I'm not afraid of my school, my teachers, my streets, but somehow inside of me, there is some fear: I know things are different.

Both of my grandfathers served in the Navy during World War II; both fought to protect an idea of freedom and security that was taken away from me at 12. My grandfather was 17 when he was on Iwo Gima - these 17-year-olds did not even respect that which they were taking away.

I am now 18, and I can't imagine having traded prom and homecoming last year for a military-issue weapon and a station in Iraq. I don't even know what it must be like to be an Iraqi - do 12-year-olds there wish they could walk down the street worried only about bullies from the senior high? Abraham Lincoln said, "Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves." And as we...
[ View Full Essay]