Vaughn Larson: “They needed me, so I’m going”

Yesterday I posted that Vaughn Larson, editor and cartoonist for “The Review” (WI) had been called up and will serve an 18 month tour in Iraq. Editor and Publisher has a much longer and detailed story.

“We were put on alert back in January, so it wasn’t much of a surprise,” the Wisconsin Army National Guard platoon sergeant told E&P this afternoon. “They needed me, so I’m going.”

After about three months of training, Larson and his unit will be deployed in or near Iraq for a year. “We’ll be in a support role, but it’s possible we’ll find ourselves in hostile regions at times,” said Larson, 40, a Desert Storm veteran who has been in the Guard for more than 17 years.

After a year in the war zone and a period of demobilization, Larson hopes to return to The Review in about 18 months. The twice-weekly paper — which gave Larson a big going-away party last week — has promised that his job will be there when he comes back. “They’ve been nothing short of wonderful,” said the cartoonist/editor.

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