Personal Narrative: My First Vietnam War

In the New York Times article Death of a Marine, Bob Herbert discloses a story regarding a young man who participated in the Marines. Jeffrey Lucey of Massachusetts enlisted in the army instead of going to college. Despite his parents’ disapproval, he still joined. When Jeffery turned 22, his unit was one of the first to mobilize in the Iraq War. The damage that impacted Jeffery in Iraq included, explosions “just short of blowing out your eardrums”, damaged nerves, nightmare hallucinations and above all else, PTSD. Jeffery’s parents are dealing with his death by revealing the gruesome and tragic death in this article and joining the antiwar organization, Military Families Speak Out. I personally believe that Jeffery losing his life was

the best experiences of my military career. Trough out the years in the military I

I am currently a squad leader in Mortar Company 1-19th Infantry. I joined the Army in April of 2003. During my 12 year career, I have had multiple deployments and multiple experience’s, some good some bad. I have learned over the years that it’s what you learn from those experience’s that help shape and mold the leader and obviously add to the leader’s skill and knowledge base. Knowledge is power as they say. I have served in a wide variety of positions throughout my career, although mostly mechanized I have still found myself having to know the light Infantry world as well. I have served every position from Assistant gunner to squad leader in the Mortar world, to team leader and squad leader in the light Infantry world. I have had the

Growing up I was the kid who looked at the world with open optimistic eyes. I grew up in a small city called Dora located in Iraq, the middle of three girls. I was born in the late 90s, I have been told that I was born "at the end of the good days". That's when Iraq's political circumstances were not at peace at all, at 2003 another war broke in Iraq. My family felt threatened by all the violence the country was in. That's when my family and I fled to Syria for limited time intel the country's condition could get better. When we came back to iraq at that time the security conditions in Iraq were terrible They got from bad to worse. One evening a massive shooting occurred near our

First and foremost, being in the United States Marine Corps for over 22 years I have learned a lot from experience. I learned just like in the military, in my civilian job now I am always on duty. Importantly there are set hours of work, the work can still venture into your personal life. My time in the Marine Corps I made sure my uniform was squared away at all times, now in the civilian profession I got to work in business casual. I make sure that my shirt and trouser are creased in a military manner along with my tie. I am in the understanding that in order to be very effective, civilians and Marine know one thing “they are always on the job”. During my tenure in the Marine Corps, the motto was always mission accomplishment. Now, hearing suggestions such as “Not my task” or “I did not

I was born in South America, Guyana in a family that consists of seven girls. In the summer of 1990, my family moved from Guyana to South Beach Miami, Florida. Unbeknown to me I was in one of the world’s liveliest areas renowned for fashion. I was intrigued to find so many people excited about their hair, clothes, makeup, shoes, jewelry, nails, and body types. I grew up in a very diverse neighborhood. Growing up we didn’t have much money as a family but my parents would always make sure we had clothes on our back. Two years later my family moved from Florida to Brooklyn, New York to be closer to relatives and other family members. Brooklyn is where I begin to design clothes at 14 and learned about marketing of different brands of appeal. I have always had a keen eye for fashion, the older I became the more aware I was of the need for affordable, stylish and comfortable clothing. I enlisted into the U.S. ARMY March 2005, to better myself and earn money for fashion school. Being a veteran and doing three deployments has given me a totally

Being in a military family had its perks. I was able to live all over the U.S., and in Japan. We travelled a lot and I got to see many beautiful countries and amazing historic landmarks. Not many people can say they have been exposed to half the stuff I have as a child during their lifetime. Also, because of the way my parents are about education I don’t take it for granted. I am fortunate enough to have worked hard my first year of college, and received an academic scholarship.

The feeling of leaving everyone and everything you know behind with as little as two weeks’ notice is unimaginable. However over time I have learned that the true reason behind it is not so they can have more, but so their child can have a better life. It is very stressful for most people to just up and leave the place they call home for work.

As the white glitter swirls outside of the water residue stained windows, I shiver at the thought of being outside in this harsh winter. I live in South Dakota, where you can never escape the skin cracking dryness of the biting cold. Our winters are never kind, and I couldn’t imagine living in any harsher conditions. I recently read a book, however, about a man that did. This man suffered through more than just bitter cold. He suffered through the nasty habit of war. He suffered, survived, and came back to tell the most heart-wrenching story I have ever read. This man’s name is Marcus Luttrell, former Navy SEAL and the author of the novel, The Lone Survivor. After reading this heartbreaking and inspirational story, I was left utterly astounded and

Late 2005 I was assigned to 2-35 Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, HI. I re-enlisted into the Army after almost a three year break in service. On my previous enlistment, I served in the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment from the 82nd Airborne Division. All the new soldiers to include myself were standing in formation waiting on the Battalion Command Sergeant Major (CSM) to speak to us. I was the only Private First Class with a Combat Infantryman Badge, an Expert Infantryman Badge, and a combat deployment to Afghanistan. The CSM began by welcoming us to the unit and asking who wanted to go to the Scout Platoon. Several of us in the formation raised our hands. The CSM looked at my right shoulder and saw my

Then the 30th Battalion formed up right next to Lamotte, a ruined country town and the tanks moved into position. We waited till 8:20 till the tanks waved their little green and white flags and we were on the move again. After moving

Traumatic events possess the capability to transform individuals socially and internally. This change may affect those closest to the returning soldier. In Ernest Hemingway’s “Soldier’s Home”, Harold Krebs returns from war, and exhibits these individual changes. This short story reminds me of my grandfather, and the ways in which the Vietnam War transformed him as an individual and community member.

I have problem sleeping at night and unable to concentrate well at work. This problem occurred a few months after returning from Iraq in 2003. Going to some places with lots of people make me feel uncomfortable. I remember leaving my cart full of grocery at a grocery store after hearing a loud voice. A lady at the store was looking for her daughter and started screaming loud while searching for her daughter. My first reaction was to get out of the store and drive home. That was five years ago. Another incident that is still fresh in my memory happened a few days after coming back from Iraq. I was invited to a birthday party by a friend. After having a few drinks, I started arguing with my friend guest. I remember screaming on top of my lungs and wanting to fight anyone who stood in front of me. After the long drama, one of my friend offer to give me a ride and drop me off at my apartment. I woke up the next day crying and wanting to go back in Iraq. I felt like they needed me and I missed my friends, they are my family. Since I was single, my unit became my family when I joined the army. Driving to my friend’s house became a challenge during those years. There are times that I have to make a U turn and go back home because of anxiety attack. I felt unsafe while driving to a place that there are few

I was in the active duty Air Force for six and a half years. Five of those years were spent away from my family in Germany. When I got to Germany I was 19 years old, and I had never been that far away from my family. If you haven’t guess already, I am going to be talking about the time that I spent in Germany. I will be focusing on how being in Germany helped me become a woman, exposed me to a different culture, and helped to me understand the true definition of family. Hopefully by the end of this essay you are able to see and understand how Germany helped develop me and turned me into the amazing responsible adult that I am today.

My life has constantly been changing since I was two years old just because of three words. “I’m being deployed.” These words are life altering and being told that phrase as many times as I did growing up, I knew the familiar waves of emotion all too well. I could recognize the words before they even formed out of my dad’s mouth. Being able to understand that a deployment isn’t just a short trip overseas, its months, maybe more than a year of being away from home. That concept was so hard for me to grasp as a kid and till this day I am still short of grasping the idea of my dad being gone for so long.