DAVIDSON, N.C. — When Lisa Pagan reports for duty today, four years after she was honorably discharged from the Army, she’ll arrive with more than her old uniform. She’s bringing her children too.
“I have to,” she said. “I don’t have a choice.”
Pagan, of Davidson, N.C., is among thousands of former service members who have left active duty since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks but have time left on their enlistment contracts, only to later receive orders to return to service.
Soldiers can appeal to remain in civilian life. Pagan filed several appeals, arguing that because her husband travels for business, no one else can take care of her kids. All were rejected.
Then she hit on the idea of showing up today at Fort Benning, Ga., with son Eric and daughter Elizabeth in tow. “I guess they’ll have to contact the highest person at the base, and they’ll have to decide from there what to do,” Pagan said.
Master Sgt. Keith O’Donnell, an Army spokesman in St. Louis, said the commander at Fort Benning will decide how to handle the situation.
