Personal Narrative: My Four Year Veteran Of The Severer

If there was anything more terrifying to a shy, introverted, teenage girl than the idea of being a in crowded room full of strangers, it would to be actually in one. Yet, there I was, surrounded by a numerous amount of impatient, jet-black cars that illuminated the dark streets, rows of musicians rehearsing their piece by playing a dissonance of sounds, and the expectant, motley crowd of people lining up on the sidewalk for the veteran’s parade.

Battling war is something a Veteran knows all too well, but battling the demons in their mind after the war is something that they have to learn how to cope with. One of the most mentioned issues that Veterans face today is a disorder called combat post-traumatic stress disorder. Combat PTSD can easily be defined as a disorder that affects the mental state of the armed forces service member that has been through a difficult or shocking experience during their time served in the military. Experiencing war is not something that everyone can relate to, but it is something that can affect a

My hands were covered in blood.. It was only a matter of time till they caught me.. I could hear the roaring of the wind. The heavy breathing coming from my own chest.. My stomach ached in pain. I could feel the tears beginning to escape from my eyes...

A Veteran Woman On December 7, 2000, I raised my right hand pledging to serve and protect the American people. At the age of 20, I had entered a 240 year-old organization, not really knowing what to expect from it. I was scared, excited, and ready for the new challenges joining this Armed Forces organization would bring. My basic training was at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. This old country girl from Mississippi had to get on an airplane for the first time. My adrenaline was pumping so fast that I felt my heart could easily jump out my chest at any time. Despite all the insecure reservations I had and the negative comments I received from family and friends back home, I made it through basic training and spent a long, vigorous, and uplifting

With every organization comes a degree of change. The Marine Corps is no different. With a rapidly changing world, we must strive to sustain the transformation and remain true to our ethos. Across the Marine Corps the culture of each unit is different, with sustaining the transformation as our tool we can make each unit better for new generations of Marines. Marine Raider Training Center sustains the transformation by holding quarterly promotion panels to ensure deserving promotions; however it fails to sustain the transformation by not welcoming new Marines to the unit appropriately, I will build a Welcome Aboard package to sustain the transformation for my Marines.

From January 8 to January 10, 2014, the first Wounded Warrior Pacific Invitational was held in Honolulu, Hawaii. Hosted at the Pearl Harbor-Hickam bases, this event included a total of 150 athletes. The Wounded Warrior Pacific Invitational was the largest joint-service competition outside of the annual Warrior Games. At the event, servicemembers from the Special Operations Command, Army, Coast Guard, Navy, Air Force and Marines took part in the various competitions.

Growing up in Iraq, I endured my homeland’s journey through a difficult period in its history. No one was unaffected: civilians’ lives were disrupted by years of wars and detrimental economic sanctions, but amid the destruction, I saw the good in my community. I witnessed a massive humanitarian effort led by healthcare professionals, as physicians worked to meet the medical needs in my town. My dreams were shaped by this exposure, and ever since, I’ve hoped to join these doctors in their efforts.

I wandered across the street, the gravel crunched under my feet. I hear my dad yell my name “Amira.” I run toward my house. My dad tells me to lock the door as soon as I am in. Click, goes the lock. But, something’s not right, my dad is still outside. I look through the peephole in my door. I see 5 men in camo uniform with guns charging at my dad. They stop one meter away from him. The soliders raise thier guns. Aim. Fire. Bang, Crash. I can’t see anything except bright red blood. I scream. I hear the soldier’s feet crumble on gravel and the sound becomes more and more faint. I open my door and there in front of my eyes, my dad covered in thick blood. I roll up into a ball and start shaking. My throat starts closing up. Suddenly I hear a soft,

Little did I know that was going to be the second to last time I would see her. If I knew about my upcoming death and I had a choice, I would have stayed, but when you are deployed to the US army you don't have choice. You can resist orders and be killed or you can follow orders and have a slight chance of surviving. I chose the later because I wanted to come home to my beautiful wife.

With no vision or plan to enter the civilian life and no idea what to do with my life, I still had severe scars of the year in Iraq. There wasn’t a priority or a drive, but however, I did have some responsibility I had a wife and three children. In a desperate move, I attempted to return to the State where I was born as I think about it this may have been some comfort zone. I would send my two new children back home to their state while I attempted to land a job. My first interview would be in Cincinnati as a Retail Manager in a large company. Confident that I had some stability, I couldn’t avoid the heavy drinking or my violent outbursts I would eventually succumb to leaving my wife and two children to find myself in this lost world, which later I regretted. My focus was to leave everything behind and start a new life this would

make her be quite. The dog has also managed to follow us the whole time she started to lick

The year was 2007 and my brother Eric had just returned home from deployment to Iraq and the mood was ecstatic around the house. My dad was welling up with tears, finally being able to see his oldest child returning home from service. Mom was also very happy as well, repeatedly fondling over Eric as soon as he entered the house. Eric and I had always been close, even though there was a decent age gap between us of 15 years. We talked for hours about what his time was like in Iraq and in the military; he seemed open to talking about it even though he witnessed some fairly nightmarish experiences. Eventually I got the bright idea to challenge him to a wrestling match on the lawn even though he had 120 pounds on me. He tried to talk me out of

A couple of years ago, one night, I was about to propose to my girlfriend before an nfl game tbh, when my roommate Joseph barged into the room out of nowhere, tripped and fell over, breaking a glass table with his face. Totally ruined the mood. Now, I didn't know Joseph THAT well, don't even remember where he was from, but let' just say I put my plans on hold to help him through his injuries.Joseph had gotten a big glass shard in his eye, making him completely blind in that eye. He was walking around with one of those cotton pads on his eye for a couple of months. Then suddenly, he disappeared, along with my girlfriend .Apparently they'd bonded during the time after his injuries, and eloped together , left me behind without as much as a note.

My grandmother asked me the other day what plans I had when I finish high school. I told her “I’m too sure yet, probably take a gap year in order to go travelling.”

I joined the Marine Corps looking for a challenge. I wanted to open doors for a new career and longed to have a positive impact on the world around me. Looking back five years later, I realize I found all that I originally sought, but I’ve also found something profoundly satisfying and meaningful that I never knew I was missing.