy. His grandchildren in particular very much enjoyed his sense of humor and love of mischief—he was more often the instigator of trouble than the one trying to contain it.

He lived a full and joyful life, and often commented on his own good fortune. He will be missed.
Edward Van Hanswyk, CO(E)
Palm Beach, Fla.