Page 14 - Amarillo Senior Link Magazine Fall 2021 - Online Magazine

Dr. Rod Gonzalez
od Gonzales has the
hands of a physician and
Rthe heart of a soldier. As
far back as he can remember
— around age five — these are
the two careers he dreamed of
pursuing. He managed to do
both by becoming an Army
doctor.
He credits his success to
his Christian faith and his
upbringing in a regular ol’
American apple pie family.
His parents, Glenn and Shirley
Gonzales, are still living in
the same home in Riverside,
California, where they raised
their four children. His mother
is a retired home economics
teacher, and his father (who
started off as a janitor) retired
as the head of Maintenance
and Operations for a school
district. His oldest brother
inherited the teaching gene and
14 Amarillo Senior Link
Dreams Can Come True
by Rebecca Gonzalez
currently teaches
high school and
coaches swimming
in Las Vegas. His
next younger
brother served
in the U.S. Army
and now works in
cybersecurity in
Maryland, while
his sister serves as a
Licensed Vocational
Nurse in the San
Diego area.
Rod was honored
to attend West
Point. There he
became an expert
marksman, learned
how to drive a
Bradley tank, and
even played a
year of water polo. Though this
California boy claims he was too
much of a beach bum (too slow
of a swimmer) to compete at the
collegiate level, he is proud of the
one goal he scored for his team.
One of the biggest highlights of
his four years at West Point was
the fact that he met the love of
his life there, Rebecca Brady.
They attended church together at
Highland Falls Assembly of God,
where he often drove the church
van for his fellow cadets.
After graduating, Rod attended
New York Medical College in
Valhalla, New York. The next
year, he began his Active-Duty
service in the United States
Medical Corps at Ft. Bliss in
El Paso, where he served as
a transitional intern. He and
Rebecca dated long distance and
were married a year later.
Rod completed his Family
Medicine Residency in 2001 at
Ft. Benning, Georgia and stayed
on there to serve as the Bridge
Surgeon for the 3rd Brigade
Combat Team, 3rd Infantry
Division (Mechanized). When
Rebecca became pregnant with
their first son, Rod told her,
“Short of a war, I will be here
for the birth.” Well, we all know
what happened a month later, on
9/11. Rod’s unit was immediately
put on alert to deploy, though
they ended up not leaving until
one week after his son was born.
After spending six months in
Kuwait, he was re-deployed
to Ft. Benning, only to be sent
back to Kuwait three months
later. He was with the first unit
to cross the border into Iraq in
March 2003 and eventually made
it to Baghdad after engaging
in battles in Nasiriyah, Najaf,
Karbala, and Baghdad. While in
Baghdad, Rod worked with Iraqi
hospitals to help ensure they
were at full operating capacity
with supplies and equipment. He
also treated wounded soldiers
and wounded Iraqis – both
military and civilians. His unit
lost three fellow soldiers during
that deployment – PFC Gregory
Huxley, PVT Kelley Prewitt, and
SSG Terry Hemingway.
Rod was privileged to serve
in multiple capacities in the
Military Health System. Besides
being a Brigade Surgeon, he
served as Chief of Family
Medicine Clinic in Ft. Benning.
He completed a Primary Care
Sports Medicine Fellowship
in Washington DC. One of the