Morgan Hall, Salt Lake City, Utah: an interview by John C. Worsencroft, October 1, 2009: Saving the Legacy tape no. IA-8, 11

Page 15

MORGAN HALL 1 B R2 09 was an all-out offensive by someone we were there for urban combat s rt f thing . ut as the military goes, they weren't clear about our mission. I m sure the battalion commander knew our mission, but as a lance corporal I wasn't .. .I pretty much relied on our sergeant to tell me what to do. In the event that we were called into action, all I had to do was listen for his voice and I would know what I was doing. [brief interruption] JCW: You say that you weren't ready for the responsibility ofleadership, so you were happy with your position. MH: I think so. I wanted to lead eventually, but I knew that I didn't know enough or apply myself enough in the beginning stages. I didn't want to be responsible for other people, because I wasn't prepared. I didn't have the knowledge base to know what decisions to make at that time. JCW: Talk to me some more about your experiences in California, as they relate to the military or as they relate to your personal life, being deployed, those types of things. MH: Well, I'm grateful for it now because ifl would have stayed in school, I would have had an entirely different growing up period. The college life was the time for exploration of thoughts, ideas, and the military was too. It gave me a chance to find out who I was, and find out what I wanted in life. It really gave me time to reflect on where I was going. It made my decision seem important. I often think that if I would have just stayed in school and not joined the military it would have taken a lot longer to come to the decisions I did while in the military. So it was kind of like an enzymatic reaction. The military sped up my development, I think in a positive way. JCW: Although you didn't realize it at the time. 15