Time machine.

The October issue of PT Magazine resembles certain stamp sheers that are sold by the US Postal Service. Each stamp has a separate design and can be used individually. However, the individual stamps also form a larger scene that becomes visible when viewing the entire sheet. So it is with the articles in this issue. Each stands alone, but together they paint a bigger picture.

Our cover story describes how physical therapy has helped former Pfc Jessica Lynch recover from severe injuries she received while in the Army in Iraq. During the interview for the article, Lynch praised the care she had received at Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC). Similarly, Burt Reed, PT, Lynch's physical therapist (PT), spoke of the continuing communication he had with PTs at WRAMC. Around the same time, we received an e-mail from an APTA member asking how civilian PTs could provide services to injured military personnel. That led to the article "Physical Therapy at Whiter Reed Army Medical Center" which describes not only the services provided at WRAMC but also the transitioning services that the military offers.

Then came an unexpected bonus--an unsolicited article from two Army PTs in Iraq describing how physical therapy is provided in a combat zone. The three articles--physical therapy in a combat zone, services provided at Walter Reed, and our profile of Jessica Lynch's recovery--paint a multifaceted picture of the range of services that physical therapy provides to present and former members of the military.

Another feature, "Motivational Factors for PTs and PTAs," which explores various elements that excite and involve PTs and PTAs, contains a fortuitous military tie-in. One of the practice locations profiled is the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Salt Lake City. Meanwhile, PTs in the three military-related articles all speak of how their activities motivate and inspire them.

Taking a somewhat different approach, but still contributing to a unified overall picture, is "Leading the Way," which describes leadership opportunities and experiences within APTA. The themes of service, motivation, duty, and inspiration run through this article.

This issues "Career Coach" column initially might seem to be unrelated to the themes of military, motivation, and leadership. It suggests that physical therapy is "the ultimate time machine" because it allows PTs and PTAs to transport patients back to the "good old days" when they were more mobile. It speaks of reunions and "going home again" to a place that looks "like the Mayberry that Andy Griffith put on the airwaves 40 years ago."

Yet a recent purchase I made directly connected "going home" and the other themes in this issue. Because of a personal interest in Northern Virginia history and development, I bought a set of four high school yearbooks covering the years 1942 through 1945. The school--Fairfax High School in Fairfax, Virginia--is fairly close to where I grew up and at the time was the only high school for miles around.

Yearbooks are the ultimate time machine, and these turned the dials back 60 years. I recognized a few names--acquaintances of my parents and the parents of some of my childhood friends. I even recognized a teacher whose career was just beginning and, when I encountered her decades later, was nearing its end.

Most of those high school seniors were just about the same age as Jessica Lynch when she went to Iraq. Except these seniors were sent to fight in Germany, Italy; and the Pacific. The 1945 yearbook calls on the students to "dedicate our goals to coincide with the rebuilding of the world" so that "once again high school graduates may dream of peaceful futures."

Much of the activity highlighted in the yearbooks involves leadership development--the class officers, student government, and various clubs and organizations. The mission of the Future Farmers of America, for instance, was "to teach boys the best methods of farming and to develop agricultural leadership" while the purpose of the Future Homemakers of Virginia in part was "to learn to work together in large groups for the common good of all." There even was a Nurses' Aides dub for "girls who are interested in nursing as a vocation."

As for the Career Coach reference to Mayberry, the advertisements in the back of the yearbooks included the Alexandria Hay and Grain Company, Manassas Ice & Fuel Company (offering coal, ice, and oil), Grassy Knoll Poultry Farm and Hatchery and--shades of Mayberry--numerous barbershops.

It may not be possible to "go home again"--and, considering advances in health care and other areas, it might not even be desirable--but a quick glance back sometimes helps identify issues, concerns, and goals of long-lasting importance.

Don Tepper is Editor. He can be reached at [e-mail]