Military Member Shares Stories from Middle East Tours with High Schoolers

“Whenever I was having a bad day, whether I was in Kuwait, Iraq or Afghanistan, I’d reach into my pocket and take out this piece of cement from one of the Twin Towers and I’d remind myself about how fortunate I am.” 

With these words, U.S. Navy Lt. Mitch Ellicott began his presentation before Lisa Kenny and  Jeff Ryder’s morning Global Mosaic class last week at Hopatcong High School. Husband to HHS math teacher Linda Ellicott and father to freshman Maggie Ellicott, the lieutenant shared his thoughts, experiences and advice concerning his two tours overseas.

In Ellicott's first deployment, he spent a year in Kuwait and Iraq was for a year. His most recent six-month deployment to Afghanistan ended Oct. 18., when he was warmly greeted by his four children and wife. 

The lieutenant explained to the students that like U.S. citizens, Afghan people want  independence. He said U.S. soldiers are in that nation to help the Afghans gain their freedom from the Taliban, a strict religious group that wields control there and which the U.S. government has deemed to be dangerous and oppressive.

Before his departure for Afghanistan, Ellicott studied the Afghan culture and language for over a month to help him build positive relationships with the Afghanis he would encounter.

He said there were many challenges while he served the Navy in Afghanistan: temperatures of 134 degrees each day, a contaminated water supply, improvised explosive devices that could be hidden anywhere, ground and mountain attacks, sand storms, bacteria-filled foods (the soldiers were instructed to never eat any of it) and health issues such as dehydration, heat stroke, cramps, exhaustion, and a wide variety of local diseases.

Ellicott ended the 80-minute talk by adding that it took him 2 1/2 years to get into a uniform and serve our country. He said his age and a previous leg injury were early obstacles to his quest to join the Navy. But with the assistance of Congressman Rodney Frelinghuysen, he pursued the dream he'd held since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2011.

Ellicott lost a brother-in-law in the Twin Towers on that dark day in the world's history, and he said the loss compelled him to take action by enlisting with the Navy.

“You are in charge of your own destiny," he told the students. "You own your life. You are steering your own ship. It took me 2 1/2 years to act on my desire to serve this country, and fortunately I am here to talk about it.”