My Grandpa fought in Vietnam as a crew chief of a Sikorsky H-34 transport helicopter, after working his way up the ranks. He'd also constantly get put in the wrong squad and only got switched to a new (wrong) squad after months of telling them he's in the wrong one. This meant since he was always the new guy, he had to be point-man (guy who walks in front as basically bait for the enemy to shoot first) and carry the heavy equipment like mortars. Anyway, he got his H-34 Choctaw (a "huss" as they called it, from the Navy's designation of the H-34) shot down twice in air, and rode it down barely surviving each time. He's one of the people I look up to most. He was always a grumpy old man and didn't know how to handle kids, but he'd always buy me a soda and have cool stuff around his house for me whenever my dad and I would go over there. He recently came to my history class to tell his old war stories.
When I was about 6, my brother and I slept over at his and his wife's house for a Summer. I learned a lot about the value of a life (that a lot of other people in the world don't know about. the problem isn't guns, it's that people don't understand responsibility) when I made a big mistake. I asked him, "Grandpa, did you ever kill anyone?" thinking it was cool, since I had played video games all my life till then. He explained to me that people don't like to talk about it, and deep in their heart, nobody likes killing. I mistakenly asked him, not getting the picture, "What about bad people?". He told me that the Vietnamese were not bad people and they were just as bad as us. He explained to me the difference between an enemy in war, and a personal enemy. He said that he did not hate the Vietnamese and he respects his enemies that he fought against. I learned a lot about respect, human connection, war, and life.
Before my brother and I left, he told me something I'll never forget. He said, "A bullet is only worth as much as the gun firing it". I never quite understood it until now, or at least what I think it means. I like to think it means that a deed, insult, compliment, or word, is only given value by its intentions, person, or circumstances. If someone insults you but they're not a respectable person, it means nothing. If someone helps somebody but only for something in return, it's not noble or honorable. There is always room for redemption, and no man is defined by his past but by his current actions.
My grandfather is probably the person i admire most in this world. He tought me how connected people are, when he told me about how he and the enemies were just people sent to fight a war. He tought me the value of a life and how nobody likes killing. He tought me that there is no hate in the world, only misunderstanding. He's inspired me to consider the United States Air Force as a career chocie in case other choices don't work out.
