Who or what was your biggest inspiration to enlist in the military and why?

Hi, PVT McDonald.

I joined for a lot of reasons, but the big one was to honor my father’s service in Vietnam. He was killed by a drunk driver six days before I enlisted, and that honor became paramount.

Most directly, is my Dad. He is a retired Armored Cav Officer who rode around Vietnam on a M-113 APC with the 1/4 Cav (L Troop, 4th ACR, 1st ID) However, his first few months in Vietnam were as an Infantry Platoon Leader, as we all know that the lifespan of new lieutenants in Vietnam was measured in minutes. So he got shanghaied by the Infantry as soon as he got off the plane. He eventually got back to his troop though. When he got back, he successfully went through the SF Q Course and was a member of the 11th Group in Florida. He also branch changed to Transportation, where he taught what would become "Combined Arms" like how Combat Support and Combat Arms work together.

Indirectly, the Army has been a "family business" since 1775. I am related to Timothy Matlack, the "Penman of the Declaration of Independence" who was also a LTC in the Colonial Army, part of the prosecution of Benedict Arnold, a founding trustee of University of Pennsylvania, and the founder of the "Fighting Quakers" after being tossed out of the Quaker community for taking up arms during the Revolution. His meeting house still stands today in Philadelphia.

In the early 70s, families would accompany their Soldiers on drill weekends, and afterwards the women would go somewhere together, and the men would sit around campfires, telling war stories about their recent service in Vietnam. I grew up in the middle of this, listening to recent Vietnam Vets, and seeing these men as superheroes, and a band of brothers that I wanted to be a part of someday. A few decades later, I would be.

The fact that I could call myself a veteran for serving a few years or more. Seeing them as a kid growing up made me want to do the same. Great benefits too and the opportunity to see the world.