Topeka ? More than three decades after he first went into combat, a Silver Lake man may be returning to a war zone.

Kendall Phelps celebrated his 20th birthday as a U.S Marine in the Demilitarized Zone that separated South Vietnam and North Vietnam.

After the war, he moved to Silver Lake, became an educator and served in the Marine Corps Reserve, retiring as a master gunnery sergeant.

The Marine Corps now may take advantage of both skills and send him to Iraq as an educational specialist.

“I’ve been contacted by the Marine Corps that they’re looking for somebody with my educational background to work with the Civil Affairs Group in Iraq, working with the education part of it that they handle,” Phelps said.

He expects to know within the next month whether he will be called back to active duty.

His son, Marine Capt. Chris Phelps, served with the 1st Marine Division in Iraq, coordinating close air support.

Chris Phelps said the Marines contacted his father because the Civil Affairs Group wants an education specialist to work with the Coalition Provisional Authority to get schools running in Baghdad. His father has a master’s degree in curriculum development.

“I see this as a real challenge, something exciting to do with my education degree,” Kendall Phelps said. “It’s something that would be demanding. It’s something that would be rewarding.”

He also said he might try to get the Silver Lake school system involved, pairing fourth-graders in Silver Lake with fourth-graders in Iraq.

Kendall Phelps served 13 months in Vietnam, moving supplies to the northern part of the country.

His son joined the Marines 22 years after Kendall Phelps went to Vietnam. After going to boot camp in 1988, Chris Phelps was a private in the reserve detachment in Topeka while his father was the company master gunnery sergeant.

When Chris Phelps was in Iraq, his father had trouble sleeping at night.

“I would get up and watch the news,” he said. “As a parent, it’s scary.”

The shoe soon could be on the other foot, and Chris Phelps isn’t wild about having his father overseas.

The Marine in him says he has to find a way to get back to Iraq, along with his father and many Marine friends; another part of him knows the dangers and disagrees.