Kenny Rector was 13 years old when he came home from school and told his mother and father, Paula and Randy Rector, that he wanted to join the Army when he came of age. The day after his 17th birthday, he swore into the army and was off to basic training when he graduated from high school. His parents were very proud of the choice their son had made, and they were okay with him going. His mother had a little bit of a hard time accepting the fact that her baby boy would be leaving and going to dangerous places, but she was also very proud of him. His family was also very proud of him.

Going into the army was one of the best choices I made in life, yet also one of the hardest due to the fact that I had to leave my whole family,” stated Rector. “I was very close with all of my family, and seeing their faces when I was leaving was very heartbreaking. I made so many amazing friends that I would most definitely consider family. I believe that I am mentally and physically stronger because of what I went through in the army. It was a great experience, but, if I am being honest, I would definitely recommend not going into the army. I would recommend looking into any different branch of the military before you choose the army. Just make sure you do your research and are very prepared if you do decide to join the army. I was deployed in May of 2009 to Iraq. My ranking was an E4 Specialist, which was an Infantry Mortarmen, or somebody who would work on field artillery. I was a little nervous when I was deployed but I had also been training for over a year and a half for this type of situation so I was ready to go. I came home from deployment in May of 2010. I was sort of lost when I came home. While I was gone everything was very structured and scheduled. I always had something to do or somewhere to be at a certain time and when I came home everything was just so scattered and it was hard to get back to normal. I got out of the army on November 3, of 2010. At that point I had been in the army for 4 years and 10 months, so I knew it was time for me to settle down and start a family, so I decided to not extend my contract and begin my life.”

The dictionary definition of the word hero is “a person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievement, or noble qualities.” Veterans like Kenny Rector fit this definition to a T.