Personal Narrative Essay: The First Vietnam War

The storm clouds were dark, gloomy and grim like a graveyard. They were near the surface of the earth. It was going to rain. They were lingering on. The soldiers’ uniforms were repeatedly buffeted by the howling gale. The sky was as black as a devil’s soul. A large boom echoed across the crimson battlefield as the lighting returned the thunder’s call. Endless calls for help could be heard. Then, the rain started pouring down, filling up the battle field, like a flood, as the constant sound of the rain pounding on the metal could be heard. Heavy boots pressed down on the wet mud, which would not be dry for the next week, due to the trenches. The trenches were six-foot-deep and reeked of dead bodies and human excrement.

The air is cluttered from the blasting of cannons, and it is hard to see with the darkness all around us. Piercing sounds of gunshots and pain come from all angles, making France seem like the perfect setting for a nightmare. The ground beneath me shakes like an earthquake every time a cannon is blasted, and it is difficult to keep my balance. The fear that I feel at this moment must only be a portion of what the soldiers are feeling on the battlefield. Smells of dirt and dust linger in the air, and I can’t breathe quite right. There is nothing but terror on this battlefield, and lives are being lost at every moment. I can hear the soldiers yelling at the top of their lungs, “Fire! Fire! Charge!” The British and German soldiers are both yelling commands from all angles, and even horses are understanding. I see horses leaping over barbed wire, dodging bullets, and doing everything they can to keep their soldiers on their backs. Everyone involved in this war, whether German or British, is courageous. German soldiers are dragging their wounded soldiers through the thick mud to try to save their lives. Horses are taking bullets for their soldiers. This is a bloody battle, and the pouring rain is only making this battle harder to

All bullets were counted, beds made, uniforms cleaned, this occurred until suddenly 03:45 arrived. “Men, the time is nearly here,” my words choked as self-hatred flooded my body, “What we do here today will be remembered for generations to come, we fight today not only for ourselves, but all who we know. All our mates and family who live back home!” A faint cheer followed my speech as I steadied myself for what was to come. “We charge in 5 minutes. We charge not only for our freedom but for the freedom of our country. For the freedom of the world!” Spit filled the air from the cheer which erupted from my unit this time. A unity formed over the men, a cold malevolent sweat captured me. Who was I to send these boys to their death? A resolve set inside me, I would fight alongside my men, their lives are worth the same as mine. 04:00 “THIS IS IT MEN! WE FIGHT FOR THE WORLD!” I screamed as I led the charge. Vaulting out of the trench I saw no man’s land clearly for the first time. Death was everywhere, flies swarming the pools of blood. The land so barren of life no greenery was seen. A cold resolution set over me, it was the Germans fault, they caused

This is the end, i’m sorry I have to leave you. You have grown so much since the first time I had seen you. I will miss you. At that moment, I realized that I won’t get to see America grow even more than it already has... Ok, before I give away anything else, let’s go to this morning, before all of this happened. It was Friday, April 14, 1865, 7:08am when my wife Mary came into my bedroom and made me the usual breakfast in bed. She got me 1 egg and a cup of coffee. After I got out of bed I went to my office and worked for a while.

One day in 7th grade at 6th block it was almost time for Eogs to begin actually they were the following monday and i was talking to natalie.Mr.Clark was talking about something that really bored me ,so talking to natalie was pretty much my only option.I really should of payed attention but you know it was almost the end of the year and no one really payed attention.He wanted us to take notes so i pulled out a bunch of paper.Everybody kept asking me for paper so i got very annoyed.

The boom of artillery fire and the crack of lead bullets being propelled at lethal velocities out of the smooth barrels seventy-five yards away thundered over the sweet sound of Union drums, while the gun smoke obscured the view of salvation; the glorious Union flag. Roger Cutler, alongside his artillery division, was experiencing shell-shock, stunned by the barrage of enemy fire. He laid there, amidst the utter cacophony and violence, fading in and out of consciousness.

