The
first question people tend to ask when they find out I am in the military is
whether I have a family connection that led me to join. I can understand why
that is assumed – most folks that I have met do have some form of a family tie.
However, that is not what led my to my interest in the military.
Grandfathers
on both sides of my family served in the military in some capacity. My dad’s
dad served as an engineer in the Army and my mom’s dad served as a cook on a
Navy ship for a short time. But unlike most military families, it was never
really talked about. Both of them did their time and then moved on to other
things, much like many in their generation did. So military service was never
really at the front of my mind.
Then
9/11 happened. I was in third grade. We never had the television on in the
house before school, but for some reason we had “Good Morning America” on that
morning. I can vividly remember sitting on my parent’s bed before going down to
breakfast as the second plane flew into the World Trade Center. Being so young,
I was not quite sure what was going on. When I got to school, the teachers
weren’t allowed to talk about what had happened. Even when I got home, it was a
bit surreal.
It
took a long time for the events of that day to sink-in. Wrapping my mind around
the fact that a group of people hated our country so much that they would fly
planes into skyscrapers and kill thousands of people was a lot to take in.
I
realized the thing that bothered me the most was that there were so many
innocent people that died. They needed protecting, someone to stand in the gap
for them. Granted, there was little anyone could have done to stop the attacks,
but it still left me with a profound thought.
There
are countless people worldwide that have no one to protect them. Men, women,
and children the world over are oppressed. Even at a young age, I decided that
I would do everything that I could do to change that. It sounds cliché, but I
have always been passionate about protecting those who cannot protect
themselves. Being the oldest of four, it has always been natural for me to be
protective; but it wasn’t until 9/11 that I realized that spirit could be
applied on a larger scale.
As I
thought about what venue would be best to apply this passion, the military came
into focus. Living in Colorado Springs, I grew up around a number of Air Force
bases, as well as a large Army instillation. The men and women in uniform that
I met and got to know personified the ideal of standing in the gap for those
who can’t protect themselves.
As I
started to dig through what my life would be like after high school, college
was a given but the military was still a strong pull. I considered different
military academies and ROTC programs. I ultimately decided that ROTC would be
the route for me and put in an application to Army Cadet Command. One thing led
to another and now I am an Army ROTC cadet at Baylor University.
My road to the Army has not been conventional by military
standards. However, it has been one of the best decisions that I have made. The
lessons I have learned from mentors and those I am walking this ROTC journey
with have been incredible, even in the short time I have been here. I hope to
share some of those as this column continues.
That about does it for this first edition of Military
Mondays. Thanks for reading!
Useless Fact of the
Day: Some moths never eat as adults, since they do not have mouths. They must
live on the energy they stored as caterpillars.