STUDENT CLOSE-UP

Iraq Veteran Helps Others First

By Cheri Ghan

Mike Hart, BHS-nuclear medicine ’07, didn’t expect to spend nearly six years in college.

After an unexpected detour took him halfway around the world to serve the country in the Iraq war, Hart came back even more determined to succeed in school. An amiable young man who is never too busy to help someone in need, Hart was recently recognized for his efforts by being named one of Mizzou’s Unsung Heroes for 2007.

Hart had a plan when he enlisted in the Army National Guard in the summer of 2000. The son of a career Army man, he understood what the service was about and also saw a way to fund the college education he craved. The nuclear medicine program in MU’s School of Health Professions looked to be the perfect path to his goal of becoming a pharmacologist. He started school in 2001. In March 2003 he was deployed to Iraq.

Hart was assigned to Missouri’s Bravo Company 203rd, a 100-person engineering unit. Mike’s MOS or military occupational specialty, was interior electrician, a job the Army taught him. He spent his days and nights wiring military facilities around Baghdad. During 14 months in Iraq he saw no direct fire or gunfights. But, the ever positive Hart casually adds there were mornings when he and his buddies emerged from their tents to see craters in the ground surrounding them. He says he thought, “Wow! That was close! But it missed.”

Hart came back to Mizzou in fall 2004, re-entered the nuclear medicine program and got his job as a Community Adviser in the residence halls back. Just when things looked good for him to quietly finish his college career, Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. Deployed a second time, Hart was on the way to Arkansas when the call came to send some troops home. “The nuc med guy,” as one of his superiors called him, was good to go home. “I thought, ‘when I get back to school, I'll never complain about homework or tests or any of that again,’” Hart says.

Once home, Hart also continued another job he had done for the military before going overseas: team leader for a military honor guard. Hart is the one who, on behalf of a grateful nation, presents the flag to the widow of a fallen soldier or other family members. “It's an honor for me to present the flag to the next of kin of someone who has served their country,” Hart says. “I'm a veteran now, too. I know what this means.”

Whether working as a Community Adviser in Graham Hall, a co-tour guide with School of Health Professions Dean Richard Oliver when visitors come to see the school, serving our country in the military or just helping a friend who was having a tough time, Mike Hart was always ready to serve during his years at MU. After graduating this spring, Hart is off to Wichita Falls, Texas, where he will serve one more year in the military, this time with the Air Force National Guard. After that, he hasn’t ruled out a return to Mizzou. Wherever he goes, friends, family and his former MU professors know he’ll be looking out for and helping others ... a true unsung hero.

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Last Update: November 15, 2007