My grandfather served in the Navy, Army, and Air Force. He joined the Navy at age eighteen, and he longed for action. He was sent to Iwo Jima, but he was redirected to a less dangerous area, Okinawa. On his way, his ship was hit by a kamikaze. A kamikaze is a person on a plane trying to kill others by crashing into them, even if the person doing it dies. The kamikaze killed few people and delayed the trip. When he arrived, the first atomic bomb was dropped some 200 miles away. After that, he served for a few more years, left the Navy, and returned to the United States. Soon after this, he went to the Army Air Force and served for twenty years. The last years of his service, the Army Air Force split—the Army and the Air Force—deciding to serve for the Air Force. In 1964, he went back to Okinawa. Two years later, in 1966, he retired, came back to the states, and spent the rest of his life here. My grandfather served in three wars total, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. Also, he ended up serving in all the branches of the military that were around then. My grandfather worked to become one of the highest leveled sergeants possible in the Air Force: Sergeant Major. Due to his limited education (he did not go to college so that he could serve his country as soon as possible), he was not able to become an officer. These medals are some of the many given to him for serving his country. At his funeral, he was given a full 21-gun salute. 

– Nick Barron

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