Military: Family Life and Service
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How did he/she become involved in the military? How do military and civilian family life compare? What were the important events in his/her military career? Use this Topic to describe his/her military experiences.
Was he/she in the military?
- Why did he/she decide to join the military?
- What branch of the military did he/she join and why? Where did he/she go to boot camp or officer candidate school? Describe his/her experiences in boot camp or officer training school.
- Describe any transitions he/she made to military life. What was the most difficult change to make? What did he/she like the best and least about the military?
- Describe the progress of his/her career with the military. To what ranks was he/she promoted? What different jobs and functions did he/she perform during his/her period of service? Did he/she learn any special skills during his/her military career?
- Was he/she ever at sea? Describe the experiences of life on a ship or submarine.
- Did he/she do any flying in the military? Was he/she a pilot, a navigator, or a crew member? Describe some of his/her flying experiences.
- While he/she was in the military, was he/she ever deployed or sent away on a mission for an extended period of time? If so, describe what it was like to be away from home, family, and friends.
- Describe the different military bases where he/she lived. Which was his/her favorite? What was life like on a military base?
- Did he/she travel to or live in a foreign country? What was it like to be an American military person in a foreign country? How did the natives of the country treat him?
- How long did he/she stay in the military? When did he/she decide to leave the military and why? What positive and negative feelings did he/she have about leaving the military?
- How did he/she readjust to civilian life after being in the military? Was he/she able to find a civilian job that satisfied him? Was he/she able to interact with friends and family the same as he/she always had? In what other ways did the military affect his/her life?
Was he/she ever sent to a war or on a mission that involved combat?
- In which war or police action did he/she participate?
- Was he/she involved in combat or were his/her duties away from the front lines? Describe his/her duties and some of his/her missions.
- If he/she was injured in combat, describe how he/she was injured and the details of the incident. Did he/she recover fully? How did the injury affect his/her life?
- Did participating in the war change his/her feelings about the government, the country, the war, and the military?
- Did he/she experience the death of friends or acquaintances during the war? How did he/she deal with the loss of his/her friends or fellow soldiers?
- In what ways did the war affect him personally? For example, how did he/she deal with being far away from his/her family? Did he/she experience bouts of depression or fear? How did he/she handle these feelings?
- When he/she returned home after the war, how did he/she feel? Did he/she remain in the military? How did he/she readjust to peacetime after being away at war?
Was his/her spouse or significant other in the military?
- Describe any transitions to military life that he/she had to make as the spouse or significant other of a serviceperson. What was the most difficult change he/she had to make? What did he/she like the best and least about his/her spouse or significant other being in the military?
- Did he/she ever live on a military base with his/her spouse? If so, describe where he/she lived and what life was like on a military base.
- Did he/she live on a foreign military base? What was it like to be in an American military family in a foreign country? How did the natives of the country treat him?
- Was his/her spouse or significant other involved in combat? Describe how he/she dealt with the feelings of fear for the safety of his/her spouse or significant other.
- How did he/she get along without his/her spouse or significant other while he/she or he/she was away at war or on deployment?
Were either of his/her parents in the military?
- Describe any transitions to military life that he/she had to make as the child of a serviceperson. What was the most difficult change he/she had to make? What did he/she like the best and least about his/her parent being in the military?
- Did he/she ever live on a military base with his/her parent? If so, describe where he/she lived and what life was like on a military base.
- Did he/she live on a foreign military base? What was it like to be in an American military family in a foreign country? How did the natives of the country treat him?
- Was his/her parent involved in combat? Describe how he/she dealt with the feelings of fear for the safety of his/her parent.
- How did he/she get along without his/her parent while he/she or he/she was away at war or on deployment?
Were any of his/her children in the military?
- How did he/she feel about his/her child's decision to join the military? How did the rest of his/her family react?
- Was his/her child ever involved in combat? Describe how he/she dealt with the feelings of fear for the safety of his/her child.
- How did he/she deal with the absence of his/her child while he/she or he/she was away at war or on deployment?