Veteran's Day

My eight years of service in the Army shaped me into the woman I am today. I was seventeen years old when I left home, flying for the first time to basic training. While my friends partied before leaving for college, I was in South Carolina, being called Pizza and stripped down and built back up into a fighting soldier.

From day one of training, I forged deep friendships with my fellow soldiers, some of which I am still blessed to keep in contact with to this day. I think back to my time at Fort Lee, Virginia, where my three bunkmates and I would rush back to our room to snag the one bathroom that a total of eight females had to share.

I smile when I think about how good it felt to graduate from my Advanced Individual Training as one of the top honors graduates. I remember coming home after close to sixteen weeks of being gone and trying my best to reconnect with my high school friends when in reality, I already felt disconnected from the lives they were living.

I have countless memories at my first active-duty station at Fort Lewis, Washington. There were good days and bad days. It rained more than it didn’t during my time at Fort Lewis, but like the Army motto says- “If it ain’t raining, we ain’t training.” We trained for combat during peacetime, this being before 9/11. We would smoke ‘em if you got ‘em and get smoked for disrespecting an officer or higher-ranking NCO.

We partied like it was 1999 before it was 1999, and I am grateful social media was not around back then. If there is one thing the military knows how to do other than fight, it’s to have a good time.

We all came from different walks of life, and no matter what, we had each other’s backs. I not only made more lifelong friends here, but I met my soulmate. Fort Lewis will always hold a special place in my heart since I was married and gave birth to my oldest daughter.

When I left active duty, I missed the camaraderie so much that I joined the Michigan Army National Guard within a month of moving to Michigan. From the first day of my first drill, I knew I was where I belonged. Again, I made friends that would turn into family. Being deployed to support Operation Iraqi Freedom II forged even deeper bonds with my comrades.

War does something to a person that I am not sure I can put into words. If basic training strips you down to your weakest point to build you back up, then combat does that a hundred times over. Except sometimes, the rebuilding part takes the rest of your life to do.

I don’t regret my time in the military, and if I had to do it all over again, I wouldn’t change one thing.

I am proud, humbled, and honored to be a Veteran. And I am grateful for every single other Veteran that has ever served in the military.