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Ryan sees how the Twin Towers fall just a couple of hours away from his high school. He asks himself if he doesn´t protect his country,who would?
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Ryan went to the Military Entrance Processing Station in Albany.Here Ryan took eye, heart and other physical tests. This was his first step to enlist in the military.
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After going through Red,White and Blue Phase Ryan graduates and gets to return to his family. He then decides to do Hometown Recruiting and gets to know a Ranger, who has been in the war before.
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After Ryan goes to the AU, he receives the call saying that he is being deployed to Iraq. He doesn't enroll in college and decides to propose to his High School girlfriend.
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Ryan married Heather because he loved her and wanted to make sure if he died she will received a letter and some benefits.The army doesn't care if you have a girlfriend so marrying Heather before leaving was important to Ryan. It was a small ceremony with family and friends.
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On December 1st, the entire battalion packs into a giant plane. The plane´s first stop is in Germany to refuel. The destination is Kuwait City in Kuwait, a small country next to Iraq and Sudi Arabia.
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After they arrived at the new camp in Iraq, Ryan had to stay for an hour under a bunker.The camp was attacked by mortars and the closest safe area was the bunkers.Days after he was moved and he didn't have to hide I the bunker anymore.
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The Army gives 2 weeks ¨leaves¨ while in convoys and Ryan gets the one he was hoping for.He waits hours for a plane that would take him back to the camp in Kuwait City
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After a few weeks Ryan goes back to the camp in Iraq.He feels really bad because Heather just moved and she will have to take care of all the boxes and he feels like his is abandoning her again.
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James H.Conklin died just days away from his birthday..His platoon friends remembered him and Ryan wonders about what could happen if he died and how his family could react to the news.He cries during his funeral even though he feels he shouldn't.
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Ryan riminds himself of his birthday during Conklin´s funeral. He was thinking about how Cocklin´s dead was so unexpected and so close to Cocklin´s and his birthday
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After Ryan’s university teacher assigns an Essay about something being stroyed, Ryan write a 8 page long essay about his experience in the Army and how his innocence was destroyed during those years. He finds that writing is his way of helping himself to cope with PTSD and with the help of the teacher he wrote his story.
