I always knew I was meant to serve. I hit the fleet Marine Corps with a Rifle Company in the weapons platoon. A few months later and I received orders to be attached to another unit and within a few months we were headed to Iraq. When departing I remember it hitting me, will this be the last time I see my family? In Iraq we were getting hit with IED’s quite a bit, found more than that, mortared, etc but the enemy would never stand and fight. There were a few sniper encounters one guy was lucky and only lost a finger. My first firefight was outside of Bagdad just inside the Al Anbar Province. That was the memory that will last the longest with me. Now days I wonder is there more I could’ve done, is there more I should have done. A part of me is still there and I brought a part of Iraq home with me. Not a day goes by that I don’t think of Iraq the men I knew and grew to view as family more so than my own blood. It has had a lasting impression upon me. I lost a part of me there for my country and I would do it all over again. Right or Wrong we went there, I’m still proud of answering my country’s call. My biggest fear is that my three sons will fight the same war that I fought.