Grad student wounded in Iraq; Rhodes Scholar among KU contingent still there

Insignia for Bartles' 418th Civil Affairs Battalion

The war in Iraq came home to campus last month when KU graduate student Charles "Chuck" Bartles, a reservist serving in Iraq, was critically injured in a roadside bombing that killed one soldier and wounded another.

Bartles, who was earning his master's degree in Russian and East European studies at KU when he was called up to active duty in April, lost his arm below his elbow because of the blast and suffered injuries to his leg and face.

The emergency medical care Bartles, 25, received in a tent hospital in Iraq before being airlifted to Germany and then the United States was detailed Oct. 29 in a front-page Wall Street Journal article. The article described how the military is handling the estimated 1,700-plus nonfatal casualties in Iraq. The other injured soldier in the incident was Jared L. Myers of Lawrence.

No hard figures are available, but the University believes 30 to 50 KU students, faculty and staff are serving in Iraq. Among them is Rhodes scholar Robert Chamberlain, c'02, a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army who is stationed in Mosul, in northern Iraq.

Bartles, a championship high school boxer who won second and third place at national heavyweight competitions, may be able to regain up to 80 percent use of his arm with help from prosthetics, his stepfather, Ken Robbins, told the Lawrence Journal-World.

"Every time I talk to him he's real upbeat," said Robbins, of Yankton, S.D. "He's not down or depressed."

Bartles, a sergeant with the 418th Civil Affairs Battalion, was riding in a non-armored vehicle when the bomb exploded. The battalion, based in Belton, Mo., serves as a liaison between the military and civilians and works with local civilians to restore their communities.

"Everyone here is shaken up by the news about Chuck Bartles," said Paul D'Anieri, associate professor and director of the Center for Russian and East European Studies at KU. "We wish him strength in facing the challenges that await him, and we hope to see him back at KU as soon as he's ready."

Chancellor Robert Hemenway expressed the University's concern for Bartles' recovery and noted his pride in Bartles' service to the country.

"He is in the thoughts and prayers of the entire Jayhawk family, and we hope he will resume his studies here as soon as his condition permits," Hemenway said. "We thank all of our students and staff who are serving their country in Iraq and other locations around the world, and we continue to hope and pray for their safe return." lease read our Privacy

Robert Chamberlain, c'02

Chamberlain, the 24th KU student to win a Rhodes scholarship, had planned to begin his studies at Oxford University this fall but was deployed to Iraq in June. He is expected to serve there until at least February and plans to enroll at Oxford in October 2004. He hopes to study international affairs, concentrating on the effects of regime change on migrating populations and refugees. The scholarship provides more than $50,000 for two years of graduate study at Oxford.

Chamberlain's parents, Michael and Judy Chamberlain of Topeka, keep in touch with their son through e-mail and some postal service mail. Letters take up to three weeks to be delivered, and packages sent by the couple or Chamberlain's wife, Kristin, a KU business senior, take up to five weeks to arrive.

Michael Chamberlain sends his son op-ed columns from the New York Times and Washington Post and opinion articles online from Salon.com, foreign policy journals and weekly newsmagazines. He also records TV shows; Robert reports that he and others in his unit enjoy recordings of "The Daily Show," "West Wing" and "Inside the NFL."