...When your nation calls upon you will you answer? Patriotism: the devotion to one’s nation and concern for its well-being. This trait is often not recognized or is completely forgotten about. In the article, “Veterans Day: Never Forget Their Duty” by John Sidney McCain (III), he depicts the emotional story of brave men who, when even in the “belly of the beast” maintain their composure and their patriotism. We must recapture this characteristic and sustain it for it is a meaningful aspect to a nation. John McCain takes us through his experiences while in the military and his feelings towards the thought of patriotism. Senator McCain himself is an American patriot for his service to our nation humorously illustrated by, “I spent five years...
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...Lifestyle of an Active Duty Soldier and Veteran Keri Reeves ENG 121 English Composition Prof. Ginger Marcinkowski October 4, 2015 The lifestyle of an Active Duty Soldier and Veteran is an experience I will never forget. Imagine this, you just graduated from high school and ship out the following month to boot camp. You are eighteen-years-old and officially on your own. You have a purpose and a new career ahead of you. You just joined the United States Army, congratulations kid. Till this day, I remember when I signed and swore in on my contract. I didn’t see myself going to college like most kids did and I did not want to be the kid that still lived with their parents. You are about to encounter the lifestyle of an Active Duty Soldier and Veteran, carry on. I did ten years in the Army as an active duty soldier. My first tour was in South Korea. I worked there as a medical supply specialist for one year and traveled around the country while I was there. I didn’t appreciate that tour then as much as I know I would have now. I suppose that is what happens when you’re young. When my time was up, I left to go to Fort Drum, New York and served two and a half years there. That same year we left for a fifteen month deployment to Iraq. During the time of our deployment, I was attached to a Scout element and was the female searcher for them. As a female assigned to a Scout unit, I learned very quickly the male soldiers were not allowed to search woman and children...
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...that one encounters have a profound effect on the human psyche. Many nations have experienced conflicts and wars that have caused countless deaths and injuries to people of all walks of life. However, the physical wounds aren’t the only ones that occur. The psychological damages are just as harmful to a person’s wellbeing. I am from South Korea, which remains divided from its northern counterpart due to the Korean War. The horrors of fighting that pitted brother against brother and had Koreans harming each other was truly a sad sight to behold. My grandfather escaped the North before the war and personally fought in the Korean War after he graduated from the South Korean military academy. My grandfather survived the Korean War and to this day, he refuses to discuss about what he experienced. He said the harrowing details of what he witnessed is too graphic and disturbing for anyone to hear. It was quite evident that the suffering that he feels from the horrific events of the war was severely affecting him negatively because he truly looks to be in pain when reminded of anything related to the war. He used to only reveal occurrences that were light-hearted in nature, but that was few and far between. There was an instance when he said that one of the greatest fears...
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...Re-entry back into civilian life Prepared by John Smith Submitted to Jenny Smith, Ph.D. March 11, 2014 Memo Date: | March 12, 2014 | To: | Jenny Smith | From: | John Smith | Re: | A study of veterans re-entry back into civilian life | | | I’m transmitting this report for your review, which was prepared to determine the importance of re-entry back into civilian life, and how this information can have a big impact on our veterans’ livelihood. This study focuses on VA support, VA counseling, and VA rehabilitation. I have looked in all three scenarios to better understand its importance in our veterans, our society, and our well-being as a whole. This report provides necessary actions to take so our veterans can have a positive future, and progress as they return from line of duty. These actions will significantly improve our society likelihood to make better decisions about our veteran’s future. Taking accountability and acknowledging our own role in an encounter with a veteran will immediately get a handgrip and correct our situations for the future. If you have a question or comment, please feel free to contact me at (248) 248-1248. CONTENTS EXECTUTIVE SUMMARY ……………………………………………………………………………………. 1 INTRODUCTION ………………………………………………………………………………………………… 2 RE-ENTRY BACK INTO CIVILIAN LIFE ………………………………………………………………….. 2 Description of the findings ……………………………………………………………………. 2 Summary of findings …………………………………………………………………………….. 3 BODY...
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...suffering from wounds that can’t be seen, but by internal wounds that we struggle with on a daily basis. We will never be the same. Many veterans return from war and are unable to adapt to the life they once knew. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is one of the most widely recognized lasting effects of war in service members. PTSD is a mental health condition that’s triggered by a terrifying event or ordeal in which grave physical harm occurred or was threatened (Department of Veterans Affairs). Every day while patrolling roads in Iraq we had to be aware of our surroundings and not become complacent. Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were one of the most common threats we were exposed to. These bombs were hidden in the ground like landmines, unable to be seen with a naked eye, and could only be detected by using metal detectors, the eye in the sky, or being ran over. On several occasions my men and I were directly hit by an IED causing shrapnel to penetrate through our vehicle, causing wheels to be blown off the vehicle, causing a loss of armor, and instilling a fear that death is a reality. This is just one example of the many events that could cause PTSD in a service member. When a tour of duty is over, it is hard for a member of the military to leave the war overseas. The constant exposure to harmful threats makes it near impossible to forget....
