My Personal Experience: My Life In The Army

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While serving in Afghanistan as a United States Army infantry squad leader, my life changed in an instant. Driving down the main route, within the Mata Khan district of Paktika province, during a routine mission with Afghan National Army troops, my thirty-ton mine-resistant vehicle struck a bomb that was comprised of 120 pounds of homemade explosives. The blast forced the vehicle ten feet into the air, physically splitting it in half. After being medically evacuated to a combat theater hospital in Bagram, Afghanistan, it was discovered that my injuries consisted of a broken neck and ankle, a perforated lung, crushed sinuses, and a massive concussion with active bleeding in my brain. It is self-evident that my story did not end there, but instead, a new chapter had begun. Traumatic brain injury is associated with many debilitating symptoms. The effects of my concussion made me feel like a slave; trapped by my diminished cognition, unable to comprehend written words. Prior to this event, I did not struggle with the language arts. Before my time in the Army I was given the privilege…show more content…
I walked with a limp, as long as I was in the sunlight I had to wear sunglasses, and I was constantly distracted by the ceaseless ringing in my ears and debilitating headaches. I could not focus for more than a few seconds at a time. Any outside influence was an excuse for me to step away from whatever I was working on. Eventually, I had succumbed to my disabilities and was medically retired from the Army. I was a lifer, a career soldier who wanted nothing more than to be a soldier. It was a meaningful life that fulfilled my professional needs. I knew I needed to improve my situation. My determination was that I knew at one time, I was a talented reader and writer. In Douglass's words, it "had given me the inch, and no precaution could prevent me from taking the ell"

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