essay two rough draft

A hero is someone who overcomes adversity, puts others above themselves, and when thrown into a tough situation can react and make smart decisions quickly. Thinking about this definition, one group of people instantly comes to mind: United Staten soldiers. When the word hero is mentioned, I instantly think of our country’s armed services, whether it be the Navy, Marines, Army, or Air Force. Every man and woman in these branches are heroes in my opinion, for they would all lay down their lives for their fellow comrades and are trained on a daily basis to be quick and decisive when the time of duty calls. Many have also come from pasts where they did not have much going for them. One man in particular who portrays these qualities is both a hero, and great friend of mine. His name is Mikah King and he serves as a DEO in the US Navy.

Mikah has been a friend of mine for a few years, however, I have not been able to spend a lot of time with him recently due to his constant training and being gone overseas in service. Before he first left for boot camp about 2 and a half years ago, Mikah was a completely different person than he is now. He was into some unhealthy habits related to drug use and not enrolled in school. Basically, I couldn’t tell where he was going with his life. Then I found out he was joining the navy and was already scheduled to leave for California to start training. Although I was sad to hear my friend would be leaving, I couldn’t help but be proud and think that choosing this path was going to overall be a good choice for Mikah. And boy was it the right choice, for Mikah has excelled in the navy and soared beyond his past addictions and bad habits, setting himself apart as a hero in my eyes.

Mikah is a soldier who would do anything for his fellow man. He recently came back for a 10 day break and had countless stories to tell of intense combat situations where many lives were at stake. Hearing these come from my good friend who used to be such a different person made me view him with new eyes; he was a changed man, and in no way was the change I saw bad, for he had went from essentially a nobody, to a valiant soldier. He told me of a time where him and his team were stationed in Fallujah, where one must always be alert and ready for action, and he was wearing his bullet-proof flak jacket when suddenly a gun shot rang out and whizzed right past one of his fellow soldiers. Putting his friends life above his own, Mikah grabbed him by the collar of his jacket and threw him down to the ground, just in time to save him from the next bullet. However, in return Mikah took that bullet to his own bottom right kidney-area. Luckily for Mikah he was wearing that flak jacket. This brave act makes my classification of Mikah as a hero irrefutable. If saving a fellow comrade from certain death by bullet and absorbing the blow yourself does not make someone a hero, then I don’t know what does.

---not quite completed, more body paragraphs and conclusion to come---