On Military Service & Success

In America, you can achieve what you want. You just have to put in hard work for those goals to be achieved. People might try to stop you or put you down, but if you look past that and focus on what you want, you can do whatever you want. Some people look to achieve their goals through serving in our nation's military. These people not only have discipline and determination for serving our country, but also seek and achieve success. My family is a prime example of that American creed ideology: hard work in the military leads to success in America.

My grandfather, being the first generation to live fully as an American citizen, exercised that American creed ideology. He served in the second world war and learned how to work on military equipment and specialized in weapons maintenance. Towards the end of the war, he was critically wounded, luckily survived, and came back to America. Once back in America, my grandfather earned his masters degree at Wayne State and became a high school teacher. He taught shop classes and drafting classes with the knowledge that he acquired. He was able to attend college through his service in the military and lived up to our family’s American Creed ideology, hard work in the military leads to success in America.

One of my uncles served in the Army during the early 1970’s. This was during the Vietnam War. He served in the Charlie Guard. Their duty is to walk alongside the horse-drawn carriage that carries the caskets of soldiers who are being laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery. When he got out of the Army, he became a police officer. His dedication, discipline and attention to detail, that were learned in the service, benefited him in regard to his duties as a police officer. He received many awards, merits, and heroism certifications while serving the citizens of Sterling Heights. He retired as a Sergeant, and today works to negotiate contracts for city, police, and fire department personnel in southeast Michigan.

I decided interview one of uncles to get a more direct conversation and have him answer some specific questions about the military. My uncle agreed with our families American creed of hard work in the military leads to success in America, and believes there are amazing long term benefits from serving. My uncle went to University of Michigan for 1 year, then left and enlisted right after vietnam. He said the army in particular, had a bad reputation and was in disrepair from the war. The army started offering jobs working at The White House as a TV Production Specialist and my uncle took the job due to there being no large demand for an infantry at his time of enlistment. At the white house, he recorded the president's speeches, press conferences, and announcements. He helped organize the agenda for the president’s speeches and all the audio recordings were archived. He learned to appreciate the professional working world and how work with a sophisticated team. After working at The White House, my uncle worked for an international moving company and had connections with moving supplies and equipment for The World Bank. He was offered a 6 month training period on the corporate security team at The World Bank and stayed on it for over 20 years. My uncle specified how college to him felt like extended high school which he didn’t like and wanted change. He appreciated how the Army taught him practical skills and how to be a mature adult. These traits learned through serving lead to his success in America.

After interviewing my uncle, he suggested I interview his daughter who served in the Army as well. After graduating high school, she attended and graduated from West Point Military Academy in New York. She made it explicit that going to West Point took her out of her comfort zone and forced to her to learn new and practical skills which she enjoyed. She said the military provides a good foundation and allows you to discover what you’re truly capable of achieving. My cousin did one tour in Iraq and one in Afghanistan and after completing those, she became an engineer in the Army. Currently, she’s still serving and has learned the importance of teamwork, self perseverance, and how to solve problems as an engineer through being in the Army.

Success in America can be achieved by yourself in many different ways. Over time, different generations of my family have achieved their personal success with having the military as a strong tool for them to develop themselves, as well as serving as a guide to learn how to work hard for what they want in life. My family has proven our American Creed to be true that hard work in the military leads to success in America.