Serving my country has always been a rather controversial issue for me. I always believed that it was the right thing to do, and it is our duty as citizens for some of us to step up and protect our beautiful country. But at the same time, I never fully believed in war. So many people seemed to die, and I just never saw why so many people had to die, if they didn’t have to. I know we have to protect ourselves, and show that we are strong, and cannot just be taken over or beaten, but at what cost?
My grandfather is a great man, and has told me several stories about his time in war. He served on the PT-109 with John F. Kennedy. The story I remember the most, is when my grandpa killed 3,500 men at one time. The way he explained it is that a higher-ranking officer was in disparate search of a man who could swim a great distance. He had come to John Kenney, and said he had looked everywhere he possibly could for a man who could swim this great distance, but had found none. He asked John Kennedy if he knew a man capable of the task, and John Kennedy pointed to my grandfather and replied, “Sure, Tom Childers is your man.” The higher-ranking officer looked at Kennedy kind of funny and said quietly, “But John, he’s so small and so young.” John Kennedy then got a very angry look on his face and replied, “Ya, and he can get the job done.” The higher-ranking officer asked no more questions. My grandfather, Tom Childers, swam 10 miles to a Japanese battle ship with 4 bombs. With tears in his eyes, he told me how he attached those bombs to 4 sides of the ship, and then swam away. He said there were 3,500 men on that ship, but if he hadn’t killed them, they would have killed us. Now I honestly couldn’t tell you how much of this was true, and how much of it wasn’t, but I believe it because I have never seen anyone tell a story with so much emotion, and so much sincerity.
When I was a kid I used to want to join the military, because I thought it would be awesome to be able...