Thomas A. Middleton is an Assistant Fire Marshal and Public Information Officer with the Burlington Fire Department and was a long-time volunteer firefighter and EMT. He served as a combat medic in Iraq as part of Task Force Saber from 2004 to 2005 and as a member of the Vermont National Guard. He lives with his family in Essex, Vermont.
The National Guardsman, the citizen soldier called upon to fight for this nation in a time of war, is one of the least understood — and perhaps one of...