Personal Essay: Working For Fede

I did my best rather than die knowing I could have done more, and I am needed by George Washington. The first reason I’m Re- Enlisting is because I’m an American. In Doc: D it says,” What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives everything its value…

Many people allocated extreme sacrifices during the Second World War and James Dowling was no exception. This hero embodied a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom when he kept fighting, despite being a prisoner of war for eight months, and also when he undertook various jobs to help better his community. Dowling’s personal perseverance after he was released from his prisoner of war camp is a trait I should strive to emulate in my every-day life. Two soldiers were interviewed in the video entitled “The Greatest Generation,” and these two soldiers demonstrated qualities that were parallel to those of James Dowling. James Dowling was a hero both on the frontier and the home front.

It was only a matter of time before we knew my brothers would answer Americas call. Two of my brothers joined the military before 9/11 happened. Shortly after that day my oldest brother decided to join. He didn’t want his little brothers to feel alone. One by one they all started to receive deployment orders.

“With you I serve. With you I fall down.” Taylor Swift states this in her song, “epiphany,” about her grandfather’s traumatizing fight in the Battle of Guadalcanal during World War II. Tim O'Brien, in his short story “The Things They Carried,” attacks a very similar ideal. From the outside viewer, in a world riddled with propaganda, soldiers in the US Military are seen as heroes with a passion for this country.

I felt, I needed to help and inspire my community to stand up against injustice, but I needed to redefined myself through the military and college. The military helped me established a foundation of ownership, which lead me in enrolling in my local community college where I was enlighten about activism and entered numerous organizations to be involved in service.

Since I was ten years old, I have been a member of the Young Marines, a program dedicated to the enrichment of youth. Aside from my family and school, this organization has had an incredible impact on my life, not only providing me with many unique and amazing experiences, but by shaping the foundation of my character by instilling in me the three core principles of the Young Marines: Discipline, Leadership, and Teamwork and also by emphasizing the importance of community service. I have had many amazing and unique experiences as a Young Marine which included the challenges of promotion to become the senior ranking officer, learning many new skills such as CPR, teaching Drug Demand Reduction, leading and mentoring the members of the Unit, going on encampments and traveling. In my sophomore year, my Unit Commander, a Korean War veteran, selected me to travel with him to Seoul. Every few years he chooses a Young Marine to take to South Korea based on merit.

After the military, my father continued his service to his country in a different form. He became a California Highway Patrol Officer. My mother’s grandfather had volunteered

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said “The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.” Some people choose to believe in fate while others choose to believe in free will. Fate is a power that is believed to control what happens in the future. Free will is the ability to choose the decisions in your life to be whatever you want them to be. One cannot live their life depending on luck or chance which is why free will depicts our future.

Before we're born, our lives are foretold. We're woven through puzzles until we're placed correctly, and we wait till our time comes. Our choices, actions, and beliefs are predicted by the Gods. Our blueprints are engraved in stone -- destined to follow their paths perfectly. Every step is planned, and every future is known.

I had a fair bit of trouble picking up my luggage. It felt like I was lifting a mammoth. Lifting it with two hands, I began to go with the other soldiers towards the jet exit. I dusted off my camo uniform, making sure the star-spangled banner was visible. There was no time for me to sit here and daydream.

I came across a story called “On the Rainy River” which was about a man named Tim O’Brien receiving a draft letter and being conflicted as to whether or not he should go to the war or run away to Canada. After concisely thinking about his decision he runs off to Canada but later regrets it and feels immense guilt and shamefully serves in the war. Reading his story sparked something inside of me, although I opposed this war I thought about the heroism I could have possibly gained going to this war. I couldn’t run away from my family and possibly never see them again, Afraid of leaving my family and normal life behind, I went to war. The pressure O’Brien felt, was the same pressure I was enduring at that moment.

The Fourth Battalion of the 27th Infantry As my father and I sat at the kitchen table, I assumed my dad, Scott Garland, would have somewhat serious responses for being in the Army for 6 years. As he thought about the military all of his life changing memories flooded back to him. He had been stationed in many places and remembered each and every one of them.

Andy Warhol once said, “They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself”. Change is affected by time and by people in different ways. A negative change can ultimately have a positive outcome. Change is not always bad, but in order for it to be good you need to make it good. Change occurs all the time, and it happens to everyone at one point in his or her life.

Fate or free will? Paulo Coelho once said: “I can control my destiny, but not my fate. Destiny means there are opportunities to turn right or left, but fate is a one-way street. I believe we all have the choice as to whether we fulfill our destiny, but our fate is sealed.” According to oxford dictionary, fate is the development of events outside a person’s control, regarded as predetermined by a super natural power.

This event showed me the joy of volunteering and established a love within me that still has not died. These two factors are why I will never forget this event, and why it inspires me to