War changes Me:
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.
Fresh out of S.O.I (school of Infantry) I got off the bus at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center 29 Palms, California
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Everything was a first for me my first airplane ride, out of state, and out of the country with so many more first on the way in my life. There was not time to waste Gunny came over with ammo and distributed it with a couple days of M.R.E’s (meals ready to eat) we were on our way to the field just that fast. Loading up on Amphibious Assault Vehicles fighting for a place to sit smashed up against each other like a can of sardines. With temperatures in the one hundred plus degrees drinking water and staying hydrated was something we did together as a platoon so some of new Marines that might not do it on our own would not pass out due to heat exhaustion. The nights in country were not bad with the sun beating down on you and just draining the life out of you it was a nice change of pace but it came and went very fast. While patrolling the Saudi Arabia desert not only did I have to watch out for enemy fire but scorpions, desert sidewinder snakes, and camel spiders all very dangerous possibly sending you home to your family early. Living in the field he don’t have the luxury of taking showers, toilets, hot meals, laundry and a bed to lay with a comfortable pillow. Learning how to survive and stay alive was what most of us were learning for the very first time not having been at war since …show more content…
The Iraqi army had uncapped a lot of the oil lines causing mass oil fires that made the skies as dark as night at high noon. Sadam was notorious for using chemical weapons on his own people so we had to be ready for this kind of chemical attack in a second notice. Not surprised by the fact it only took a few hours of being in Kuwait we were hit with some kind of chemical gas, quickly getting into my chemical suit and putting on my gas mask I was ready to carry on with my mission to take back Kuwait and go into Iraq if we were ordered to do so. Getting hit with mortar fire our company was quickly halted from advancing any further. Heavy guns where quickly sent in to take care of the threat of enemy fire. Those Iraqi’s that were still alive quickly surrendered, not only from defeat but lack of supplies and will to care on from sitting out in the desert for 5 months. The land was war beaten by the on slot of pallet bombing and artillery fire before I and my battalion went in to reclaim Kuwait from the Iraqi
In the Article, You Don’t Ever Get Over It, published by Simon Hattenstone tells an insight of a man who shares his symptoms after war when, “At times he would be afraid to sleep because of the nightmares [he] was having. An example of tensing up when [he] saw hazard warning lights on a vehicle. [He] explained that in Iraq, vehicles loaded with explosive devices only had their hazard warning lights on,” (Simon Hattenstone). A british soldier named Robert Kilgour shares his after-war experience that let his health symptoms change his mental state of mind. With this in mind manifests Tim O'brien's view of how war can affect a soldier's emotional state of mind.
Wright describes, in this book, the Marines he rode along side with, and how these men react to the situations thrown at them by the unforgiving people and land of Iraq. In this detailed
This was to steer us away from all the negativity and bad habits that my cousins where involved in. At seventeen, with my parent’s permission, I enlisted into the United States Marine Corps. I served fourteen years of active duty service from 2001-2015. During this time, I completed three combat deployments, two to Iraq and one to Afghanistan. My primary occupational skill was an Ammunition Chief.
I used intellectual courage to look at the big picture. I had nothing but negative thoughts about the deployment and wanted to send people home as soon as possible. However, my colleague reminded me of some of the upcoming operations we may potentially play a part in and there was a high probability we’d be tasked. I knew that if I set my guys home, one of the Quick Reaction Team’s (QRT) in the AOR would have to pick up the slack, and my team was strategically located in country and had the proper qualifications.
In the words of Norman Bowker “ The thing is, '' he wrote, '' there's no place to go. Not just in this lousy little town. In general. My life, I mean it’s almost like I got killed over in Nam” (150). It is important to consider the way soldiers feel when they come home after being in such a harsh environment.
Since I was ten years old, I have been a member of the Young Marines, a program dedicated to the enrichment of youth. Aside from my family and school, this organization has had an incredible impact on my life, not only providing me with many unique and amazing experiences, but by shaping the foundation of my character by instilling in me the three core principles of the Young Marines: Discipline, Leadership, and Teamwork and also by emphasizing the importance of community service. I have had many amazing and unique experiences as a Young Marine which included the challenges of promotion to become the senior ranking officer, learning many new skills such as CPR, teaching Drug Demand Reduction, leading and mentoring the members of the Unit, going on encampments and traveling. In my sophomore year, my Unit Commander, a Korean War veteran, selected me to travel with him to Seoul. Every few years he chooses a Young Marine to take to South Korea based on merit.
My dad works for the Air Force, making me a military brat. I have been in places such as Washington, D.C. and Oklahoma City because of his job. Every time I had to leave behind friends, family, and everything I knew to be home. Every move I have gone through has taken me cross-country to places that I thought I wouldn’t enjoy.
nzie was ten when he received it, only weeks before the war broke out. He sat in front of this same window crying. That was the day his family left him; the day they abandoned him to this hellhole, this prison, and sealed his inevitable fate. He recalled a gentle hand rested on his back, and a sweet voice that spoke beside him. “Why are you crying, dear?”
It took 250$ and good deeds to create some doctor like me. 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.
Tyler had joined the military seven years back, and I hadn’t heard from him since. Normally, a forty-four year old shouldn’t be able to join the military, but due to the lack of soldiers applying, I was able to easily skip the physical and be sent to training. My wife said goodbye, muffling her tears as I drove myself to the military base, my horrific vision getting the job done. As I drove closer to the military base I could hear some sound, despite the small amount of activity in the Nevada desert.
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
The war also transformed my grandfather internally. According to my mother, he lived to see the most simple things happen. The once existent ambition he possessed transformed into a desire to make a positive impact on others. Like with Krebs, this change isn’t necessarily negative. Rather, my grandfather realized that to make a difference in the world, he didn’t need to win a Nobel Peace Prize or discover a cure to cancer.
I want to be like Chris Kyle because of his perseverance, dedication, and determination. I learned that all the branches of the military work together. I also learned that the branches of the military request for a certain position and then they get what is available no matter the branch. Also, I learned that soldiers get stars for their work in combat. Another thing that I learned was that soldiers pack a lot for deployment unlike what I thought that they packed hardly anything due to the circumstances of having a lot of people coming at one time.
Soldiers train rigorously, preparing for the departure of war. They sacrifice all that they have to fight for their country. As they return after the war, they are left with painful experiences and traumatizing memories, suffering from their inevitable conditions. However, the spouse, families and children back at home are suffering even more than soldiers.
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.