WELLINGTON ? Jeremy Norman had been cancer-free for just five years when he first tried to enlist in the military. He was rejected.

But after spending another five years biding his time in other jobs, Norman is realizing his lifelong dream of serving in the U.S. Army. He arrived last month in Baghdad, where he works as a cavalry scout.

“I guess he’s just headstrong, just like his mama,” said Tina Norman, his mother, pulling off her glasses and wiping away tears.

When Jeremy was 12, he was diagnosed with lymphoma, a progressive enlargement of lymphoid tissue resulting from malignant lymphoid cells. Tina Norman said her son almost died.

“If only I could I’d go over there right now and bring him back. But he volunteered,” Tina Norman said. “That’s all he has ever talked about, being in the military.”

Tina Norman said she thought her son’s love of the military came from his grandfather, who is retired from the Air Force.

Jeremy Norman was rejected when he tried to enlist after graduating in 1997 from Wellington High School. Jeremy spent the next several years starting a family and working in different jobs, all the while waiting and wanting to be in the military.

“He came in one day and said he had enlisted,” his mother said. “Once I got over the shock, we had to prove he was healthy enough to join.”

Norman had to sign a waiver and get a release from his doctor to join the service.

He graduated basic training on May 22, 2003, and was deployed to Kuwait Sept. 8. He arrived in Baghdad later that month.

Norman’s wife and their two children now live in Junction City, near Fort Riley, where he is normally based.

Tina Norman said the length of her son’s deployment would range from six months to a year. “I hope it’s six months.”