Yo! Youth OutLook

Editor’s note: PFC David S. of the US Army was transferred to the Middle East a week after he wrote this letter. These are his own words describing how he went from being another suburbanite in Castro Valley to a GI on the front lines.

When I was 17, a recruiter with the Army called and asked for me. I told him I was not interested, although he was persistent at the time. I kept telling him no, but somehow he kept me interested enough to come down and meet him at his office in Hayward. I checked out the benefits, of which he promised I would receive half, which I will never receive now that I’m in the Army. It all sounded tempting to me and over the course of a couple months, I ended up making the biggest mistake of my life so far and signed on to join the US Army Reserves for six years.

I actually ended up going AWOL for two years, during which I joined the party scene. I got into the distribution of many types of drugs, and ran into the law for various reasons such as theft, DUI, and fights. I dropped out of school and my life turned around for the worse. I also went through five jobs in that time frame. At the end of that, I returned to my unit and they took me back. In the year and a half that I have been back, I have been promoted twice, and have quickly become a sergeant.

I was all set to be out of the army by March, at which time I would have served my six years. However, I received a call three months before my release and was told I will be serving my country in the Middle East for a period of 18 months keeping me past my discharge, which is something the military easily is allowed to do. I had to drop out of school only four weeks away from completing my full-time classes. That was most disappointing since I was doing so well and I only had one semester left after this one to get my degree. I had a job interview in Los Angeles that I had plane tickets for that had to be canceled.

I was ripped out of my everyday life after only a few weeks notice. Things are much different now. For the last nine months I have been waking up at 4 a.m. and some nights getting to sleep the next day at 9 a.m. I am only doing preliminary training in order to be ready for what lies ahead. It is still unclear of where I will be sent, although it will inevitably be Iraq. In these times I try not to look at the negatives, although the morale of all the reservists being ripped out of their daily lives and their families is very low. I can only look at the positives and hope that the time goes by quickly and that it is a very safe trip for me and my fellow soldiers. They are my family now and we are going to look out for each other.

In these 18 months, I know that I will be in situations that are going to be hostile. I am ready for this and this is what I have been waiting for. It may sound bad to those of you reading this and not in my shoes or those who have been to a war. I want to get one of them before they get me. And I hope I get in a situation like that because I am pissed off. I don’t want to be there and no one does. I’m so pissed off inside for all that has transpired with this war and how it affects me and those around me.

Yet, this is what I have been trained to do. It’s my job now.

David, 22, is a writer for Sprawl, a magazine about suburban youth life. Contact David at editor@sprawlmagazine.com.