BY CLARK COX: Senior Writer

Patrick Dwyer knew his son, Joseph, had been deployed to the Gulf region as a medical corpsman with the Army.

But he didn’t know his son was in Iraq until he saw a photograph of him Wednesday on — of all places — the front page of USA Today.

“We know Joseph is doing the right thing,” said Patrick Dwyer, 58, who is director of security at FirtHealth Moore Regional Hospital in Pinehurst. “But parents will be parents, and naturally we worry. After Joseph was deployed to the Mideast, we just figured that no news is good news.”

Patrick Dwyer’s daughter, who lives in Suffolk County, N.Y., called her father to tell him about the picture in USA Today.

It was the newspaper’s lead photo — a giant picture across the top of the front page. It shows Joseph Dwyer, 26 (misidentified as “Joseph DeWitt”), carrying an Iraqi child who had suffered a leg injury in a firefight between Iraqi troops and the Army’s 7th Cavalry Regiment near the Euphrates River.

Reaction to the photo has been so strong that many people are beginning to think it may serve as a visual symbol for the Army’s effort in Iraq.

By noon Thursday, Patrick Dwyer learned that The Army Times (which took the photo), the New York Post, The New York Times and many other news organizations were trying to reach the family but had been unable to because of the Dwyer/DeWitt error.

Some were interested in reprinting the photo or interviewing Joseph Dwyer because he had joined the Army as a reaction to the Sept. 12, 2001, terrorist attacks. Some New York papers were interested mainly because he was identified as being from New York.

But all were fascinated by the photograph.

“A lot of people have mentioned seeing the picture,” Patrick Dwyer said Thursday. “Everybody’s proud of Joseph and praying for him.

“FirstHealth is really a caring place. The people here care for the patients, and they care for their fellow workers. It’s the best place I’ve ever worked, in that respect.”

Patrick Dwyer was a transit policeman in New York City until five years ago, when he retired and he and his wife, Maureen, moved to Wagram in Scotland County. Joseph, who grew up in Mount Sinai, N.Y., lived with his parents and worked as a patient transporter with FirstHealth until the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

“He felt he had to do something, so he joined the Army,” Patrick Dwyer said. The younger Dwyer is a member of the 3rd Infantry Division, of which the 7th Cavalry is a part.

He has been married just over a month. He married Matina Brown of Robbins on Feb. 15.

His youngest brother, Matthew, joined the U.S. Air Force recently. He is still in training stateside. Matthew Dwyer also worked with FirstHealth, in the Emergency Department.

Patrick and Maureen Dwyer have been married 38 years and have six children. The other three sons are New York City police officers. The daughter is a mother of four in Suffolk County. There are nine grandchildren, all told.

“We’re all concerned about Joseph, but we know he can’t be concerned about us first of all,” Patrick Dwyer said. “He needs to be concerned about his job.