POW #75

The last time I saw my mother was fifteen years ago. It had been a long brutal fifteen years of torture and punishment. My name is Capt. John Gordon and I was a prisoner of war for fifteen years in Vietnam. I could not believe I was alive after this. It all started after I got an assignment to fly over Vietnam to a United States base to retrieve ammunition. This flight was cut short after my plane was shot down by a Vietnam soldier. The impact of the crash was unforgivable, I immediately lost consciousness. I woke up on what was seemed to be a bamboo stretcher in the middle of the jungle. I broke my back in the crash soI couldn't move at all. I was taken to a camp in southern Vietnam. I would sit in the wooden cage for days on end. I was barely fed, and when I was it was nothing you could ever imagine.

After five years had gone by I had completely healed and was able to move and walk around, but the place I was in was very unsanitary. I ended up getting malaria, it almost killed me but I fought through it. I spent my next nine years on different camps in Vietnam. One day I was sitting in my cell when I was transported to a base in northern Vietnam. I had no clue what was gonna happen, I then seen a United States helicopter. My heart dropped as soon as I seen the Helicopter land. I was walked up to the helicopter and thrown inside. Words couldn't describe how I felt at that moment. I was free, after fifteen years. When I got home It was very different, nothing was the same. The first thing I did was see my family. It was the most amazing feeling being able to see them again. After all that I went through, I am glad I fought through it and became a stronger individual.

Wresting season

It was my senior year and wrestling was approaching. I was nervous but excited at the same time. This was my last year to accomplish a goal that I set my freshman year. My goal was to win the Mid State six conference tournament. I almost accomplished this goal my junior year but I fell short because of injury. I was forced to sit out the whole season. This was a major setback for me. I felt I would never be the same wrestler after that, but I soon realized that it didn't matter about what happened last year.

I came into the first practice determined and focused on the goals I had. After the First Five matches in the season I had five wins and no losses, my coached named me one of the captains of the team after the meet. This was one of the best feelings I've had in my wresting career, this achievement made me believe in myself even more. After a long season it was almost time for conference. I had a record of 28-5,I was very proud of it and all of my achievements I had earned this season. The week before conference I spent my time resting and helping out other teammates. When it finally came down to the tournament I couldn't wait to prove to myself that I could do this. The tournament turned out great, I pinned all of my opponents in the first period and won the conference title. This accomplishment of mine showed me that I am capable of doing anything if I just put my head to it. I will always remember that day and how it changed my life for the better.

Faith

What is faith? There are many definitions for the word faith because it is such a complex word. The common definition of faith is a belief in a person, place, thing or idea. There are two parts to having faith, believing and trusting. believing is the identification of what a human being has faith in, trusting is taking action upon what you believe in. Faith is usually a strong belief in something without having anything to backup whatever is believed in. For example if you have faith in God you won't need anything to back you up, you will always believe in God no matter what anyone says.

The English word faith was dated back from 1200-50 from the Latin term fidem, which means trust. Many people have faith in different things. most people have faith in they're religion. There are many different meanings to the word faith in other religions. Faith in Christianity is based on Jesus Christ and all of his work and teachings. Christians believe faith causes change as it seeks greater understanding for God. Although there are other people that may also have faith in they're family, the country they live in, a situation that is happening in they're lives, or even in themselves. The word faith is so complex that you could never just break it down to one definition because there isn't one, everyone's is different depending on what they believe. So after all this all I can ask is what's your definition of faith?