I wrote this paper at the beginning of this year (8th grade) for social studies because we had to write about a veteran so I chose Mark.

Mark Metherall the Seal

My uncle, Mark Metherall, is too daring to even put in words. He served as a navy seal for eight years and has been to and seen some places that you can’t even imagine. I found out when I was about 9. The main training Mark did was called BUDS. Basic, Underwater, Demolition, Seal training. That part of training was the selection course that took six months in San Diego. Then, he went to air born school in Georgia. There they learned how to jump out of planes. A story he told me once about when he went parachuting and landed on an office building balcony all in his camouflage and face paint. I thought that was a hilarious story. So, as you can see, he’s very adventurous.

After air born school, when Mark was a beginning Navy Seal, they didn’t know what to do with him, so they sent him to work with marine animals. He did this for about six months, and mainly worked with dolphins and sea lions. He likes to tell my cousins and I about when he was working with the animals. One story was about when Mark was training his dolphin, Jake. They were out in the water when off in the distance Mark saw some other Navy Seals training and sneaking on a boat. Mark told Jake to go attack the Seals, so he did. The Seals got really frightened because they thought they were the only ones out there.  Mark also made many other animal friends and enjoyed working with them.

As a Navy Seal, Mark;s job was to be a part of the commando force. The commando force did direct action missions, otherwise known as attacking the enemy bases. He said their motto was surprise, speed, and violence of action. That was a good motto that made sense. They needed to surprise the enemy, be fast about it and use violence towards the enemy.

Mark also traveled to many countries. He went to Japan, Korea, Guam, Thailand, Kuwait, and many places in the Persian Gulf. I think that would be the best part about serving. You get to travel to a bunch of exotic places and experience different cultures and foods. He also went to different places in the U.S., but it was mostly out of the country stuff.

Mark said that if he could be a Seal again he absolutely would. He said it was like being a rock star. Being a Seal must be a pretty cool job, then since most people wouldn’t say that about their job. He also liked the part where he could jump out of planes and go diving. He’s told me some crazy stories about when he dove in blowholes. That is something he love doing, but I would probably never do that (I ended up diving in a blowhole in December 2007 with him). 

Being in the service affected Mark in two different, very important ways. One way was that it made him more focused. The second one was that now, he can accomplish almost anything that he sets his mind to. I think those are are two great things that came out of what he did. Mark is the best uncle and has done the coolest things ever. It was great that he helped his country and enjoyed what he did, but I’m glad that he’s done with the out of the country stuff. Now, his job is just in the U.S., so we can see him when we go out to California to visit. Also, he can stay home with his wife, Sarah, and my cousin, Cora. Mark is one of the most loyal, caring, and adventurous guys I know.

Love, Bella