Gary Arny

What would you call a hero? Are they brave? Would they be a hard worker or are they unique? They could be a teacher, friend, famous person or a family member. It all deepens how you look at it. My hero that I look up to is my dad, Gary Arny. He’s a hero because he is unique, brave, and a hard worker.

Why do I call my dad Gary Arny brave? Well, he was shot down six times in Vietnam. His friend that flew with him was like his brother. The times in Vietnam were hard times for the soldiers. The generals didn’t worry about if they had mental breakdowns, it would be another reason to come home. It was all about winning and coming back. The worst thing for the soldiers was the smell of bodies. When the sons or fathers die in war people sometimes don’t learn who was with them, what’s the big deal? The big deal is the people that were with them could have been like family. My dad was lucky that he didn’t have a mental breakdown. After the Vietnam War Gary became a pilot teacher on Black Hawks. On 2007 Gary deployed to the Iraqi War to fly Black Hawks in the hot zone. Two weeks before 2009, Gary returned to the U.S.

Black Hawks

The reason he’s unique is because of what happened to him. The smell in Vietnam was unbelievable. That’s something that would make someone go insane. A lot of times when soldiers come back from war, they aren’t really the same. When my dad came back he refused to see a doctor for treatment. Why, you might ask? Because what he thought was that he didn’t need it and he didn’t. Another reason he’s unique is because my dad served in two wars: Vietnam and Iraq. The events that happened in Iraq weren’t as bad as Vietnam. Why does my dad think that Vietnam was more disturbing? When he ended up in Vietnam, he was shot down six times. He returned with some serious injuries. The Viet Cong would give kids grenades to offer to the soldiers without the keys. This was a big hit to our American soldiers. In Iraq you would have seen kids from 1-16 years old, moms, and dad dead on the street dead or alive. In the times of Vietnam and Iraq anyone could shoot anyone, anywhere, at any time, without getting in trouble.

I call my dad a hard worker is because he lived with ½ of his family in one house. It wasn’t so bad for him. In Vietnam he became a hard worker from the events that happened to him. Spending time with three families that live in different states makes you a hard worker. Having a job that requires you to fly to other states and some of the things that you aren’t allowed to say makes you a hard worker.

That’s why I call my dad a hero. Little things can make you a hero. It doesn’t take much for someone to look up to you.