I was running around from tent to tent and it was chaos I was scared, but I needed to help the people that were hurt it was my job. As a German plane buzzed overhead I, nurse Helen Doyal dropped face down in the mud. As an American nurse serving at a British Army base hospital near the Western Front in 1918, it's my job to help the wounded people and soldiers who fight.

As I drove downtown to visit Carol and Lee, I looked for a back way back in which would mean that I wouldn’t be seen. I wandered around for a while, eventually finding their house situated a few hundred yards from a McDonald on Bragg Boulevard and saw an alleyway behind the restaurant. I went to McDonald, where I waited a while before exiting into the back alley to see if I was followed. When I was convinced that it was all clear, I leaped over the fence into Carol’s backyard and up to the door.

Currently I am the acting Section Sergeant in Bravo Troop 1-73 Cav, 2nd BCT, 82nd ABN DIV. I began my career October 2009 and was stationed at Ft Richardson AK, with 3rd Battalion 509th Infantry. In my tenure there I served in positions spanning from the assistant gunner to squad leader, and also the Fire Direction Center (FDC) check and chief. While serving as a gunner/ team leader we deployed to Eastern Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. I was attached to Chosen Company 3-509 and in December 2011 we landed in Bagram, the following week I was slowly pushed out to Combat Outpost (COP) Herrera. COP Herrera was a small outpost located in the Jaji District, East Paktia, and the surrounding villages were known Taliban strongholds.

All of my problems began and ended with a book and a statue. I was currently surrounded by dozens of giant carnivorous lizards. This explanation may be slightly confusing for you, so please allow me to tell my story.

I sat in my room bored out of my mind. My last mission was a few days ago and since I’ve only flown once. I was getting the itch. I needed to fly. To kill. To do something other than sit here on my ass and deal with drunk French and American soldiers every night. Being the first woman to fly and the only woman soldier in this war, I had a hard enough time dealing with their horny, egotistical men comments. I don’t need them drunk too. I got up and walked to my brothers room.

It was 5 am in the morning and I was flying over the Persian Gulf, I was exhausted from the 18 hour flight from Virginia. All I wanted to do was sleep, but the vast amount of emotions I had swirling around in my body kept me in a trance state. Scared because this was my first time in the Middle East and excited to finally see something new, it was a bittersweet moment for me. Finally we landed, Excited to feel my legs again, I rushed towards the front of the plane, only to feel like someone was holding a perpetual blow dryer and LED light to my face. And at that moment, I knew I had arrived in Qatar --- what has the military gotten me into?

Upon arriving to theater, the news spread out quick that one of our engineer platoons was hit

I loved him for that but now wasn't the time to have our minds wandering. We needed to find a way to kill the enemy. Sam let out a few rounds into the shields of the enemy. They simply ricochet off leaving a glowing wave at the point of impact, it was somewhat beautiful. The shield quickly returned to their placid blue states as the enemy's walked towards us. I slowly proceed towards the reactor keeping a watch on all the enemies. John followed with his gun raised towards them, while Sam stayed towards the door, keeping watch. As we approached John threw a grenade in the center of the group. The birdlike creatures glanced down at the object that was thrown into the middle of their huddle; confused about what it was. A few seconds later it went off causing some of them to die instantly while others were flung from the force and by others off the edge of the walkway. They were letting out deafening screeches and squawking at one another almost as if they had done something wrong. The remaining enemies quickly returned to there formation as if forgetting that half of them were killed. I hadn't noticed but each of them were holding an almost circular object that was purple, adorned with green hieroglyphs and what looked like the barrel of a gun. We had seen them earlier on the doglike creature that we had killed, they looked like they were their version of guns. One of them raised their weapon aiming for Johns chest. The end of the gun began to glow as if they were charging the it, they released the trigger causing they glowing ball of energy to go flying into the air. I quickly pushed John to the floor letting the energy hit me square in the chest. It melted parts of my armor I could feel it against my skin, it burnt like

In that instant I turned around and say Kolrak’s shock trooper unit facing me, weapons raised. Then it became clear to me. Kolrak betrayed the Army and used me to get to Alchier’s son with the promise of a “new” life. Then a laser hit a cluster of nerves that ran up my neck.