My First Day At The United States Army

I left for basic training on July 30, 2008, and arrived in Fort Leonard Wood Missouri on July 31, 2008. Before we entered into our extreme training, we processed into the Army for a whole week at reception. On the day of actual basic training, we realized our great lives changed to instructions all day, miserable feelings, separation from family, and extreme exhaustion. Although, this was our life much more horrifying things were about to happen. We finally realized all the negative feelings we were having seemed to get worse, such as receiving a shark attack from our drill sergeants, we were told

“Get off my bus Privates, GET OFF!”. The Drill Sergeant yelling jolted me out of sleep

One day he was summoned to the Squadron Office and told to report to Technical Sergeant Tullos. Now this is another of those instances where growing up in a small town pays off. The Master Sergeant instructed Private Willis to take a seat. When he had, the Sergeant asked him “are you really from Neshoba County, Mississippi?” Private Willis answered “well I sure am”, to which the Sergeant replied “so am I”. Then the Sergeant asked him if he knew Danny Tullos. Private Willis replied “Yes I do. I played basketball against him in school. He went to Forestdale High School”. The Sergeant replied “That’s right, he’s my brother. Next time you see him, tell him I said hello”, and with that Private Willis was dismissed. Two days later when the daily listing of permanent duty station orders were posted, a listing which was always in alphabetical order, Private Willis found his name at the top of the list. He had been assigned to Headquarters Second Air Force at Barksdale Air Force Base. Now Private Willis had never heard of Barksdale but was pleased to learn it was located in Bossier City, Louisiana and later learned that it was the closest Air Force facility to where he had grown up. Serving in the military, you met, eat, sleep and perform daily functions with people from all across this

Even though the drill sergeant told us to keep our heads down, I couldn’t help but peek my head up just to see what is out the window. All I saw was the beautiful blue sky with no clouds in site, and the sun just smiling down on us. The bus stopped at the destination, and I felt my heart stopped as if it was the last time I ever get to see the world. Out of nowhere the same drill sergeant with the mega phone was outside of my bus and started yelling at us with all his might. We could sense fear and terror in the atmosphere as the drill sergeant started pull us out of the bus one by one. The closer I got to the drill sergeant the clearer I got to see every vein and artery throbbing out of his neck and for every word he said you can see them pumping a heartbeat. Once I was able to get my focus from all the scatterings another drill sergeant was yelling at me to run up this hill that look as if it was Mount Rushmore but covered in grass and surrounded by privates but in a far distance look like ants. So I ran to the top acting like it was the end of my life and that I running away from the bulls like how the Spaniards do when they have their annual running with the bulls. Running to the top of the hill was harder than excepted. After finally reaching the top I stopped to catch my breath for my lungs felt as if they’re balloons and someone squeezed all the air out of

This story brings back some harsh truths about warfare, and explains why so many naïve young men joined up, only to suffer deaths well before their time.

“Go! Go! Go!” yelled Drill Sergeant Saunders. I must have fallen asleep for a few seconds because I did not hear him give the order to start crawling. I opened my eyes to all three drill sergeants surrounding me and screaming at the top of their lungs. In my mind I kept asking myself, "Why did I join the U.S. Army?"

I hear a BANG!!! and I’m up out of bed. It’s that sergeant firing blanks again, I think. I’m so used to routine that I’m firing at the Germans before I know it. I feel like I’ve shot this gun so many times my arm is numb instead of sore. I’m standing there and looking around, I see my fellow soldiers, mud, sandbags, and water. I throw a grenade at them. I wipe sweat from my forehead. The smell of rotting flesh is as worse as ever in this heat. I’m gonna hurl,I think.

We all fell laying in the grass, tears of joy running down our faces. “Finley after a whole year, I got it.” My dad said. As he got home from the first day, he was wearing his new uniform. After a year he decided that he wanted to get the job on the road. He filled out an application and they said that they needed some

Having no experience with war, the youth enlisted in the army, going against his mother’s wishes. From the moment the youth enlisted, his regiment had not engaged in battle, but constantly drilled to prepare for the horrors they may encounter. The youth knew from the drills that he did not possess the courage that army veterans had. The youth’s regiment finally received orders to march and engage in a battle. In an uncertain tone, the youth asks another soldier how he knows he “won’t run when the time comes?”(20). “Run?-- of course not!” was the response the youth received and immediately he knew that among the men of the army, “he was a mental outcast” (20,21). Henry did not have the courage

As I went to the recruiting station in my normal civilian clothes dressed neatly in some nice fitting Levi’s Jeans, blue and white stripe polo shirt, and had on some black Nike Airs shoes. My hair was short about ¾ of an inch all around I weighed in at 127 pounds at 6-foot-tall I was extremely underweight for my height and I was always pushed around because people thought they could do what they wanted and get away with it so I had to adopt and take no prisoner’s mentality.

In 2010, my family moved to Derby, Kansas, a quaint town outside of McConnell Air Force Base. My stepdad was transferred there, and with only a few years left until his enlistment was up, we started to think we were going to be in Derby forever. However, a year later, the United States Air Force had honorably discharged him, and with a job lined up in Roanoke, Virginia, we began making plans to move again. The start date for my stepdad’s new job was two days after my baby brother was born, so he left with the rest of my family joining him two months later. My stepdad leaving the military was an eye-opener for my family, but it brought us closer and forced us to work harder to continue life the way we knew it.

My tale begins with a conscription letter. I had been granted a week’s notice before I had to go to Vietnam. I spent the last week having fun with my mates from the shop. My parents drove me to the airport and we enjoyed breakfast together for the last time. I waved goodbye and then began on my adventure.

So the summer of 1996 Daniel Rucker went to basic training camp to get ready for the Army. He said "It was hard at first because I wasn't in the best of shape, but it got easier as it went on." After basic training camp all of the recruits were stationed

For our 2nd time going to Pendleton, I didn’t feel anxious that much since I had already been there in the past. When we arrived, some of my classmates and I were joking around about applying for the job openings they had, that was displayed in front of the prisons. We then were standing and sitting in front of Pendleton, where the visitor parking was, and we wanted a picture together in front of Pendleton because we were looking like the Breakfast Club, but we then realized we can’t take pictures so we went inside. James told us to go inside and to not look like creepers, which we were standing around in the parking lot. Once we got inside, we went into the visitor area, and a guard had to check our id and check us in. Afterwards, he told

It was my first day at work and I thought to myself, Is my hair straight? Are these the right clothes? Are the people going to be mean? I walked in with confidence in my face as the sliding doors opened for me. It was busy and every register was full of people. At least ten customers were in each line. I walked in and walked to the supervisor. “I’m ready to work,” I said with a big smile. He looked at me as welcoming as ever and walked me over to behind the counter. He gave me an old, plastic bag full of money and a solid, black register tray that looked well used.