James Bicket
James Bicket
By Alberto Elquezabal & Raven Binau-Rowe
We interviewed James Bicket. He served in the Navy from June of 1980 to November of 2003. James had enlisted because he hoped to travel the world and he believes that there is more travel in the Navy than the other branches. Also, his father had been in the Naval Reserves so he knew he wanted to serve his country.
James said he was not nervous about going into the Navy because he had wanted to do this since he was a child. He joined at age 18 and was excited about the travel opportunities. Mr. Bicket particularly enjoyed his time in Australia and Israel. Without the Navy he may never have been able to see those places as a tourist.
He was never injured in the military and he told us that he had to be in good shape so he had a lot of physical training. James was also trained to assemble weapons and to operate weaponry. He said everyone worked together and got along while deployed because they were all there to do the job. It did not seem to matter what race people were, they had to depend on each other while at sea.
Mr. Bicket served on an aircraft carrier. He was involved in battles in both Iran and Grenada. The rest of his time was spent in noncombat roles in various places. James earned several honors during his twenty-three years of service. He received a Navy Achievement Medal, Good Conduct Medal, and Southwest Asia Medal, among many others. Mr. Bicket felt that he learned that serving the nation could be a very rewarding experience.
We learned a lot by talking to James. When people think of being in the military, whatever branch it may be, they most likely do not think of traveling. Most people think of being on battlefields, on hot dirt bases, or they think about all of the physical training. We learned that you actually get to go and see new places and meet new people. Like James said, the Navy isn’t the only branch that travels, but it is the branch that travels the most. So if you are a person that wants to see new things, but you also want to so something to help our country, the Navy might just be the right thing for you.
We also talked about people protesting war, and the appropriate time and place to do so. Mr. Bicket said that everyone has a right to their own opinion, and that if someone does not like war he does not have a problem with that. However, there was an incident here in Council Bluffs where a group of people did not choose the right time and place to protest. We had a soldier who had died over seas, fighting for our country. A group of citizens actually went and protested the soldier’s funeral. When we asked James what he thought about that, he said that it made him very angry. We all agreed that it was not right of them to do that. Yes, we have “freedom of speech” and all of that, but we also have a thing called respect. Those people were not being very respectful that day.
We would like to thank James Bicket for coming and talking to us. We really learned a lot, and he had a lot of interesting things to say. We also want to thank all people who serve our country here and overseas.
We interviewed James Bicket. He served in the Navy from June of 1980 to November of 2003. James had enlisted because he hoped to travel the world and he believes that there is more travel in the Navy than the other branches. Also, his father had been in the Naval Reserves so he knew he wanted to serve his country.
James said he was not nervous about going into the Navy because he had wanted to do this since he was a child. He joined at age 18 and was excited about the travel opportunities. Mr. Bicket particularly enjoyed his time in Australia and Israel. Without the Navy he may never have been able to see those places as a tourist.
He was never injured in the military and he told us that he had to be in good shape so he had a lot of physical training. James was also trained to assemble weapons and to operate weaponry. He said everyone worked together and got along while deployed because they were all there to do the job. It did not seem to matter what race people were, they had to depend on each other while at sea.
Mr. Bicket served on an aircraft carrier. He was involved in battles in both Iran and Grenada. The rest of his time was spent in noncombat roles in various places. James earned several honors during his twenty-three years of service. He received a Navy Achievement Medal, Good Conduct Medal, and Southwest Asia Medal, among many others. Mr. Bicket felt that he learned that serving the nation could be a very rewarding experience.
We learned a lot by talking to James. When people think of being in the military, whatever branch it may be, they most likely do not think of traveling. Most people think of being on battlefields, on hot dirt bases, or they think about all of the physical training. We learned that you actually get to go and see new places and meet new people. Like James said, the Navy isn’t the only branch that travels, but it is the branch that travels the most. So if you are a person that wants to see new things, but you also want to so something to help our country, the Navy might just be the right thing for you.
We also talked about people protesting war, and the appropriate time and place to do so. Mr. Bicket said that everyone has a right to their own opinion, and that if someone does not like war he does not have a problem with that. However, there was an incident here in Council Bluffs where a group of people did not choose the right time and place to protest. We had a soldier who had died over seas, fighting for our country. A group of citizens actually went and protested the soldier’s funeral. When we asked James what he thought about that, he said that it made him very angry. We all agreed that it was not right of them to do that. Yes, we have “freedom of speech” and all of that, but we also have a thing called respect. Those people were not being very respectful that day.
We would like to thank James Bicket for coming and talking to us. We really learned a lot, and he had a lot of interesting things to say. We also want to thank all people who serve our country here and overseas.
Alberto Elquezabal, James Bicket, Raven Binau-Rowe, Kassie Hausman
