IRAQ: Master sergeant deploys to Congress

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When a bullet from an insurgent sniper in Ramadi cost Marine Master Sgt. William ‘Spanky’ Gibson his left leg in 2006, it did not change his desire to stay at the front.

And so, less than two years after the incident, Gibson redeployed to Fallouja, the first above-the-knee amputee to return for duty in Iraq.

In March, on the fifth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, President Bush paid tribute to Gibson, saying that with Americans like him serving in Iraq, the enemy didn’t have a chance.

Soon Gibson’s nine-month deployment will be over and he’ll return to Camp Pendleton. His newest assignment will be yet another first.

He’s among three enlisted Marines who will go to Washington to work with individual members of Congress, a billet usually reserved for officers. Defense Secretary Robert Gates thought it was time to let Congress see noncommissioned officers at work.

Gibson, 37, a 19-year veteran, was a natural. ‘He’s a driven Marine and he’s earned his selection,’ said Sgt. Maj. Neil O’Connell.

Among other things, Gibson is uniquely qualified to advise lawmakers on a key issue facing Congress and the nation, O’Connell noted: the treatment and rehabilitation of the wounded from Iraq and Afghanistan.

— Tony Perry in San Diego

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