[09/11/02]TALLULAH While most of his classmates were lounging by the pool, working odd jobs, or taking a trip somewhere this summer, Josh Peterson was having his own brand of fun.

The Tallulah High senior spent 10 weeks learning how to use a gas mask, shooting an assault rifle and doing more push-ups than he could count during Army basic training in Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.

“The gas mask was the worst,” Peterson said with a smile. “They always throw CS riot gas. I like the military, though. I think everybody should join.”

Peterson, 17, joined early. Following in his father’s footsteps, he enlisted in the National Guard and attended basic this summer. Next summer he’ll undergo Advanced Infantry Training in San Antonio for training as a medic.

“All my summers for the next eight years are filled,” he said. “I’ll always be working.”

He’s always working on the football field, too, leaving many of Tallulah’s opponents screaming for a medic. The senior linebacker is one of the keys to the Trojans’ defense, coach James Hemphill said.

“He’s a bonecrusher,” Hemphill said. “He tore them up in the spring. He’ll run through a brick wall, he was hitting them so hard.”

When it comes to serving his country, Peterson is just as serious. He hopes to be an Army Ranger, but also wants to practice medicine when his military days are over.

An honor student at Tallulah with a 3.7 grade-point average, Peterson plans to attend LSU beginning in fall 2003 as a pre-med student and wants to go to veterinary school.

The Army is a way to get the money to do that, he said.

“They pay a lot of money for college. That’s what my dad did,” Peterson said.

As reporters snapped a picture of him before practice one day, Peterson instinctively snapped to attention. Teammates chuckled and called him “Gung-ho”.

Peterson’s plans are to serve in the National Guard and reserves, not on active duty. With the continuing war on terrorism, however, he acknowledged the possibility of serving overseas in a combat zone.

And like a good soldier, he said he wouldn’t hesitate to do his duty if called upon.

“I’ve thought about it,” he said. “If the war gets really bad, I might go active army.

“If my country needs me, I’ll serve.”