Rick Lawson, MPH ‘16
USAR 2002-2006, OIF II
Tell me about your current role at Yale University?
After completing my Master in Public Health from the Yale School of Public Health (YSPH) ’16 I began a consultancy and began working with a research intervention at the Yale School of Medicine Department of Emergency Medicine in the Emergency Medical Services section.
Would you share some of your military experience and transition to the private sector?
My son came from Geneva to visit with me a couple of weeks ago which prompted me into thinking of traditions and legacies concerning military service in my family. My father enlisted in the Navy during WWII but never deployed overseas. His orders were to report to San Francisco to await transport to the Pacific where he would ultimately command LST’s landing Marines on beachheads. While he lay in his bunk two men in civilian suits came in and asked him if he was Chad Raseman.
Ken Burns’ documentary on the war in Vietnam has caused some brouhahas in some of my email lists. Those on the right say it’s typically biased because it’s broadcast on PBS and those on the left claim it’s just a documentary stating facts and showing photos and videos. Those who served in Vietnam, more often than not on the right side of the political aisle, are remaining fairly quiet about the whole thing but admit to watching the series. That’s more or less the category I fall into. I’m uncomfortable watching the footage but still morbidly drawn to the television screen, watchi
I didn’t celebrate but I observed the 50th anniversary of my enlistment into the United States Army on August 14th, 2017. How do you celebrate that? You don’t, you just remember that day like your wedding day and you move on. Every so often I’ll think back on where I was during my four years in the Army. Training at Ft.
“Are pistachios good for you” was something I googled yesterday and I think the consensus was yes, they’re good for you but in moderation. While I paused to think about that, I remember that our chaplain at my VFW told me that Archie Fogler, U.S. Army Korean War, had passed away. The chaplain, Al Carlson, served in the U.S.
