Tribal member soon to leave for tour in Iraq

Lieutenant Colonel Patricia Camel Kelly, Pend d'Orielle Tribal Member, and 18-year veteran of the United States Army has recently been given orders to return to Iraq with a hospital unit. This will be Kelly's second tour since the war began in 2003. Currently, Kelly is a certified nurse practitioner.

"To give an idea of how far she has come, the next step my mother can take is colonel, and then general," said her son Rich Janssen. "My mom has worked very hard to get where she is today, her entire family is extremely proud."

"She also seems to be a peace with what she has to do and is very busy getting ready for deployment to Iraq at the end of February" said Janssen. "Her entire family will be praying for her safe return."

Kelly's tours have included stops in Fort Bliss (El Paso, Texas), Germany, Fort Hood (Kileen, Texas), and Fort Polk, (Leesville, Louisiana) where she was a part of the 115 Field Hospital, in which she spent six months in Kuwait during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. Kelly is currently awaiting deployment from Ft. Hood in Killeen Texas.

She was born in St Ignatius, attended school in Ronan, and graduated from Montana State University with a degree in nursing in 1972. She recently received her master's degree in community health nursing from Tulane University, and is a certified nurse practitioner. Before entering the Army in 1987, Patricia was employed by the Indian Health Service in St. Ignatius as a community health nurse, and spent the majority of her life living in Ronan.

Patricia is the daughter of Pend d'Orielle Tribal Elder Alice Nenemay Camel and the late Henry Camel. She is the mother of Rich (Ronan) and Jesse Janssen, (Pablo), and Dr. Kimberly Alice Nenemay (Piscataway, New Jersey). She is married to retired master sergeant (US Army) Isaac Kelly of Kileen, Texas and has numerous brothers, sisters, and grandchildren currently residing on the Reservation. Kelly plans on returning to the reservation upon retirement from the Army in a few years.