The Fourth Battalion of the 27th Infantry
As my father and I sat at the kitchen table, I assumed my dad, Scott Garland, would have somewhat serious responses for being in the Army for 6 years. As he thought about the military all of his life changing memories flooded back to him. He had been stationed in many places and remembered each and every one of them. Hawaii, Georgia, North Carolina, Louisiana, and Japan which had taken part in changing his life. His coming of age happened while in the Army and it caused him to become the person he is today. The Army wasn’t a positive experience for my father and he would not consider doing it again. However, he is grateful he joined for through this experience he gained a lot of knowledge he otherwise
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Yet when compared the Army it was paradise. “It forced me to grow up very quickly...two days later talking about actually learning all the different ways to kill people.” Eventually he started becoming used to it and all the violence became less disturbing. Yet, that first call from home made everyone lose it. The drill sergeants would give everyone a pep talk beforehand and would mockingly as “You a tough guy right? Yeah you’re a tough guy, don’t worry. Sure right you’re tough.” Only to watch them burst into tears the second they heard their mother’s voice. No matter how strong or brave you seem, when you are away from home that long and you can hear familiar voices of your mom and younger siblings it makes you cry. But like the violence, it soon became normal. And Scott continued the daily routine from running in the morning to movies in the night. While the Army brought out the worst in everyone there were some positive things that changed my dad’s life. For example, even now he still remembers the speeches his drill sergeant would give his unit after a long day. “It gave you five or ten minutes of normalcy at the end of the day.” The biggest thing that truly changed