Reflection Paper

The United States Military is made of a multitude of members whom come from various nationalities. As a young boy, my father was in the United States Marine Corps. We lived on base, in Orange County, CA, and went to a school that was located and managed by the members of the base. I never really thought about the differences in peoples skin color or their background. I never had a problem making friends, and to this day the majority of my closest friends are Mexican-American. However, it wasn’t until I served in the United States Navy as an enlisted member, that I realized how poorly the military community was, and still is, treated in various environments among numerous cultures. I served in the Navy for four years, during parts of that time I was confined to solely being on based and around the military community on the island of Oahu. During the latter part of my time served, I ventured out of that community, and into the realities of an unfamiliar culture. The generalized stereotype was that the local populations of Hawaiians were sometimes extremely aggressive towards the military members serving on the island. Some viewed that we moved onto their island and stole land from them, as well as Americanized their society. I can definitely see where they are coming from. Recalling the similar situation of early

Living in a vastly differently culture compared to the one I was raised and lived in my whole life, was extremely eye opening. There was much in the military that hindered me, as well as much that aided my journey through life thus far. In this essay I illustrated how the military hindered me at that point of time in a specific environment, which I was essentially forced to live in, due to enlisting in the military. The biggest take away for me was, if you treat others the way you want to be treated, with respect and kindness, in general, a person will treat you