"Staff Sergeant Robert Bailey joined the Army when he was 17 years old. He has wanted to be in the military since the young age of 7 years old. Some of his family have been or are in the Army or another brach of the military.
    He was stationed in Iraq in 2003 and was in the initial wave when the American troops went in. He recalls that the conditions in Iraq were okay besides the blistering heat.  When he was there, they were required to always keep their weapons within reaching distance. Him being a staff sergeant, he had to enforce this and other rules on the twelve men he was in charge of. He mentioned that when he first got to Iraq, he was very scared.  Sergeant Bailey’s family didn't really want him to go to Iraq but he felt it was his duty to serve his country.  Eventually his family supported him all the way.
    When I looked at his camouflage uniform, I noticed that the American flag on his right shoulder was going backwards and I had to know what it meant. 'It represent forward movement. In the earlier wars, they would be running with the flag pole and the flag would be facing backwards because of the movement,' Sergeant Bailey had responded to my question...
        By talking with him, I have learned that war is war and war is a bit like life. Unexpected stuff might happen to you along the path to victory. He taught me that I should never stop thinking about life and be ready for anything that may come my way. In conclusion, I believe that Sergeant Bailey has made me realize what war can be like. I am amazed at how he can talk freely about it and was not shy to. He is a wonderful person in all of the aspects of life."
 ~M. Rolfson

    "Mr. Bailey said what he believes about the war. 'I believe that the war is mostly about terrorism now. Also that Iraq is like a little baby infant and what we're trying to do is help Iraq stand on its two feet.'
    What I learned about this interview is how were trying to help Iraq stand on its own. What I'm most likely to remember is when those bodies were found in Korea and he was in charge of getting them back to the United States...I thought that it was quite an honor. I thought it was kind of them to repair the hundred schools that was ruined. At first, during the interview, I was somewhat nervous and I couldn't think of a question but as the interview went on I started to warm up and I asked more questions than I expected. This was valuable because I got to know what's going on in the war in Iraq from a different perspective."  ~ J. Estabrook

    "He said that it was his duty to help the people there and to try to make sure that all of his men that were with him were safe. He told us that he tries hard to keep all of his men in line but sometimes there are some places where anything can happen. He said that there was one time when he was running into battle and there were people that got blown up right in front of him...
    He really changed what I thought about the war. What I thought was that it was this bad thing and we should not have gone over there. Then when I watched it on T.V. it showed all of these bad things that they were doing. After I got done talking with him I understood why we did and how it helped us. He told us that even though the T.V. was saying all of these things he said that they built many hospitals and schools. He said that most of the people there were very happy that they were there. So I can say now that I am still not too happy about the war but I know that it was the right idea to go and that we really have done a lot for these people...When I walked away from the interview I had a lot more knowledge of the war in Iraq and I had a better understanding about it. I am very glad that we did it."  ~ C. Stevens