Stories of Service

The rescue of a domed helicopter crew. I dead and 3 wounded. Jumped out of my ship into a rice paddy then carried a seriously wounded pilot through the rice paddy under fire to medevac helicopter and had to cross rice paddy again to get back to my ship. The most physically demanding thing I’ve ever done. I knew I would get shot but had to go help.

I was never a kiss ass or a save ass which made me a little different. When anything went wrong I took the blame and when things went right I gave the to praise to my troops.

My most memorable moment in the Army was the first time we took small arms fire in Iraq. I remember we were all joking about it immediately and no one had a care. Everyone was safe and we all had each other's backs. Despite being in a hostile environment and receiving hostile contact, we were keeping our heads up, exuding confidence, and we were all ready to get after it!

The most challenging for me was adjusting to civilian life and employment. As an infantrymen you are not taught certain skills that can be carried over into the workforce and it took me months to find something I could actually do and with a company that would train me to be able to provide for my family.

I deployed 4 times to Iraq in support of multiple push including the Baghdad push and the push through Fallujah, also did 2 deployment too Afghanistan and was apart of the push through Marjah.

We took our first casualties on the first day that we took over our sector and the ride alongs were over. I remember that day for multiple reasons. It was 31-Oct-2005, I spent some time that morning with the patrol group that was about to go out right out side our building. We all had a smoke and joked around, but a few hours later after they had rolled out, I was called into the TOC.

Several generations on both sides of my family have served, primarily in the U.S. Army including my father, mother, and brother. I wanted to serve to challenge myself, learn how to lead, and learn how to work with a team in the most stressful situations.

We all survived but what stands out is that by the time I was 1/4 of the way through my deployment I would hear the launch and be able to tell if I had to run or not. It was very strange being able to tell where the mortar would land by the sound of the launch. After getting past that first 1/4 of the deployment I felt no fear.

Staff Sergeant Lee W., a 20-year veteran of the United States Air Force shares his story with us. He talks through lifelong lessons and unexpected challenges after the military.