Why Every American Should Serve in The Military

All of my life I dreamed of joining the military. It may not be everyone’s 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 grandparent’s 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 talked about the terrible living conditions and never ending hunger. 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. I stepped off the bus onto the notorious lawn of 30th AG to the screaming and yelling from Drill Sergeants that I expected. Looking around at the fellow incoming soldiers I  couldn’t help but notice we all had nothing in common. From cowboy boots, to tennis shoes, band tees, to homemade tank tops, visually we were all different people. Throughout Basic Training there were fights and arguments nonstop. Eventually we put all of our differences aside and fortified our brother hood. Graduation was 2 days away, this was our last training exercise before graduation. They call it the bayonet march, it is the hardest portion of basic training. It’s meant to push us to our limits and utilize all of the knowledge we have learned up to that point. The Bayonet March consists of a 20 mile timed foot march through the swamps and woodlands of Georgia. It was a dark wet morning, we were up before the sun. I could feel the humidity on my skin. We were on the last 5 miles of our march but every step felt like it was our last. All I could hear where grunts and cries of soldiers screaming, “fuck!” We needed everyone to finish this march or we all failed. Enemies helping each other and motivating one another. We put our differences aside and completed basic training with honors. 

The Army took a bunch of undisciplined kids that couldn’t survive on their own and made them mature independent men. They exposed our weaknesses and made them our strengths. None of us where ever the same. To this day I speak to almost every soldier I’ve served with on a regular basis and some every day. They gave me the best memories and the best friends I’ll ever have. Every American can benefit from the military. They teach you how to survive in any environment and most of all you have some of the best mentors life has to offer. The military will change the way you speak, think, and behave. Without the military I would still be the undisciplined kid getting In trouble with the law. Instead I am a freshman in college preparing to go back into the military as an officer with a bachelors degree. With ambitions to do more than the bachelors they require. Imagine a country full of men and woman that went through what my platoon and I went through. Imagine what it could do for society.