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Show MORGAN HALL 1 B R2 09 base. So initially, I don t think I used him, but I think we kind of came tog th r b cau of commonalities and conversation. It was a symbiotic relationship. JCW: You can talk about me in the first person, if you want to. MH: It makes it easier to do it this way. The thing that he taught me the most is, because I was kind of downtrodden about being away from my friends and forced into this situation, I think he probably felt that too, but he kind of opened my eyes to, "hey, this is an experience that not many people will get, so enjoy it." From that point on I think I really did. I started to kind of enjoy the lifestyle of servitude. I started to see that it was temporary and I could always go back to college. Before I felt my whole life's over, I'm never going to get back into college, this is a horrible situation. But after he and I became friends ... MH: How did that relationship with me, how did that help you to maybe branch out to the rest of the unit. I guess what I'm asking is did you ever feel like you had become part of the unit as opposed to an outcast. JCW: He was well-liked by everybody. At first I was kind of a tag along of him, but eventually I developed my own personality within the unit. I think once people got to know me, because I think I was judged unfairly at the beginning, kind of typecast, no one took the time to get to know me, but once they did, I think I felt more included. Near the end, I felt like that most of the unit I could call my friends. JCW: What was your unit's mission while you were there in California? MH: They said we were a quick reaction force. So in the event that what happened in 9/11 happened on the West Coast, we were there to, I guess, it wasn't completely clear, but we were supposed to be the first people there to help in the event of a tragedy. If it 14 |
