Desert Storm Archives - TogetherWeServed Blog

Night Mission to Mogadishu by Trent LaLand

While the United States military and coalition forces prepared for the imminent battle with Iraq's military forces, Operation Desert Storm, January of 1991, a second international crisis unfolded in the famine-stricken country of Somalia, where a full-scale bloody civil war erupted. Warlord General Mohammad Farah Aideed rebel forces were attempting to overthrow the Somali government. The fighting threatened Americans and Foreign diplomatic missions based in Mogadishu, Somalia, as the Somali...

Service Reflections of CAPT David Edling, U.S. Coast Guard (1969-1999)

Coast Guard Reflections, Vietnam War

I completed two tours of duty as a Naval Officer serving aboard the USS Duncan DD-874 and the USS Lipan ATF-85 before considering service in the U. S. Coast Guard. Both of those shipboard tours included deployments to Vietnam, the first in 1970 and the second in 1972. I liked the Navy. I had been designated a Distinguished Naval Graduate on commissioning from the NROTC program at Oregon State University, which meant a Regular USN commission. Both of my initial shipboard tours were excellent experiences because I served under very competent Commanding Officers, and my shipmates on both ships were guys used to form my abilities and competencies as a sea service officer.

Walk In My Combat Boots by James Patterson and Matt Eversmann

Gulf War, Military Book Reviews, Vietnam War

James Patterson, the author of "Walk In My Combat Boots", is the worldwide, best-selling creator of the "Alex Cross" and "Michael Bennett" series of books. Matt Eversmann is a U.S. Army veteran who received the Bronze Star Medal with Valor for leading a team of Rangers in Somalia in 1993. His exploits were depicted in the 2001 film "Black Hawk Down". The two teamed up to create a touching, thoughtful book about the U.S. military, the people who join it, and veterans of three separate eras of...

Service Reflections of Cpl Barry McDown, U.S. Marine Corps (1969-1971)

Marine Reflections, Vietnam War

Within 90 days after Richard Nixon was inaugurated, he sent me an excellent thank you note for being 19 and indicating that he would be pleased if I would show up for work. He very much insisted I report for the draft.

Service Reflections of SSgt Rob Matlock, U.S. Air Force (1979-1999)

Air Force Reflections, Cold War

My father was in Korea, and he regretted not reenlisting and making the USAF a career. He told us stories of his time in the Air Force with such enthusiasm that I wanted to experience what he described. My uncle on my mom’s side learned to fly helicopters in the AF and talked to me about the training that I could receive in the military and how it could help me get a job if I got out. My girlfriend and I talked to an AF Guard recruiter, and I joined ANG at 17 1/2. I went to Basic, and she decided she did not want to go. She married someone else while I was in photographer training.

Service Reflections of GySgt Dan Edick, U.S. Marine Corps (1978-2000)

Cold War, Marine Reflections

I am a fraternal twin. I knew my parents couldn’t afford to send us both to college, and I personally didn’t want to go. I felt as though my whole life had been spent in school already, and I wanted to do something different.

My father and several uncles served in the military. Some of them retired from the service. I respected them for serving and decided that I wanted to serve my country. My original choice was the Army, so I set an appointment with the Recruiter while a sophomore in high school. They showed no interest in me because of my age, so I left. The following year, I tried again. I sat with the Army and Air Force Recruiter. The Army didn’t impress me as much as the Air Force. The A.F. Recruiter said I was still too young and to come back in another year.

Service Reflections of LtCol Carl Reynoso, U.S. Marine Corps (1975-2010)

Global War on Terror, Marine Reflections

I was a Navy brat growing up in a number of Naval Stations in the Pacific: NAS Agana, Guam; Pearl Harbor NB, Hawaii; and NAS Sangley Point, Philippines. I always thought that I would join the Navy and be like my Dad, who was a Senior Chief (DKCS), but as I grew older, I started noticing that this other service was also on our bases. They wore different uniforms (khaki/trops/sateens) and carried themselves more professionally than Sailors, turns out they were Marines. I was also into reading history books at the time and read more and more about these Marines and determined that I just had to become one of them too. This really pissed off my Dad! Even though I was the son of a career Navy man, the Marine Corps mystique fascinated me. I always knew the Marines were different, better than Sailors. When I told my Dad that I wanted to be a Marine, he laughed and said I lacked the self-discipline it took to be a Marine. “You won’t last in the Marines. YOU? You can’t even hold on to a job, and you’ll get busted!” he often told me. As a teenager, I was wild, on the loose, vandalizing, and stealing (luckily, I was too crafty to be caught, which came in handy later in my career as a Recon Marine). I ditched school to surf and couldn’t hold onto any jobs. My life was spiraling down in an unhealthy direction. I was a long-haired surf bum who hung out at the beach, and although I was an Honors Student, I hated high school, stuff like that. I wasn’t into drugs or anything like that, but it would have only been a matter of time before something like that would have come along.

National PTSD Awareness Day

Useful Military Information

If thoughts and feelings from a life-threatening event are upsetting you or causing problems in your life, you may have PTSD. According to the National Center for PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder is a mental health condition that can occur after somebody has experienced a traumatic event. Going through a traumatic experience can actually affect areas of the brain, especially depending on when the trauma happened during development. PTSD can occur in all people, of any ethnicity,...

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