A soldier first

The tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001 affected Americans in multiple ways.  Anger, sadness, confusion and revenge were emotions the nation felt that day.  One individual found motivation. 

Following 9/11, David Ison realized his call of duty and enlisted in the Virginia Army National Guard.

“I have always wanted to join the Army,” Ison said.  “Sept. 11 made me feel like I had a responsibility to join.  I thought it was now or never, so I signed up the following summer.”
Ison was born and raised in Wise, Va. He graduated from J.J. Kelly High School, he was a member of the football team playing positions of linebacker and full back.

After graduating from high school in June 2001, Ison began classes the following August at the University of Virginia’s College at Wise. 

He said he didn’t feel motivated in school.

“I was sort of lost at school,” Ison said.  “I didn’t know what I wanted to do.”

It wasn’t until Ison joined the Army National Guard that he realized what he wanted in his future. He signed up as a medic and served as a private first class. He said first he had to be trained as an EMT, then he was trained with more tactical army medical skills.

During Ison’s first tour, he said, he was deployed with the 276th Engineering Battalion to Forward Operations Base in Mosul, Iraq. He was assigned to several different combat engineering platoons. 

“I was involved in missions ranging from the construction of buildings to training Iraqi soldiers and medics to explosives ordinance exposal to traditional infantry type missions,”Ison said.

One memory Ison had from his first tour in Iraq was when he and his fellow engineering battalion were building a shooting range for the training of Iraqi soldiers. 

He said five children came to watch them, fascinated by the bulldozers and heavy machinery. 

“They were there every day at four o’clock,” Ison said. “The oldest kid rode on a donkey and the other kids were following, none of them wearing shoes.”

Ison called his wife, Heather, and told her about the young children. He said he and his wife guessed at their shoe sizes.  His wife sent him five pairs of shoes to give to the children.

“They put them on and acted like the shoes felt strange,” Ison said, “but they were happy.
“I feel like that was one of the best things I ever did,” Ison said.  “A lot of the other stuff you did, you felt unsure about. You didn’t know if it actually helped somebody. But that felt good.”

Ison was deployed for a second time in September 2007 at the Central Operations Base Speicher, outside of Tikrit, Iraq.

He said he was deployed with the 3rd Battalion 116th infantry regiment 29th infantry division.

He said he volunteered some of his time at the Combat Surgical Hospital on the base.

“I worked in the ER there, and really fell in love with emergency medicine,” Ison said.  “I had been a field medic in the army and a paramedic as a civilian, but this was different. I really enjoyed it.”

Ison said it was hard transferring back to civilian life. However, every time he came back, he could not have been happier.

“Your overall appreciation for life increases,” Ison said. “It was bittersweet to come home.  More sweet than bitter.”

While in the Army National Guard, Ison took online courses in addition to the classes he had at the University of Virginia’s College at Wise between his two tours.

Ison said it was while he was in the Army, he knew he wanted to go to medical school.
“It took the work ethic I learned to get to the point when I was ready to really think about what I wanted to do in college,” Ison said.

After returning home in April 2008, Ison decided to complete his final year of undergraduate courses in biology. 

“I had already taken the MCAT before I left,” Ison said. “I had to start applying right away and take all the courses I had to take in order to graduate.”

Now at 26 years old, Ison is a first-year medical student at the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine.

“I like the people here in West Virginia,” Ison said.  “I think they are down to earth people and are hard-working.”

He said he also chose Marshall because of its nice medical center.

Ison said he believes his experiences as a medic will help him, but he knows he still has much more to learn.

“They won’t give me an advantage,” Ison said. “Most of my experiences have been in a field setting.”

Dr. Chuck Clements, professor of clinical medicine in the department of family medicine with the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine, is Ison’s mentor.  He said the medical school is lucky to have Ison.

Clements said Marshall University is interested in non-traditional medical students.

“David falls into that category in a number of ways. He is not someone that has gone straight from college to medical school. He, more than others, has been out and has experienced life and understands the impact that medicine can have.”

Clements said he thinks non-traditional students like Ison bring a breath of experience and appreciation of what medicine can be.

“Specifically to people who have been in the military,” Clements said.  “They bring us some characteristics that make for successful medical students.”

For now, Ison said he is content with Huntington, but he said he would like to practice backhome in Wise, Va. or its surrounding area.

Katie Fowler can be contacted at fowler61@marshall.edu.