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...Educational Benefits in the Military EH 1020 Professor Reynolds December 3rd, 2012 Abstract A military career will provided a person with a rich set of experiences and skills that many civilian employers seek in new hires. Only having experience and job related skills are no guarantee that you will land a job once you are discharged from the military. Having an education is one of the most important qualities a person can have. Many employers have minimum education requirements just to be considered. If you don’t meet the minimum requirements you risk your resume not being reviewed and chances are your resume will not get a second glance. Meeting the minimum job requirements might get your foot in the door; however, generally education will often be the tie-breaker that will get you hired. Educational Benefits in the Military There was a time in the military when having an education was insignificant. You could join with no if, ands, or buts about it, and be on your way to basic training in no time. There was a time when the military did not even require you to have a high school diploma in order to join. Times have changed, and so has the military in regards to the ability to receive an education. Serving in the military today is a very specialized and intense experience. You no longer can just join like stated above, you have to take an ASVAB test (multiple-aptitude battery that measures developed abilities and helps predict future academic and occupational success...
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...Ever since the draft was discontinued in 1973 the United States has had an all volunteer military. This implies that the military goes out of their way,constantly attempting to recruit more volunteers to enlist and join the military family. Having to recruit takes crucial time and effort which our military is willing to invest in those who are prepared to take the next step in life. Statistically proven the prime candidates for these tasks are the youth or students graduating high school or college.Many view military recruiting inadequate to society,some have rightful cases, but others have their needless opinions.Even though students entering the military upon graduation sometimes have higher stress levels, that can lead into mental issues....
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...Close to the foundation of this country people have asked this question; “What does it mean to be American?” It can be defined as many things or even three words such as; inequality, perseverance, and hope. Thus the meaning of an American is facing the inequality from different races, positions, and classes. To have the perseverance to surpass all things and people who stand in your way. And finally, to hope for the best outcome for tomorrow, for the nation, for the world, and for the generations to come. The following examples will prove this. Ironically, the first word to defining American is inequality for it has and will always be a part of this nation. As stated by Anzia Yezierska in her short story America and I, “America gives free...
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...American. When people come to the United States it is usually for freedom or to have a better life, and America provides that. In the poem, The New Colossus, Emma Lazarus states, ¨Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free… Send these the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door” (9)! In this quote, the lamp symbolizes the opportunities that America provides for immigrants who come searching for a better life. In the short story, America and I, the jewish author Anzia Yezierska writes about her life coming to America from Russia. According to Yezierska, “America was a land of living hope, woven of dreams, aflame with longing and desire” (16). America gives her hope that she will one day be a successful woman who is happy with what she is doing....
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...ANALOGY ESSAY SAMPLES • While not perfect, these samples from students past should give you an idea on how to organize and approach this essay. • If you have any questions, please ask. Should We Pay? Many issues have been plaguing the sports world recently, especially the question of paying college athletes. Are athletics so important that colleges need to put out millions of dollars per year just to pay for students to play for them? Paying college athletes is like throwing a lit match into a haystack: once the fire is started, it just keeps burning, making a bad situation worse. There are several differences between the haystack and paying athletes. To start, throwing a needle in a haystack is a totally negative concept; everything will burn. However, with paying college athletes, some people can find reasons why this could be a positive thing. For instance, some believe paying athletes will bring more competition to the table and make some colleges much more prestigious than others. Others say this will bring in more money and more revenue. A second difference is the end of the situation. At the end of the fire, there is smoke and it will eventually put itself out. However, this is an issue that cannot extinguish itself. No matter what the verdict, someone is going to be unhappy and the "fire" will keep burning. [pic]Despite these differences there are many similarities between the two. One similarity is the haystack going up in flames and the...
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...I am navigating this with the same fortitude that I did in Active duty life. The thing that I noticed being a spouse in the Marine Corps was that there was always enough help out there but not from someone that had the same experiences that I had. People could always say to me, “I can imagine how you feel right now” but no one ever said to me “I know exactly how you feel right now and you are entitled to feel that way”. Military life is incredibly difficult. It is a system that is burdened with families that need help while being understaffed. Being married to the Marine Corps for 15 years, I saw this first hand. I knew that this problem existed but I wasn’t sure how I wanted to be a part in fixing the problem. So I decided that I wanted to become an active participant in helping to solve the problem by...
