I was a young, reckless 18-year-old man from a city in Illinois called Aurora. I shipped off to basic training for the military right after graduating high school. I arrived at my first duty station after basic training and advanced training to be an automated logistical specialist, which I would be in the Army. The deployments that lay ahead would cause me to change for the better.
The duty station was overseas in Germany. People were speaking a language that I was unfamiliar with and driving vehicles that most people would not be driving in the states. After a year and a half of being in Germany, my unit was going to be deployed to the hostile country of Iraq. Not without first making a stop in Kuwait, then driving up north to our final destination Tikrit, Iraq. In Kuwait, I was nervous about our convoy up north into Iraq. I did not know if terrorists would attack us, using improvised explosive devices (IED’s), fired upon with small arms, or both. One thing I did know was that I not scared to die and whatever happened was meant to be, I was going to look for the fight. People might consider it selfish not to think about the consequences of my actions, but at the time it was not to me. I …show more content…
At each memorial service I went to, I noticed the sadness of veteran’s family and friends as I was standing in formation hearing the names of the fallen being called out. Most memorials services were held in an open area at the flagpole of the compound. With the flag flapping from the winds, names would be called off. Whether it was one name or multiple, every single one rang like a shot being fired in the air. As the name is called off you look at the desert colored pair of boots, with the rifle in the middle, helmet on top, and the dog tags dangling off the rifle. Every service I attended I noticed the effect of the service member’s death on
The duty station was overseas in Germany. People were speaking a language that I was unfamiliar with and driving vehicles that most people would not be driving in the states. After a year and a half of being in Germany, my unit was going to be deployed to the hostile country of Iraq. Not without first making a stop in Kuwait, then driving up north to our final destination Tikrit, Iraq. In Kuwait, I was nervous about our convoy up north into Iraq. I did not know if terrorists would attack us, using improvised explosive devices (IED’s), fired upon with small arms, or both. One thing I did know was that I not scared to die and whatever happened was meant to be, I was going to look for the fight. People might consider it selfish not to think about the consequences of my actions, but at the time it was not to me. I …show more content…
At each memorial service I went to, I noticed the sadness of veteran’s family and friends as I was standing in formation hearing the names of the fallen being called out. Most memorials services were held in an open area at the flagpole of the compound. With the flag flapping from the winds, names would be called off. Whether it was one name or multiple, every single one rang like a shot being fired in the air. As the name is called off you look at the desert colored pair of boots, with the rifle in the middle, helmet on top, and the dog tags dangling off the rifle. Every service I attended I noticed the effect of the service member’s death on