Man Joins Army to Help Ailing Wife
He Loses Job and Insurance, She Battles Cancer
He's in the Army now
Wife’s cancer prompts man to enlist
Two of the nation's most pressing issues -- unemployment and health care -- have come together in a personal perfect storm for one Wisconsin family.
Bill Caudle of Watertown was laid off in March from the plastics company where he'd worked for 20 years. Unable to find another job, Caudle -- on his 39th birthday -- enlisted in the U.S. Army to get the health insurance his wife needs to continue her battle against ovarian cancer. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel told the family's story Sunday.
Michelle Caudle, 40, discovered she had cancer in 2006 and underwent surgery, followed by two rounds of chemotherapy. In May, her doctor told her there were signs the cancer was back and she would need to endure more chemo.
The $136 monthly cost of insurance for the family rose to $497 when Bill's severance package ran out last month and was due to jump to $1,370 in January. Michelle worked part-time at a restaurant to help pay the bills, but the job did not provide insurance.
With no employment prospects in sight, Bill decided his best option was to sign up for a four-year hitch in the military -- even though it meant leaving his high school sweetheart to fight cancer on her own. The Caudles have three children and Bill's decision also meant he would be away for all of his youngest daughter's high school years.
The Caudles didn't attend any of this summer's heated town hall meetings on health care reform. They know politicians and interest groups on both sides of the issue would like to use their story to score political points, the Journal Sentinel reported. They want no part of it.
"We're not activists," Michelle told the newspaper.
All of Michelle's energies will be devoted instead to beating a deadly disease and caring for her children while her husband goes through basic training with recruits half his age at Fort Knox, Ky. -- nearly 500 miles away from home.
Bill is scheduled to finish basic training and begin his new life as an Army communications equipment specialist in mid-December. Michelle would still be getting chemo by then, the paper said, but she hopes to feel well enough to travel to Kentucky for her husband's graduation.
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