VAN WERT — It’s not uncommon for Ohio Army National Guard members to be deployed to Iraq for Operation Iraqi Freedom. However, one 20-year veteran’s time in the sand began during Desert Storm.
For her long-time service with the Ohio National Guard’s 1487th Transportation Company, Sgt. First Class Christine Gemmer (Retired) was awarded the Bronze Star for Meritorious Service Friday at the Niswonger Performing Arts Center.
“I enlisted in 1987 and was deployed for Operation Desert Storm with my unit in 1990-1991. We came back and I stayed with the unit. I’ve been in the same unit for 20 years and have been in the National Guard the whole time,” she said.
The latter of the deployments was a 15-month tour of duty.
“I was a platoon sergeant and our company covered 2 million miles. Of those, my platoon did 400,000 in 50 combat missions running convoys. We’re a transportation company and were hauling materials, she said.
“We were all over the country. My base camp was in Kuwait on the border and we would load up in Kuwait and head north for anywhere from 5-8 day missions going to all the different camps in Iraq.”
Gemmer, 38, says it was not a normal practice for National Guard troops to be assigned to combat areas in the beginning but is becoming more common. Soldiers in the “regular” Army handled security during convoy operations but that isn’t as much the case today.
“When we got there, there weren’t any gun trucks. We had to make our own and we learned real fast. Right now, in Iraq, you see all the humvees; anybody going over is being trained in convoy security but we had to do our own because we got there early and they didn’t have that in place yet. We did what we had to do to protect our own,” she said.
It was also uncommon, at one time, for women to be assigned to a combat zone but that has is no longer the case.
“There are men and women who would not be able to handle a combat situation — it doesn’t have anything to do with gender. I know some men who wouldn’t make it,” she said.
The Van Wert Middle School teacher and her husband, John, have made a great sacrifice for her to serve the nation while now raising three children.
“This is a volunteer Army. I knew what I was getting in to when I signed those papers. I knew I could get deployed and when we decided to have children, we talked about it and decided to go ahead with beginning a family. When I was deployed again, he stayed home with the kids — we had two little girls at the time. That was the decision we made,” she said.
Returning to the rural, midwestern lifestyle has left the war veteran with a grateful heart and a changed perspective.
“My perspective on life has changed. Emotions run high when you get caught up in anything, work or personal life, but the intensity of combat and knowing I was responsible for 40 people and all the equipment while having people shooting at me and having to react gives me a different perspective when I get back and hear of some squabble at work or something. You know what? It’s not that big of a deal. If nobody’s shooting at you, it can’t be that bad. It’s only a matter of life and death if you’re in a war zone,” she said.
At a time when the presidential race is heated and the war remains a topic of disagreement, Gemmer has a perspective formed by experience “on the ground,” rather than by politics.
“The average Iraqi wants us there. Sure, there are the radicals who shake their fists at us but there is a lot of stability taking place. I think it would be a mistake to pull out too quickly. It’s a hard situation and everyone has their own opinion but, having been there and seen it — I think if we to completely pull out right now, it would be a mistake. People want their sons and daughters home and I understand that, but if you ask the sons and daughters who are there, they will tell you we’re doing a good job over there and we need to be there,” she said.
Gemmer is the daughter of Edith Voltz and the late Carl Voltz. Her mother is a member of the Delphos Institute of Music’s German Choir and worked for the Delphos Herald.

Sgt. First Class Christine Gemmer (Retired) speaks to Van Wert Middle School students Friday after being awarded the Bronze Star for Meritorious Service for her service in Iraq in 2004. Gemmer enlisted in the National Guard just before her high school graduation and spent 20 years with the same unit. Her service included deployments to Iraq in Operation Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom.