Recommended: Orginization of rank structure in the army
Late 2005 I was assigned to 2-35 Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, HI. I re-enlisted into the Army after almost a three year break in service. On my previous enlistment, I served in the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment from the 82nd Airborne Division. All the new soldiers to include myself were standing in formation waiting on the Battalion Command Sergeant Major (CSM) to speak to us. I was the only Private First Class with a Combat Infantryman Badge, an Expert Infantryman Badge, and a combat deployment to Afghanistan.
The Chief of Staff at the Wiesbaden Community, Colonel Weafer, owned a lovely home in Leavenworth that he wanted to rent. He also had a connection with the housing office that could get us a statement of unavailability on the post so we could rent off the post. We arrived at a beautiful home and arranged for our household goods delivery. We had three shipments; one from Germany, whole baggage waiting for delivery, and a storage shipment from my mother’s house in Phoenix.
The war had dragged on for longer than anyone could have imagined. Damage on the Western Front. Millions dead. Food rations significantly reduced. Again.
It was December 1st. My first day in the colonial army, it was horrible all i saw was snow and dead bodies the scene made me shake in the soles of my shoes. The estimated amount of people dead so far was about 1,800 to 2,500. It was absolutely freezing and i wanted to go home, i was confused and couldn’t think straight. Men were dropping like flies and the stench of death was all too real.
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.
Loud noises seemed to scare me, I have no idea why but screeching tires, Revving engines, screaming children, and even the occasional barking dog will get me on edge and paranoid. In my younger years I joined the US Air Force as a way to get away from everyday life, I just wanted to get out of the everyday monotony of work, sleep, wake, repeat. The only thing that brought me any kind of variety was my sweetheart back home, Hazel. We met in high school when I was just 17 years of age, somehow we are still together today through the night terrors and struggles I constantly suffer.
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.
The morning of September 11th, 2001, started just like any other morning when my Platoon was out in the field. At 0500 hours I was woke up to start my morning hygiene routine, and reapply camouflage face paint before we started training. Shortly after quickly eating a Meal Ready to Eat (MRE), my squad leader was directing the guys in my squad to execute the morning maintenance on the Mortar System and our personal weapons. I distinctly remember that morning seemed to be going a lot smoother than usual, everyone was pulling their equal share of duties, no arguing or shirking of duties due to a little seniority.
Serving in World War one was a life changing thing. I had become use to my everyday life as a citizen, living without and worry’s, not having to worry about getting bombed, or losing your friends. I would try not to male any friends, but it is just my personality I guess. I would try to be alone and not talk to anyone, I wish I would have stuck to that. One day everyone in my troupe woke up at 0500 for our morning routine; usually we would have a few practice rounds with our guns, run a few miles, eat breakfast, and sometimes they would issue us rum to not only drink, but to clean our guns as well.
Do you remember a few months ago, that night where the whole family was sitting down for Easter dinner and I burst in? Do you remember my shaky fingers and my eyes that scanned the room over and over again nervously as I explained that I was to leave for war? I remember your face, the tears, the words, everything. Mom, you told me not to go, that in war there were no winners and that war would change my life. I was so against these words that I haven't talked to you since, but I want you to know that those words echoed through my head in the cold and sleepless nights and frightening days at war whether I wanted them to or not.
Well, I’ll start my story off the day I returned from Afghanistan in July 2013. The moment I stepped off the plane I knew that those longs days and nights in Afghanistan were finally over and I could relax again. Thats exactly what I tried to do for the next month or so but I was still having trouble.
My whole family is from Hungary. As it was mandatory for men to serve in the military before 2004, all my male relatives are veterans. Even my own father is a lieutenant. Unfortunately I can not choose my father for an interview as a veteran, as he did not serve in the United States military. Although Hungary is now part of North Atlantic Treaty Organization, (or NATO) and ally with the United States of America, before 1990 Hungary was part of the Warsaw Pact and “enemy” of United States.
Says Dudley (2010) says, “We need to redefine leadership as being about lollipop moments, how many that we create, how many we acknowledge, how many of them we pay forward, and how many then we say thank you for.” (Dudley). Luckily, for me, I have been on the receiving end of a “lollipop moment,” and it happened very recently. My career in the military began as enlisted soldier and very shortly afterward, I became a non-commissioned officer in which I filled a variety of leadership roles. On average, I had approximately 35 soldiers under my charge.
Being a Veteran means to sacrifice yourself for your country, miss firsts in your families lives, and go on a never ending deathly adventure, you live petrified throughout. A Veteran is someone who is content when they free the world from despair. Veterans suffer traumatic experiences during endless days so we can take for granted our spoiled lives. Contributing service to our country is how we remember veterans, but we must remember them also for their character. I look to my father, the strongest man on earth, wearing his green uniform, walk through the door.
I don’t really enjoy picking fights, or committing any acts of violence. Truthfully, if I got into any type of conflict, my lanky body would probably give up on me halfway. That’s what my wife told me after I said I was going to be joining the US armed forces. “Mark, are you an idiot? You can’t even walk without limping, how will you serve our country?!”
