The United States Army Infantry.

They are a special breed of men.

Contrary to popular belief, not all men can be Infantrymen. True, they can do the tasks that are required of an Infantryman, but at their core being, it takes a special breed of man to be able to be an Infantryman, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

I am one of them.

I joined the US Army in 1981. I was 17 years old. Probably the best move I ever made!

I went in as an Infantryman 11X.

I graduated BCT/AIT 3 months later as an 11B Infantryman. AKA, 11 Bang Bang, 11 Bush Beater, Grunt..

I spent the next 20 years as an Infantryman retiring as a Staff Sergeant in June of 2001.

These are the units I served in:

A Co 2^nd BN 13^th IN (8^th Infantry Division) 1981-1984

B Co 1^st BN 8^th IN (4^th Infantry Division) 1984-1986

D Co 1^st BN 48^th IN / 4^th BN 18^th IN (3^rd Armored Division) 1986-1989

HHC USAG /HHC 1^st ID /D Co 2^nd BN 16^th IN (1^st Infantry Division) 1989-1993

A Co 1^st BN 5^th IN / 1^st BN 9^th IN (2^nd Infantry Division) 1993-1996

E TRP 2^nd SQDN 11^th ACR / HHT 11^th Armored Cavalry Regiment 1996-2001.

There were hard times, there were easy times, there were boring days, there were hectic days. All in all, I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.