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Kyle C. King vounteered to enlist in the Navy, afterall his father was apart of the Navy. Other factors influencing his decision was the movie Top Gun and the fact that he wasn't sure what to do after college.
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King's first days of boot camp were horendous. He compared it to concentration camp; all of his civilain identity was stripped away. This giant shock was used to determine who will quit and weed out the weak. King was constantly being yelled at and punished by push ups. He was able to get through it by telling himself, "one more meal, then I'll quit," mind tricks were key is surviving. Once King endured through boot camp, he attended a 15-16 week comission for more advance training which was more sane. He may not have liked his instructors, but he respected them, two of them were staff sergeant Francis and Donahew.
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Kyle served in the Persian Gulf war where he went to the Gulf and operated in Irag and Kuwait. He left December 27, and shooting was held off until January, when they arrived. Everything was very vivid, it became so surreal, serious, strange, and unbelievable. Kyle picked up a great deal of responsibility when he was faced with making life and death decisions on the spot while working with a carrier air wing. Combat was viewed and sadly two of King's friends didn't make it out. Most of the time they knew what they were going to do when it came to missions, they made plans six months in advance. Basically the same approach was taken to multiple situations.
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There was never any time to sleep, everyone was always busy. King worked all the time under chaotic conditions which no one knew exactly about and from this leaders emerged from those even without ranks. Because of this, he was unable to keep in touch with his family during the actaul war. Afterwards, he would send letters and occasionally was able to make a call home. The food was good but very caloric, if you weren't careful you'd gain weight. They never ran out of supplies, they had more than enough all the time. For good luck before going out on missions, Kyle and his friends would touch this velvet wall hanging of Elvis someone brought from home. They entertained themselves with movies, gambeling, playstations, music, working out, and simply enjoying the beauty of the landscape. On King's first leave after war he and his buddies went out and drank and did stupid things. Laughter was the only thing they kept people sane, there would be serious moments and someone would say something stupid just to ease tension. King mentioned he never laughed harder than while enlisted. One time he sought his friend off goodbye before he was to take off, he was a pilot, and a little while later King saw his friend and he was all wet and Kyle asked what the hell happened to him. Apparentlly his friend's plane failed and crashed infront of the ship, luckily he ejected but still landed in the water. With the little down time he had, they didn't pull many pranks but one in perticular put the skipper in a vulnerable position. The little guy had too much to drink so King and his buddies put a toe tag on him and left him in a public place. His fellow soldiers were the best people King has ever met, they were commited and confident people; they shared a brotherhood. He only carried one photo and that was of his wife; he tried not to look at it too much. King as well kept a diary with letters, but he hasn't looked back on them.
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The day we got out of active duty there was a ceremony where he recieved many medals. Shortly after dinner, he and his wife were on Virginia beach and they packed for Ohio, where they were to move back to. Unfortunately King's father became sick so they went to take care of him. Him and his wife had no jobs but over time he recieved his masters in education, without the support of the G.I. Bill, while his wife taught at Blendon Middle School. Two of the men in King's wedding were his closest friendships while in serive. Once he was married and started raising a family, contact became less frequent but was their connection is still there. King did not join any veteran organization even though he was offered to, he was simply too lazy to.
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King proudly support the military, he believes they are good people. After 9/11 he was very supportive for the war on terror and Iraq invasion but now that it's become an extended war, he is not too fond about it. He believes in turning against the war, not those who fight it. Kyle King's military experience has massively impacted his life in almost very aspect. He grew up much faster than his friends at home. He as well grew mentally stronger when dealing with crisises, especially when it came to the loss of his beloved wife. Once again, he used his mind game of just living moment by moment and meal by meal.
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- Joint Service Commendation Medal
- Navy & Marine Corps Achievement Medal
- Navy & Marine Corps Commendation Medal
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Click on the pictures to enlarge.
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Kyle King in the classroom, March 2009
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