Presidential intervention for age exception!

Guidance from his sons: Truckee physician commits to combat after eldest son is killed in Iraq

Excerpt:

Now Krissoff's Truckee office is shuttered. His wife has come to terms with his nearing departure. All that is left for Krissoff, a 61-year-old orthopedic surgeon, is to head to Iraq where young Marines, broken from battle, will be tended by his experienced hands.

Marine 1st Lt. Nathan Krissoff's death, only a year past, galvanized his father's determination to go to war as a healer.

At a time when most successful doctors his age are settling into retirement, the fit surgeon is making one of the most monumental decisions of his life and heading to war.

In his sixth decade, Krissoff, who could pass for 41, squares his chin and with large eyes looking at a point in the distance, proudly speaks of his son.

Fathers usually inspire sons into action, to achieve life goals. But in this family that relationship was turned upside down when Dr. Krissoff received news of his older son's death.

Nathan Krissoff died on Dec. 9, 2006, in Al Anbar province. He was 25.

Now the fallen Marine's father is committed to a mission, one that carries even more than the memory of Nathan. Krissoff's youngest son, Austin, is also an officer in the Corps.

"Both my sons were hugely affected by the events of 9/11, and Nate was proud to serve in the Marines, as Austin is," Krissoff says. "I share their views."

So he is closing his Truckee practice, leaving his Reno home, relocating to San Diego and taking on a brand new persona, that of Navy Lt. Commander .

Though 19 years over the Navy's official age limit, Dr. Krissoff will serve as a Navy surgeon for three years.

"My interest in Navy medicine," Krissoff says, "was because they take care of Marines."

Dr. Anthony Zissimos, a colleague and friend of Krissoff, says Nate's death changed the Krissoff family forever.

"Bill would probably say that his sons showed him the light," Zissimos says. "He is really going to another form of service."

And why not be of service to the nation, Krissoff asks.

"We have a generation that thinks it is someone else's responsibility. I encourage more older people to serve," Krissoff says from his neat wooden desk on one of the last days he will spend in the Truckee practice he built over 28 years.

"He is an excellent surgeon," says colleague Dr. John Foley. "Bill was doing sports medicine before sports medicine became nouveau. Before there was an Academy of Sports Medicine."



Physically fit

The sexagenarian says he's not worried about the physical duties of being a Navy doctor. He swims a mile a day, and while not kayaking or skiing, he works out in the gym. Krissoff is not slowing down at an age when many of his peers may be thinking about retiring.

"It is more common than you would think," says Krissoff's Navy recruitment officer, Lt. Commander Ken Hopkins. "They reach the top of their professional career and they are looking for a new challenge. And they have a desire to serve."

Krissoff, who has a series of military classes to complete before he can serve on active duty, may work in a Forward Resuscitative Surgical System or FRSS, according to Navy Bureau of Medicine spokesman Guy Schein.

"Dr. Krissoff is coming in as a reserve officer on a Navy medical tour, and I understand he will be deploying in Iraq sometime next year," Schein says.

Richard Kyle, a spokesman for the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, says the type of injuries that Krissoff will likely see are mostly from bomb blasts and gunshots requiring quick stabilization of patients. Although drastically different from ski and sports injuries, the wounds he will tend to are well-suited to the orthopedic profession.

Krissoff, who worked as an emergency room doctor early in his career, says he's confident he will be able to deal with what comes across his operating table.

"I'm kind of going back to my roots," he says.

Because 42 is the Navy's age cutoff for medical officer enlistees, Krissoff was initially told that joining would be a difficult and lengthy process. So he pressed the issue and asked for the needed waiver from the highest authority he could find - President Bush.

Krissoff met Bush in August at an American Legion convention in Reno. The doctor described the personal meeting he had with the president immediately following the convention as a solemn experience with a small group of families grappling with the loss of loved ones in war.

Krissoff says Bush asked each family what he could do for them.

Krissoff told the president he wanted to serve.

After a brief moment, Bush deferred to Krissoff's wife, Christine, who has consistently supported her husband's decision. Krissoff says he pressed Bush about the matter with humor.

"'Sir, I'd like to serve but they told me I'm too old, but I'm younger than you, sir,'" Krissoff says, telling the story with a rare grin.


Comment: See Recon Marines Honor Fallen Officer and Remembering a Hero