Courtesy Photo | Pvt. Johnny Bishop, M249 machine gunner and native of Ferndale, Wash., pulls security...... read more read more
By Sgt. James P. Hunter
2nd BCT, 101st Abn. Div.
(Air Assault) Public Affairs
BAGHDAD, Iraq - "Every Soldier's got a story to tell," Master P once rapped. These very lyrics describe every Soldier who dons the digitally camouflaged Army Combat Uniform.
Whether they are an infantryman patrolling the streets of Baghdad, or a personnel clerk, they all have a story to tell.
Everyone starts somewhere in life, the only difference is probably the path that led them into the arguably one of the toughest jobs in America.
For Pvt. Johnny Bishop, M-249 machine gunner with 1st Platoon, Troop C, 1st Squadron, 75th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, his story began in Charlotte, N.C., Aug. 14, 1988.
Though he was born in the Carolinas, Bishop spent the largest part of his life in Ferndale, Wash., a town of about 200,000 people. It has a small-town feel to it. The town was quiet, not too much violence to report. The people within his community were fairly close, with the local high school football team the talk of the town. The year he left high school, they won the Triple A state championship.
Bishop, or "Chicken Little," as his team members call him, spent a majority of his time in his grandfather's body shop, doing body sanding and metal work, he said. Bishop had dreams of being a mechanic one day; envisioning himself as a member of Dale Earndhart's pit crew, fixing the vehicle "The Intimidator."
"It was a great experience; a lot of blisters on my hand," he said jokingly. "It was fun."
Within the body shop, he grew to bond fairly close to his father. He and his father began refurbishing a 1979 Chevy C-10. Together, they were able to drop a 350 horsepower engine into the truck. He never got to see the completion of the truck, but had dreams of showing it off as a hot rod. The truck just needed a bit too much work for his pleasing.
Bishop remembered one moment from high school when he took his Chevy C-10 out for a joy ride with some of his closest friends. Though they were supposed to be in school and Bishop only had a temporary license. But nothing could stop him from enjoying every precious moment of the life—which saw him and his buddies trying to locate gas throughout the day and dodge policemen as they raced down the road.
He misses those friends of his, the ones he spent countless hours with at the Bellingham Mall, in Bellingham, Wash. The ones he spent time with July 4th of every year at Beirch Bay, where they used store-bought fireworks to light up the bay.
Bishop also had a great relationship with his brother. The two of them did everything together, especially when they were young. Throw the ball around in the backyard, or race the go-kart outside, their time together was inseparable.
But like all stories, they must continue, evolving into the next chapter, or in Bishop's case, his beginning.
It was until he really thought about his next steps in life and realized the Army was the next best thing for him. Bishop wanted to be a fighter jet pilot, but because of his poor eyesight, he couldn't get into the program.
"So I started looking at the Army," he said, "and realized this is what I wanted to do."
The infantry? Well not at first. See, Bishop wanted to be a tank operator, but the slots for that school were full.
"Let's go infantry," he simply stated. "More respect, anyways."
And he said he made the right choice.
"What I've learned is that we are all one big family, taking care of each other and watching each others back," he said.
Bishop feels like joining the infantry really was the beginning to his new life.
"It feels like I am doing something with my life before it even starts," the 19-year old said.
When he signed the "dotted line," he said, "Wow, I'm in the Army!" Bishop was officially a Soldier Aug. 18, 2006. Four days into basic, with no sleep to his name, Bishop thought to himself, "What did I get myself into?"
But as time went on throughout his basic combat training and infantryman courses, he realized the mind-boggling experience he was going through brought out the best in him and his fellow Soldiers.
"The camaraderie was there," he said. "I was doing things I never I thought I could before."
In January of 2007, he joined the 1-75th Cavalry, to begin yet another chapter in his life. That's when Staff Sgt. Danny Chappell, a team leader and native of Timmonsville, S.C, with Troop C, 1-75 Cav., met the young Soldier. He's been his team leader ever since.
"Initially he had issues; difficulty paying attention to detail," said Chappell. "But he began paying better attention to detail and conducting himself better as a Soldier."
Chappell best describes Bishop as a steadfast, always motivated individual, ready and willing to take on any task and perform it to the best of his ability. As Bishop continued to grow as a Soldier, so did his training schedule, in preparation for their tour to Iraq.
"We all knew we were deploying. I mean, we are at war," he said. "The 2nd Brigade has a lot of traditions. We have to uphold those traditions."
When he first landed in Iraq, he thought, "OK, I'm in an actual combat zone. I wasn't scared, but I would say I was nervous."
For Bishop and his fellow comrades, patrolling their area of responsibility thus far has been quiet, he said, which is easier to cope with while deployed, especially when separated from loved ones. He also knows that when times get tough, his platoon will manage and defeat any known threat.
Over the next 14 months, Bishop and the rest of his platoon from Troop C, 1-75 Cavalry will patrol daily in northwest Baghdad, ensuring security is upheld, interacting with the local citizens and gathering information to detain known insurgents responsible for attacks plotted against Coalition and Iraqi Security Forces.
And over the months, even more chapters will be written into Bishop's life story.
| Date Taken: | 11.26.2007 |
| Date Posted: | 11.27.2007 11:05 |
| Story ID: | 14199 |
| Location: | BAGHDAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 140 |
| Downloads: | 119 |
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