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Eric Dirker was born in Akron, Ohio on December
31, 1979.
As a kid he enjoyed playing with his brothers and sisters. He has five
brothers, one sister, a mother, and a father. Other activities he enjoyed in
his youth were playing outside and sports. He often thought about being in
the military as a kid. He liked school and was an average student. Eric
attended Immaculate Heart of Mary, Woodridge, and Akron University. He enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1999 and
participated in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Eric First arrived in Guam, which was his staging
point. He was trained for infantry and became a sniper. When he joined was a
little afraid but mostly excited! The clothes he received were camouflage and
dress uniforms. He met many friends there and was very close to them. He
trusted his life with them. Eric never actually was involved in fighting but
went through very intense training. Some things that he disliked while
serving was not seeing his family enough and the lack of sleep he had. In his
free time he would like to hang out with his friends and sometimes would go
out to eat instead of eating the military food. Some of his job duties as a
sniper were to go ahead of battalion, surveillance, and recon. A couple
places where he slept and lived temporarily are called squad base and a barracks. No matter where he
was it was very hot. His most frightening experience was being shipped out to
war and the fear of not seeing his family ever again.
The most interesting experience was going to different
countries and witnessing their different cultures. The most exhausting
experience that he endured was the last week of sniper school. During that
week he went through many tough and exhausting drills. In that week he lost
close to 20 pounds! His most exciting experience was almost engaging the
enemy. One thing he was especially good at was shooting. He was the number
one shooter in his battalion. He supplied support for the Afghanistan war. The most impressive allied
weapon that he saw was the fixed wing air support or F-14. Some of the places
he visited while over seas were, Okinawa, Guam, Cuba, and Japan. Also he visited numerous
places all around America. One person that he met that
was famous was a professional body builder. The highest rank he reached was
sergeant. He went from Private
to Private 1st Class then at the end was a sergeant. He received
citations and commendations. Also, he received a medal for good conduct. Eric
finally left the war in 2003; he was transported home on a plane. After he
was home he got a job in the police academy. He met his spouse in church and
got married in 2006. They have a one and a half month old baby boy. He
currently lives in Cuyahoga Falls. One of his hobbies is lifting
weights. Eric now leads a happy life with his wife and child.
One of the places
Eric was at
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