A Family of Military Service and Almost Serving

Like I promised in my previous post, here is my "Personal Column" that I wrote in Feature Writing a couple of months ago. Two of you have already read it.

When I was in high school, I was preparing to apply to serve in the National Guard. I wanted to get away from my parents and sister because I had had enough of our family problems. During the time that my dad and I were talking to a National Guard recruiter, I was experiencing what some doctors from an area clinic had called “partial seizures.” Since the end of my eighth grade year, I was losing my vision for a few seconds at a time. Sometimes, it would happen once or twice every day or every few days. My vision was not filled with dots: It was literally like the saying, “Wool being pulled over my eyes.” At one point, I was losing my vision several times every day for ten seconds rather than only a few. At that point, my dad talked to the recruiter who said that I was not eligible for military service given my medical condition. He gave examples to my dad as to why my condition meant I could not be battle ready. If I was on the battlefield, he said, soldiers in my unit could end up dead – myself included – if I could not see. Simply put, I would be a casualty to the group.

To this day, I still have my partial seizures, but it is not as bad as it had been several years ago. Sometimes, I can go two or three weeks without having one. At other times, I will have one in a day which would occur every several days.

I was raised in a family in which we honor the troops of the past, present, and future. In my family, there is a history of service – and of almost serving – in the military, and I am part of that legacy. My dad’s house that he and his four siblings grew up in was patriotic. He told me that the front and back of the house was red because of the bricks that had been used, the sides were white because of the siding that had also been used, and the roof was blue. He also told me that my grandfather had a flag pole in their backyard which was about 30 feet tall and the flag was possibly a 4’x6’ flag because “it took two people to fold it.” My dad said that the flag could be seen from about a mile and a half away. This was before the small town they lived in was beginning to develop into a city. He said that when his siblings and he were taking down the flag, it had to have thirteen folds (life, eternal life, honor and remembrance of the veteran, weaker nature, country, where our hearts lie, Armed Forces, the one who entered the valley of the shadow of death and to honor mother, womanhood, father, Hebrew citizen, Christian citizen, and the national motto: “In God We Trust”).

My grandfather on my mom’s side served in the Navy after World War II. Because he was in a car accident at the age of fourteen, my grandfather on my dad’s side could not be in the Army. Also due to a car accident just two weeks before he enlisted in the Army, my father had to find something else to do with his life. He wanted to serve because “there was nothing to do in Matteson.” He would have been in either Grenada, Desert Shield, Desert Storm, Bosnia, or all of them.

As I look back to what I wanted to do to get out of the house just because we had “major” family problems (I have been speaking my mind to my parents for the past few years now), I see that it was a selfish reason and it should not have been a reason why I wanted to join the military. The reason that anyone would want to enlist in the military should be that they want to serve the country, not for any selfish reasons or other reasons that does not have to do with the country. Even if I did have the reason of family problems while serving, I am proud that I would have served my country.

I love my country and her soldiers from all of the branches of the military. I am proud that someone in my family was able to serve. I am also proud that people in my family wanted to serve, even if they could not because of reasons largely beyond their control. As my dad says, if he served, he could have been killed, never met my mother, and I would not be able to tell this story of my family’s military support.

I could have been the first woman in my family history to be part of the U.S. military. Given my partial seizures, I need to sit on the sidelines while soldiers keep me free and safe. I know what they need to do. I appreciate the troops needing to do what they do for our freedom, independence, and for keeping us safe. If I was able to, I would be standing right next to them right now.