Traci Muldoon

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Suzanne Schenkel
Comm 101-02
8 December 2014
A Veterans Story: Staff Sergeant Tim Kaiser
The sound of the resistance from the power drill pressing into his friends skull as
he digs to remove a head embolism caught in the brain of his beloved battle buddy, is a
sound that has never left the memory of Staff Sergeant Tim Kaiser.
On the outside, Tim appears like any other guy, but on the inside, Kaiser is in fact
a hero, one that has saved the lives of several individuals while fighting for our country.
Tim Kaiser is a 46-year-old of Orange County, California and is a U.S. Army veteran who
served as a combat medic, as well as infantry ranger in the army for 10 years. As a
product of the 1970s teenage culture, who was too cool for school, there was only one
thing that Kaiser had interested in being since he was young: a soldier.
After surviving three deployments, Kaiser has now earned the rank of Staff
Sergeant and has been a role model of a good soldier on both the battlefield and in the
civilian world. Like most combat situations, there were several obstacles Kaiser had to
face. However, Kaiser faced an especially difficult obstacle the year he was deployed to
Iraq for the first time.
Kaiser was deployed to Iraq in 1990 fighting the Desert Storm War when he
found out that his newly wedded wife and soon to be son were killed in a car accident,
just a week before the baby was due. While most widowers would be the first person
volunteering to host a ceremony for their wife, Kaiser wasnt even able to attend his

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wifes funeral since he was in combat and wasnt allowed to leave under any
circumstances. Not only was Kaiser stressed and probably traumatized from the war, but
also he had to stay and continue to fight while grieving the loss of his wife, knowing that
he couldnt even give her one last goodbye.
I experienced things I never thought I would experience before and when it
comes to a life or death situation, you have to make decisions, not only to survive, but to
keep the people around you alive, he stated.
Yes, despite his wife and son passing, Kaiser still had to fight, despite everything
else that was going on but he grew strong from the loss, as he realized the importance of
the people you have in your life, including his fellow troops.
In fact, he began to value his fellow soldiers even more and started leading in a
way that demonstrated the importance of brotherhood in the army. When new troops
came in, Kaiser made sure that he would work to make the troops feel like they were
brother. He made sure that they were all well trained when they arrive and took them with
him on day deployments during his spare time to prepare them for anything that comes
their way.
One of his biggest accomplishment was fighting in the Cold War, where he
worked to assist troops in protecting civilians on the west side of Europe at only age 19.
The Cold War was a political standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union
after World War 2 that resulted in Europe splitting in half between Russia and the United
States. To create peace and help those hurt by the dictatorship of the Soviet Union, the
U.S. sent military troops, including Kaiser and his unit to man the Iron Curtain, the

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fence located along the boarder of Western Europe. Here, Kaiser and his troops helped
civilians escape from east Germany to west Germany to find safety, as well as did foot
patrol duties around the border. This was a long and gruesome war, as Kaisers unit faced
many long winters in the cold weather, as well as witnessed several traumatic injuries,
including having to remove a hemo-embolism stuck inside of one of his battle buddys
brain, which was probably the most traumatic injury Kaiser witnessed. According to
Kaiser, this traumatic event ceased to leave his memory stating, Some days I can smell
charred bodies and some days I dream about when I saw blood scattered a from one of
my battle buddys skulls.
Kaisers example influenced the attitude of soldiers around him, who respected
and looked up to him for his efforts. He received the rank of Staff Sergeant and won
many award throughout his time in the service such as Army Commendation Medal, Over
Seas Medal, Combat Field and Expert Field Medical Badges, National Defense Service
Medal and Desert Storm Citation awards, along with several others.
What makes Tim Kaiser unique is not just the things hes accomplished over the
years, but the sacrifice and discipline he posses as a soldier. The pride and character he
carries from his military is one that no other civilian can compete with. In agreement to
this, Tim states that this experience changed him greatly, as it gave him a sense of pride
for the first time in his life, The feeling of pride, integrity and honor is a feeling that
only a soldier can understand. Its soul being. It really is. Its deep because of what you
have to go through to get to wear that uniform, to be up at 4 oclock every morning and
have to run 6 miles in the snow before you even have breakfast. Tim, who is now retired

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from the military life is currently working for a private investigator security team in
Orange County for various political and business figures in Orange County and uses his
discipline and strength he learned on the battlefield to protect his new clients.