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Sep 30, 2008 9:00 pm US/Eastern
N.J. Judge Trades In Robe For Soldier's Uniform
VENTNOR, N.J. (CBS 3) ―
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Chris Brown will trade in his legal robe for a soldier's uniform in the coming weeks.
CBS
An Atlantic County judge will soon trade in his legal robe for a soldier's uniform to serve our country in Iraq.
Chris Brown's brightest role is that of being a father -- he's also an attorney and a municipal court judge.
But 12 days from now, Brown will say temporary goodbyes to his wife Christine and their three children.
At 44, he's going to fight in the war on terror.
"If I didn't go, then somebody other's father would have to go or somebody other's mothers' son would have to go," Chris said.
As an Army 'individual ready reservist', Brown knew he could be re-activated but didn't think it would happen.
At first, he thought his call-up papers were a mistake.
"I figured they must have the wrong Chris Brown," Brown said. "At first, you want to think that you are special and they need you individually, but you realize we are fighting two wars for over five years and they're running out of soldiers."
When Brown first deployed to Kuwait during the Gulf War 16 years ago, he said his role "was to hurt as many of the bad guys as you can."
But now he feels differently.
"Life is very fragile, the things that are truly important are your family and your friends, and so with this time, I'm hoping to help as many people as I can," Brown said.
Due to the fact that Brown is a judge, a public servant, he could have been granted an exemption by the Army and not had to deploy at all.
But he decided with his wife, he would serve his country first.
"We're here for him and giving as much support as we can," Christine said.
Brown will deploy to Iraq in November.
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