What I mostly remember of those projects was that my parents had little to tell me. I knew my grandparents' names and only the first names of my great-grandparents. That is as far as I ever learned of my family history. My family just does not keep records.
So when I heard we had to interview someone in connection to a war, I panicked. Who was I suppose to interview? No one in my family had connections to war or the military.
After some initial moments of panic, I remembered that while no one in my family had a connection to war/ the military I did know at least two people who did. These persons were my high school's U.S. Army Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (J.R.O.T.C) Instructors: Major Frederick Merz and First Sergeant Marvin Herbert.
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| This picture was taken at my Senior Awards Night. Major Merz is pictured at the right end holding a manila envelope. First Sergeant Herbert pictured is at the left end . In between, in uniform, are Let III cadets who were part of the Color Guard that night. |
These two men were not only my instructors for four years, but my mentors. I have already contacted both by email and both are willing to be interviewed.
As this assignment [the literary journalism project] continues, I hope to learn more about my past-instructors. I knew that First Sergeant was a Jumpmaster during his time in the military and that Major held a staff position in a brigade (a brigade has five main staff members that work directly with the Brigade Commander, each staff member has his or her own assistants) during his time. I never really pried into their past military lives (I was mostly concerned with not being chewed out or fired from my own staff position during the time I knew them) because I wanted to respect their privacy. However, with this assignment it seems I will have no choice but to delve into their pasts. I can only hope that they will be forthcoming with their stories.
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