~23-year-old David Wallis, a graduate of Central High School in Cape Girardeau, was deployed to Iraq last year and expects to serve another term before his contract expires

In May 2005, I was deployed to Iraq and was there a year fighting the war on terror.

With a little less than three years left on my contract with the military, I feel it is probable that I will see another tour of duty in Iraq.

I feel what we are doing over there is serving its purpose. Whether or not we went about it the right way or if we took the right steps in the past, I would really rather not say. What has been done is done, and the actions have been taken.

Now we need to figure out the right steps to finish what we started so everyone can come home.

I'm sure the feelings toward Americans among the Iraqi people are mixed. Some people had a look of relief on their faces while I was around; others looked disgusted. That seemed to be the major problem we encountered -- you never really knew who your enemy was. However, the Iraqi soldiers idolized our presence.

In Iraq, there was a level of being scared that went beyond the screams of a horror movie. The fear I experienced was the fear of the unknown. Not knowing what to expect, not knowing what is or what isn't normal.

The first time you encounter incoming mortar fire, the first few times you heard weapons being fired and getting used to Middle Eastern society -- these were all things I feared.

There is a certain awareness you have while on missions that I guess you could call fear. What I felt was more like my senses were heightened.

The weather in Iraq was extremely hot. It wasn't like the hot you encounter in Cape Girardeau, with the humidity, but it was the driest heat ever. You wouldn't even know you were sweating because your sweat would evaporate before you could feel it.

I lived in a tent with air conditioning in it for about 8 months. For the last few months of my deployment, when our unit moved into southern Iraq, I lived in a trailer that was split into three rooms. You usually had one bunk mate, sometimes three.

The towns and cities in Iraq are diverse. While Baghdad seemed highly developed, the smaller villages were uncivilized. A lot of farmers still lived in homes put together with homemade bricks and mud. I felt privileged to stay in a tent and use porta-potties for 8 months.

I joined the National Guard for several reasons. I needed a change in my life. I couldn't seem to get on track with anything I was doing, so I decided to join an organization where everything you did was on track. Another reason I joined was for the satisfaction of knowing I was doing my part to secure the nation in which we live.

Being back home is wonderful. I realize how much we -- in the United States -- seem to take for granted. Our lives are wonderful over here, and we really couldn't ask for more in a lot of cases.

It has taken me awhile to get comfortable with my life since I've been back. For awhile, I didn't really feel as close to people as I did before. Most people would agree, though, that there's a healing process for everything you go through in life -- this is just one of those things I went through as an American soldier.

David Wallis is a 23-year-old Cape Central High School graduate.