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...The Cold War By Gloria Rodriguez Exploring the 1960s: An Interdisciplinary Approach December 17, 2012 Hector The first person that I interviewed was my Uncle Hector. He was in the Vietnam War as a Marine and served his country for 20 years. I remember as a child when he had told me that his best friend died in his arms he was split in half. I will never forget the sadness in his eyes. I started to cry because it broke my heart seeing my Uncle so sad. Every year on that day of the death of his best friend he is quiet and wants to be left alone. That is why I chose him and he was willing to talk to me about his thoughts about the cold war and what it means to him. What the Cold War means to my Uncle Hector, is that it reminds him of all the terrible things he witnessed in the Vietnam War. Watching innocent people dying, civilians and soldiers. And then whole villages being moved whenever the leadership figured they were in the way. For Uncle Hector the Cold War was very hot. He continues to say that the troops could not wait to get out and return home to their families whom they missed so much. The soldiers would talk to each other and they would say, “If I don’t make it send this letter to my family so they would know how much I love them.” “I Thank God that I came home and had a chance to see my children grow up, get married and that they did not have to enter into the military like I did.” George George is my roommate and best friend. He was in grade...
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...Andres Pena COP 1102 “The Things They Carried” What does becoming a soldier mean? Does it mean that duty comes before love or does it mean the opposite? Could it be that soldiers do not have control of their feelings? From the mind of Tim O’Brien, “The Things They Carried” describes young soldiers that were automatically bumped up into manhood. The author treats the inner conflict that each soldier had to bear during the Vietnam War while fighting for their country. Witnessing horrific scenes of war and the emotional and physical burdens that each of them carried, O’Brien unfolds how these men had no choice but to fulfill their patriotic duty. As the leader of the platoon, First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross goes through an inner conflict between love and duty, carrying his orders in his mind and Martha in his heart. But how far can war or following orders, impair the human side of compassion and love? Although, soldiers become men at war, O’Brien focuses in a story where war makes men emotionally handicap, leaving mental scars that may never heal. The story is told by a third person’s point of view, however, O’Brien includes a touch of his personal experiences during the war where he spent a year in Vietnam (Hicks). As Josiah Bunting said, “The things he carried into war are very different from what he carried away from it” (Bunting) expressing O’Brien’s experience at war and how his experience as a soldier would convince readers to believe that the different traumatic moments...
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...reported hearing voices from the television that were in a foreign dialogue. It was recommended he see a psychiatrist when family members realized that the foreign dialogue he heard came from the television when it was not turned on. The symptoms that Blaire had were similar to what many other veterans of wars experienced. The doctors treating Sgt. Blaire Smith were familiar with the different types of symptoms he was experiencing and they immediately diagnosed him with Post – Traumatic Stress Disorder (also known as PTSD). PTSD is a common anxiety disorder that develops after exposure to a terrifying event in which a deadly physical harm occurred (Pastorino & Doyle- Portillo, 2010, P. 585). History of PTSD After many years of dealing with the various symptoms of Post – Traumatic Stress Disorder clinicians and psychologist have worked together to develop treatments that help reduced the symptoms of PTSD. These symptoms include depression, anxiety, re-current nightmares, and hopelessness. Though it took years for medical doctors to recognized PTSD, surviving veterans have been rewarded with intensify treatment that is master towards their individual needs. Many of the veterans who displayed PTSD from flashbacks had exhibit depression where first given psychological therapy to help them face the trauma that they had experienced during combat. Many...
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...Lyman narrates his story and tells us about the time when he and his brother, Henry Junior, bought a red convertible and the two were very fond of the car. They drove the car all over the country. He also tells us about the time when a girl in Montana asked for a ride to Alaska. The two brothers agreed and they drove all the way to Alaska. Both of them lived there for a while, but Henry Junior was called for duty in Vietnam and went away. He wrote some letters back before his imprisonment. After his arrival though, he “…was very different, and I’ll say this: the change was no good” (Erdrich 182). Henry Junior was annoyed by every little thing and that he was no doubt mentally disturbed. Lyman would damage the red convertible, so that Henry Junior would fix it. This was because Lyman decided that this would help him to be occupied and think about the damage of the car and not the war. One day Lyman and Henry Junior go for a ride, where the two had a brief fight that ended in laughter. Henry Junior wanted to cool off and thus he jumped into the water. Due to the strong current of the water he drifted off and disappeared. Lyman jumps in too in order to find and fails to do so. He then gets in the red convertible and drives towards the river and jumps out of the car. The red convertible plunges into the river and...
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