Why Every American Should Serve In The Military

All of my life I dreamed of joining the military. It may not be everyones dream, but it is life changing and I think everyone could benefit from experiencing it themselves. I remember spending summers as a child at my grandparents house, specifically so I could hear old war stories from my grandfather. He served in the United States Army as an Infantryman in World War 2. He had a very specific routine where he would wake up at 5 o’clock every morning, stumble into the kitchen, make a cup of coffee, and watch old cowboy movies in the living room. I would listen for the sound of  his old wool slippers dragging against the tile and stagger in shortly behind him eager to hear the story of the day. He would sit in his old worn down recliner as I gazed up at him begging for stories about the military. You’re probably thinking my grandfather is biased and my impression of the military at such a young age is the one he wanted. That isn’t the case, his stories were about the harsh reality of being a soldier. He painted a very dark picture and spared no details. He hated talking about the military. He hated that I loved hearing his stories that were meant to discourage me. Although my grandfather is my hero, it wasn’t the glory or the heroism that made me admire his career. It was the selflessness of him and his comrades that truly intrigued me. They were drafted from all over the country, sent against their will to fight in a war that most of them didn’t believe in. As their deployment came to an end these men who deployed as strangers had developed a bond, a friendship like none other.

When I reached the age of thirteen I got in with a bad crowd. Mimicking their behavior I went down a path that led me to a juvenile detention center. I was on probation at the age of thirteen. Needless to say I was very lonely for a long time. I had a lot of time to think. Immediately following my suspension I went back to school. I felt so far behind the rest of my classmates I decided to use school as a social event and put no effort into my education. Approaching my senior year I had the credits of a freshman. Envious of my friends and classmates preparing for graduation, I decided to drop out of school. I got a job at a restaurant but just like everything else, I quit. I was eighteen, lost and had no direction. Until one day a U.S. Army recruiter approached me at the gym and sparked my interest in the military. I always knew I wanted to join the military but I didn’t think I could do it anymore. My recruiter convinced me to go back to school and get my diploma, so I did. I Graduated a year after the rest of my class and was excited to begin my career as an infantryman. During the enlistment process I ran into problems. My past came back to haunt me. The Army has a strict policy on who can join and who can’t. Due to the fact I had a felony charge as a minor, I had to write a letter to send to Washington D.C. I was at the mercy of the Secretary of Defense. After a month of me calling and harassing my recruiter I was approved to join.

Eager to begin my career I shipped out the first chance I had. As Soon as I swore in I could immediately tell the difference between being a civilian and being a soldier. My military peers spoke to me differently, it was a friendlier tone. They gave me all the information they could about basic training minutes before I shipped. My civilian peers treated me as if I did something heroic, thanking me for serving and crying as I boarded my plane to Fort Benning, Georgia.