SEAL Team Six Essay

Howard Wasdin is a sniper. A sniper in SEAL Team six. He grew up to harsh punishment and beatings from his step father. In Chapter 2 his Junior high football coach discovers welts on his bottom from the actual beatings and never talks about it with him again. He started getting beat so bad and so frequently that he became numb to the pain which in turn made his step father more angry.

Going through this punishment he became more determined to become a SEAL. Chapter 4 and 5 go back to present day when he starts explaining the training regimen he has to do and how he felt on the first day on the job. In Chapter 6 he is confronted with his one of his first missions. In this mission, fourteen Iraqis surrendered to him and he realized that they weren't bad guys; that they were human beings just like him. He stated that he found his humanity in him and others that day.

The next few chapters are spent going through trainings and missions when finally he ends up in Somalia. After he disobeys a direct order to save a somali child him and his team end up trap during the Battle of Mogadishu and they had to fight there way out. Not all of his team made it out alive though.

Wasdin was injured during the battle and was sent back to Germany than back to the United States to recover from his injuries. During the recovery he felt anger and self pity. He thought about committing suicide, divorced his wife, and decided that because of his injuries he needed to become a civilian again.

He became a police officer and met a woman whom he later married. His new wife helped him become a chiropractor. He attended school for a couple of years and his stepfather finally died throughout this time. Before he died, Wasdin actually made peace with him because his stepfather told him that he loved him and that he was proud of who he became.

On page 165 he says “Years ago I questioned why my life had been spared. Today I am thankful that god spared my life and equally thankful for the path that was laid out before me. I once again have a clever mind, body, and spirit Professionally and personally, life is good again.” So what happened to Mr. Wasdin? He went from a cold, calm, collected person who only cared about the job at hand to a person who cares about other people and loves everything about life. This man only knew war and now he is back in a little town with his wife and kid and he has a chiropractic job. This just shows you how much a person can change in the span of a couple of years.