Personal Narrative: The United States Air Force

He said, “I was so nervous that my heart started to beat so fast and I was sweating out of nowhere. I believe I Spent eighteen long hours on a plane flying across the Pacific Ocean. It was very hot and humid that day.” My grandpa was so apprehensive and nervous that for a second it may have seemed that the he smelled in the air was his own fear. He recalled what he first thought about the Vietnam War. He said, “How would I feel looking at another man across the barrel of a gun who was just like me, with a family, who just wanted to go home and live in peace, and be ordered to shoot

I was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. My mother worked very hard and my father at times but he mostly attended to us at home, my older brother and myself. My father was a very abusive man, physically and mentally towards my brother, mother and myself. My father felt in his heart and mind that he was doing the right thing by disciplining us the way he did, if you believe breaking my arm was out of love. I began to develop an obsession with trying to make my father proud of me so that he could be happy, my brother developed hate for my father and he began to get in lots of trouble with the law. I channeled my angry energy in to art and praying for an outlet soon. I really needed to get away from it all, in 2001 I made a very big decision

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

I believe in the act of paying it forward, and treating others the way you want to be treated in the midst of it. Ever since I was a little girl, I always had a heart to help anyone that I was able to. I hated seeing others down, making it seem as if I was higher than them when I had nothing. I believed that if I was in their shoes, I would want someone to help me. Seeing homeless people on the side of the streets sad, hungry, desperate for just a bite of a sandwich or even a couple dollars to get them by for the next few days, made me realize how much I want to help people who are in need. This is the reason I am becoming a nurse practitioner and become apart of The National Guard.

Brave, have no fear of someone or something. American soldiers represent bravery. The huts of the soldiers were very long and wide. The fireplace was in acceptable condition. No beds in the huts just straw and mud. I have decided to re-enlist because of inspiration, help from congressmen, and conditions are somewhat good.

Through centuries of great wars and battles, history has displayed brave men and women who have fought for their countries. These audacious people have helped propel countries for the greater good. However, the weight and responsibility, of the war, takes a heavy toll on soldiers that is often overlooked. Tim O’Brien, author of the novel The Things They Carried, records his stories, and the stories of his fellow soldiers during the war. However, three of these soldiers are affected in an outlandish way. The lives of soldiers, Norman Bowker and Curt Lemon, illustrate how the war pressures the human spirit to a standard it can’t resemble.

After a three-hour bus ride, surrounded by strangers, I arrived at Camp Pendleton. As I stepped off the bus immediately trapped by three drill instructors screaming in my face, I knew I had made a grave mistake. My experiences at Camp Pendleton’s Devil Pups were some of the most challenging, yet rewarding life skills I have encountered. Upon arrival, I felt as though I didn’t belong, lacking the discipline, purpose, and physical strength that many of my peers had. However, Devil Pups taught me the value of perseverance and, as a result, has contributed to my transformation into the person I am today.

Today, I finally reached 24204-24358 County Road 54, Greeley, CO 80631. I walked the remaining 5.37 miles there, taking 5 hours 58 min at .9 mph, and was finally safe from radiation. After walking 54.37 miles northeast from the melted down nuclear facility, my plan was to head south to Colorado Springs and get weapons and ammo from Peterson Air Base. This would provide me with weapons to not only defend myself, but also to hunt for food in the future in Hunting Areas. This was a sustainable plan that would not allow me to depend on stores that would eventually run out of food after a certain amount of days. With the weaponry, I could get more food from a renewable resource in Hunting Areas and not rely on a finite resource from the Stores.

Pop! Pop! Zoom! Whiz! I heard them and I heard them loud. Gunshots hitting the rock beside me and just flying past my ears. Out of my regiment eighty of us remained, the other twenty were shot or injured we couldn’t tell. All of us tried to stay calm and remember our training that we’ve accomplished over the three month training course. But all we could think about is, ‘Are we going to make it back to our families.’ That’s when we got the call that air reinforcements were coming and told us to throw a smoke on the enemy position, but as soon they were about to tell us the color of the smoke, a grenade landed in the pit. Along with the radio an extra five people were critically devastated by the blast and half a dozen injured. I reached for my belt to find the smokes, but they weren’t there. All of us felt the same rushing chill down our spines. Panic.

The Yankees formed us up into a wagon train, planning to take us to City Point. On the way there, I thought about the Union prisons, which is where I was headed. I read from the newspapers that the prisons were filled to their limits with soldiers and most soldiers didn’t even live because they froze to death, had chills and fevers (which killed them), or they starved to death because of the terrible food. I hope what I read was not true because Ma, Sarah and Sam really needed me alive, not dead. To take my mind off of everything that had happened, I started to read my book of psalms out loud. While I read, Private Turner (I found out his name because his fellow soldiers called him that when he told them he caught me) asked me who was I talking to.

We all wait nervously, a room filled with six-hundred third graders but no one whispers more than a few words. Today we find out that twenty of us that will leave our families behind for the next two decades. Every year the government chooses twenty seven year old children from each school in the Providence of Britain and transports them to the United Europe Combat Forces (UECF) military school who will then become soldiers after their training. A strange woman walks up the mic, its the same women who dose the announcement every year. Our class has always joked and called her Drakula, due to her tall and skinny build, pale skin and big nose. Dracula flicks the mic, a high pitched noise gets everyone to attention. she starts to talk but I can't focus something about honoring our veterans

“I don’t do this for the medals or awards, I do this for my country and the men next to me.”-Sgt. Restrepo (history.com). For a couple years U.S navy seals and marines have been fighting in the Korengal valley in Afghanistan. This has affected our culture by remembering the ones who were brave and gave their lives for us. Bravery is something that’s very hard to do. But many U.S. soldiers in the Korengal Valley were very brave. That’s what this essay is about.

I joined the Marine Corps on 21 August 2008. My primary MOS is Fixed-wing aircraft safety equipment mechanic, KC-130. As a Safety equipment mechanic I am required to troubleshoot, isolate, and repair survival equipment aboard the kc 130J/MV-22 platforms.

While helping my mom set up for Veterans Day, I was in charge of meeting with the Veterans and helping them get their visitor passes into the elementary school. The turn out was great, many veterans showed up in a variety of ages. I met with the oldest veteran there and helped him get situated before the parade began.

The time was August 1990, I was a young man at the age of 19. President Bush Sr. had put into motion what started off as Desert Shield, later escalating into Desert Storm due to Saddam Hussein taking over the country of Kuwait and making his way to the country of Saudi Arabia. The Marines where the first one’s in with boots on the ground. The time I spent in Desert Shield/Storm helped me transform me from a young boy into a responsible man, with oh so real events that became part of American History. My family and friends say their little boy wasn’t the same that left the States as the one that returned a man.