Personal Narrative: USA Unites
USA Unites
It is late evening of May 1, 2011. I am trying as patiently as I possibly can to relax in my chair. I am sitting in a heavy black-painted room in a comfortable brown chair. The chair is at the head of a long table that occupies most of the room. This room happens to be my favorite room in all of the White House. Well anyways, I am sitting in this room...alone...with nervousness circling throughout my body...along with envy...because the United States Navy Seals are currently in Pakistan capturing and killing Osama Bin Laden. I put my hand up to see just about how nervous I am. My hand appears to be shaking more than a knee bobbing up and down, side to side when they really have to go to the bathroom. I have been stressing out all day over how the operation is going to turn out. Bzzzzz. Bzzzz. Bzzzz. goes my jeans pocket when I had received a phone call. I look down to see who it is from. I see that Vice Admiral William H. McRaven is calling in. Before I hear any words, I am so greatly hoping that this is a positive report and that is it. But that is only what I can …show more content…
hope for. Dead silence fills the phone before…I hear a short two words before I hear the click of the phone giving a signal that the phone has ended. The words are “He’s dead.”
September, 2010.
I am reclining in a comfortable chair in Washington D.C., capital of the United States, in my favorite room in all of the White House.
I, Barack Obama, have a multitude of duties to achieve in order to assure that the citizens of my nation are secure. Part of my job as president of the United States includes protecting my country from the Middle-Eastern group, Al-Qaida, and their malicious leader Osama bin Laden. Many times have they attempted to terrorize our nation leading to thousands of dead innocent American victims. I’ve sent many of our soldiers to the Middle East to help protect our country. The people of my country are dependent on me to feel safe in their own homes. Lately, my mind has been distracted from my family, the predominant cause being the Al-Qaida terrorists. Until I locate this cruel leader, my only priority as the president will be to capture and kill Osama Bin
Laden. A few days have passed in September of 2010 and I get an important phone call. It is from Vice Admiral William H. McRaven. He is part of the group I sent out to find Bin Laden in the Middle East. Though he is not going in to get Bin Laden with the rest of the Seals, he is in charge of making the plans and executing the process. He starts the conversation. “Good morning, Mr. Obama,” he says. “Morning William. What’s going on with the Bin Laden operation?” I question. Admiral McRaven pauses for a second. Then continues, “I think we found something you might like, President…” I was waiting for him to continue, but I then realized I think he didn’t know if I was still on the phone line or not. So, I said something to confirm that I was fully paying attention. “Yes… Go on general,” I say. “I think we found the compound Bin Laden is staying at. It seems to be located in the middle of Pakistan, somewhere near Abbottabad, Pakistan.” What Vice Admiral McRaven had just said was music to my ears. I am so happy now and so relieved that we finally have something on Bin Laden. Now all we need is a plan! It had taken years of searching for this man and we finally have a hint at where we could find him. I am fully relying on Vice Admiral McRaven to conduct a superb enough team to kill terrorist Osama Bin Laden. He’s killed thousands of people in his life, but it’s all going to come to an end…
Months have passed and we have done lots of research on this compound that we believe belongs to Bin Laden. It is February of 2011 and my team and I believe it is finally time to start planning out what we are to do. I call up Vice Admiral McRaven and see if he wants to come over to the White House and plan it out. The meeting is just me and him and we decide that McRaven will choose what Seals he wants to take to Pakistan. I know and fully believe that he is putting his life on the line for this raid. We are estimating that it will be around the start of May that we send troops and our captain, McRaven, to take black hawk helicopters, which are dead silent so they will be unable to be heard, to Pakistan to accomplish the goal. Besides that, to talk it over with the operation group, we will be holding 5 National Security Council meetings to talk the plan over. Attending this meeting will be myself, my wife, Vice Admiral McRaven, the Seals heading to kill Bin Laden in Pakistan and Joe Biden. It is March 14, 2011 and we hold the first National Security Council meeting. There is a lot of chitter-chatter in the room until I make my statement. Broadly, I say, “We need a precise, specific plan to find out how to kill Osama Bin Laden. Nobody said it would be easy, so we are going to have to give it everything we’ve got.” The room stands quiet until one of the Seals, Robert O’Neill to be exact, gives the idea that the team should fly to Pakistan in two stealth black hawk helicopters. This is so they will be unable to be heard since these high-end black hawk helicopters are so silent and make so little noise that you could hear a pin drop. Everyone in the room agrees with this idea, so it is a good start to the meeting. Since the meeting was getting out of hand, I decided to call it a night. I told everyone that our next meeting will be on March 29 and we will follow up on ideas about Bin Laden.
