My name is Robin R Findlay, and I was born in Streator, Illinois.

My mother is a retired corrections officer. I have 2 half sisters, Kelly and Erica. I joined the Army right out of high school and took summer college classes, shipping out in September. I joined the US Army. Ever since I was a young boy, I always had the urge to be a soldier. My grandfather served in WWII with the US Army.

The departure for basic training and the early days of training were a nerve-racking experience. All I could think about was Full Metal Jacket and just the general stories of Drill Instructors. As we departed the bus, I immediately got a boot to my chest. Then I was told to get up and do pushups. Since I was on my back from getting knocked down and being screamed at from all directions, I went to stand because I was confused. Then I got a boot to my stomach, which caused me to kneel down. Now I was in the proper position for pushups!

I did my training at Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri and the bulk of my active duty time with the 101st Airborne at Ft. Campbell, KY. I was extremely excited and proud to be apart of that. I have seen quite a bit of action between my 2 deployments. I witnessed suicide bombers and local Iraqis being shot by their own people. Out of all the unimaginable madness that I had seen, one particular scenario haunts me to this day. Iraqi men were strapping bombs to their young children, and telling the children to give soldiers hugs. Upon the hug, the father sets off the bomb. My squad and I were in a small village near Baghdad. We had reports that this village was going be the destination for a supply convoy ambush.

So we were sent to check out the area and investigate. We were walking around the marketplace, and I see a young child running towards me. We were already told about the bombs being strapped to them. This boy was running full sprint towards me. Thinking that he is a bomb, I yell for my squad to get behind the closest building. All of this is happening in a matter of seconds. The boy reaches me super fast. So when he hugs me, I hug him back and hold him as tight and low as I can. I hugged this boy like I was his own father trying to save him from the end of the world. The thoughts running through my head were to save my guys. I was prepared to die for them in a moments notice. So I hug the boy with tears and wait for the inevitable. Except nothing happens. At first I thought it did and maybe my mind just freeze framed the moment, but it didn’t. I gather my thoughts and look at the boy. He just wanted to hug an American because he thought we were cool…

The worst part of the war was the not knowing what was around the corner. My greatest fear was losing a member of my team or unit. I would have nightmares of something like that happening, and I would wake up in tears on a pool of sweat.
I don’t regret serving my country. But when people thank me for my service, I wonder if it is really genuine or are they just saying thank you because they feel they have to.

~ Robin R. Findlay, 101st Airborne

We are very grateful to Robin for sharing his personal story and invite you to share your family military service here as well.

God Bless all who serve and keep us safe.

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