Lost in Life

Conducting the interview was fairly difficult. My uncle had just been released from the hospital and I worried I would have to search for another subject, not wanting him to feel obligated to do this is he weren't 100% up to it. But, nonetheless and nothing less than the trooper he once was and still is, he promised he felt fit to endure whatever I had in store for him.

My uncle had always been a private man, his exterior is hard and his voice is chilling. He dislikes a spotlight on him and often avoids coming to contact with people in general. Which is why I was so surprised to hear a tint of excitement in his voice when I asked if he would be my interview subject.

When I asked my mom if anyone in the family (besides my uncle) had had any link to a war, and her response was to ask my uncle, I felt defeated. He's not gong to want to talk to me, that was the only thought that clouded my mind.

I walked into the small Mexican-style home, dreading the next hour as I sat in the chair that was placed in front of my uncle in his wheelchair. I prepared to receive little to no information and be out of there in at least thirty minutes, but, when he began speaking about the war - something he was so passionate about - he couldn't stop. An hour turned into two and a half, and there was no room to complain.

I had never been one to enjoy war, even war stories for that matter, but hearing from someone who served so whole heartedly made me wish I could write his story for the world to read.

He found himself in this war, which is why I am choosing to tell his story as narrative. Facing his troubles and obstacles only pushed him to find it in himself to have strength, to have enough faith in himself to make it back home, so he would be able to tell this exact story.