March 29, 2011.
We gather around the White House security room table and start discussing. I stay silent throughout the meeting. I decide to let the people who are actually taking down Osama do the talking. “We need to make this operation quick and efficient. It needs to be less than an hour. Maybe around 40 minutes or something like that,” Vice President Joe Biden states. My wife, Michelle, decides to chip in to the conversation. She thinks that the operation should be 40 minutes or less because they will be on the lookout and will have enough time to react if they know you are there. So, we need to make the operation quick. I tell everyone to meet back in the same room on April 12. That is how meeting ends. I think we have a good chance at this operation. I imagine that we will have our Seals fly out in the helicopters around April 29th and to arrive at the Bin Laden compound on May 1st.
April 12, 2011.
Countdown: 17 days until raiding.
Everyone meets back at the security room in the White House. Since there will really be nothing to be discussed, I decide to hold a short meeting. Throughout the meeting, our main discussion is about how to track the Bin Laden compound. This meeting is definitely the least important meeting that we have had so far. Nothing essential to the operation is discussed throughout the night. Everyone at the table has a really long, dreary look on their face from a long day at work. I decide to call the meeting early after only half an hour of talking. Next meeting will be in one week from today: April 19, 2011.
It is late evening of May 1, 2011. I am trying as patiently as I possibly can to relax in my chair. I am sitting in a heavy black-painted room in a comfortable brown chair. The chair is at the head of a long table that occupies most of the room. This room happens to be my favorite room in all of the White House. Well anyways, I am sitting in this room...alone...with nervousness circling throughout my body...along with envy...because the United States Navy Seals are currently in Pakistan capturing and killing Osama Bin Laden. I put my hand up to see just about how nervous I am. My hand appears to be shaking more than a knee bobbing up and down, side to side when they really have to go to the bathroom. I have been stressing out all day over how the operation is going to turn out. Bzzzzz. Bzzzz. Bzzzz. goes my jeans pocket when I had received a phone call. I look down to see who it is from. I see that Vice Admiral William H. McRaven is calling in. Before I hear any words, I am so greatly hoping that this is a positive report and that is it. But that is only what I can …show more content…
hope for. Dead silence fills the phone before…I hear a short two words before I hear the click of the phone giving a signal that the phone has ended. The words are “He’s dead.”
September, 2010.
I am reclining in a comfortable chair in Washington D.C., capital of the United States, in my favorite room in all of the White House.
I, Barack Obama, have a multitude of duties to achieve in order to assure that the citizens of my nation are secure. Part of my job as president of the United States includes protecting my country from the Middle-Eastern group, Al-Qaida, and their malicious leader Osama bin Laden. Many times have they attempted to terrorize our nation leading to thousands of dead innocent American victims. I’ve sent many of our soldiers to the Middle East to help protect our country. The people of my country are dependent on me to feel safe in their own homes. Lately, my mind has been distracted from my family, the predominant cause being the Al-Qaida terrorists. Until I locate this cruel leader, my only priority as the president will be to capture and kill Osama Bin
Laden. A few days have passed in September of 2010 and I get an important phone call. It is from Vice Admiral William H. McRaven. He is part of the group I sent out to find Bin Laden in the Middle East. Though he is not going in to get Bin Laden with the rest of the Seals, he is in charge of making the plans and executing the process. He starts the conversation. “Good morning, Mr. Obama,” he says. “Morning William. What’s going on with the Bin Laden operation?” I question. Admiral McRaven pauses for a second. Then continues, “I think we found something you might like, President…” I was waiting for him to continue, but I then realized I think he didn’t know if I was still on the phone line or not. So, I said something to confirm that I was fully paying attention. “Yes… Go on general,” I say. “I think we found the compound Bin Laden is staying at. It seems to be located in the middle of Pakistan, somewhere near Abbottabad, Pakistan.” What Vice Admiral McRaven had just said was music to my ears. I am so happy now and so relieved that we finally have something on Bin Laden. Now all we need is a plan! It had taken years of searching for this man and we finally have a hint at where we could find him. I am fully relying on Vice Admiral McRaven to conduct a superb enough team to kill terrorist Osama Bin Laden. He’s killed thousands of people in his life, but it’s all going to come to an end…
Months have passed and we have done lots of research on this compound that we believe belongs to Bin Laden. It is February of 2011 and my team and I believe it is finally time to start planning out what we are to do. I call up Vice Admiral McRaven and see if he wants to come over to the White House and plan it out. The meeting is just me and him and we decide that McRaven will choose what Seals he wants to take to Pakistan. I know and fully believe that he is putting his life on the line for this raid. We are estimating that it will be around the start of May that we send troops and our captain, McRaven, to take black hawk helicopters, which are dead silent so they will be unable to be heard, to Pakistan to accomplish the goal. Besides that, to talk it over with the operation group, we will be holding 5 National Security Council meetings to talk the plan over. Attending this meeting will be myself, my wife, Vice Admiral McRaven, the Seals heading to kill Bin Laden in Pakistan and Joe Biden. It is March 14, 2011 and we hold the first National Security Council meeting. There is a lot of chitter-chatter in the room until I make my statement. Broadly, I say, “We need a precise, specific plan to find out how to kill Osama Bin Laden. Nobody said it would be easy, so we are going to have to give it everything we’ve got.” The room stands quiet until one of the Seals, Robert O’Neill to be exact, gives the idea that the team should fly to Pakistan in two stealth black hawk helicopters. This is so they will be unable to be heard since these high-end black hawk helicopters are so silent and make so little noise that you could hear a pin drop. Everyone in the room agrees with this idea, so it is a good start to the meeting. Since the meeting was getting out of hand, I decided to call it a night. I told everyone that our next meeting will be on March 29 and we will follow up on ideas about Bin Laden.
March 29, 2011.
We gather around the White House security room table and start discussing. I stay silent throughout the meeting. I decide to let the people who are actually taking down Osama do the talking. “We need to make this operation quick and efficient. It needs to be less than an hour. Maybe around 40 minutes or something like that,” Vice President Joe Biden states. My wife, Michelle, decides to chip in to the conversation. She thinks that the operation should be 40 minutes or less because they will be on the lookout and will have enough time to react if they know you are there. So, we need to make the operation quick. I tell everyone to meet back in the same room on April 12. That is how meeting ends. I think we have a good chance at this operation. I imagine that we will have our Seals fly out in the helicopters around April 29th and to arrive at the Bin Laden compound on May 1st.
April 12, 2011.
Countdown: 17 days until raiding.
Everyone meets back at the security room in the White House. Since there will really be nothing to be discussed, I decide to hold a short meeting. Throughout the meeting, our main discussion is about how to track the Bin Laden compound. This meeting is definitely the least important meeting that we have had so far. Nothing essential to the operation is discussed throughout the night. Everyone at the table has a really long, dreary look on their face from a long day at work. I decide to call the meeting early after only half an hour of talking. Next meeting will be in one week from today: April 19, 2011.