They have greatly oppressed me from my youth,

But they have not gained the victory over me.

Psalm 129, verse 2

Where do I begin? Most people would begin their story with a logical beginning, such as their birth, or something like that. But for me, I would need to go much farther back.

It all started with my grandfather: Erich. He was a good, patriotic man. During the second great war of this continent, he joined his homeland's air force. He did this to serve his country, and for adventure. He also did this to please his father, who had flown during the previous war. His father was well known as the greatest ace pilot of all times. There was no pilot like him: heroic, calm, always thoughtful, never boastful, and above all, a flawless flyer. He ended his career with eighty confirmed victories. And prior to my grandfather's service, none had come close to competing with him. Even during my grandfather's war, when aces were born left and right, few fought with the prowess of his father.

Except my grandfather himself.

He was placed in command of the 52nd Fighter Wing. Over the course of the war, this wing was to become renown as the "Ace Maker." Nearly all of the top twenty aces of his country served in this wing. He himself was one of them. By the end of the war, he had not only surpassed his father's score, but the score of all of his opponent's highest aces. Today, he is still the highest scoring ace of all time, at three hundred and fifty two confirmed victories. Some called him the "Ace of Aces."

During his time in the air force, he fell in love with one of the women of the town his base was at. This town had been captured by his fellow country men and all of the other soldiers would mistreat the people there. But not my grandfather. He was truly worthy of the title of "Ritter." Before the war was even finished, he took the young lady with him, got in his plane with her, and deserted. Many of his former comrades tried to shoot him down, but none could. It was as if he knew where each bullet would be.

When they landed in the capital of her homeland, he was granted amnesty. He also was offered a commission to fly for them, but he refused. Instead, he married and raised a family, including my father: Lothar.

My father, like his father, joined the military. Only my father became a pilot for the Navy. He flew A-7 attack planes off of the carrier Condor. It was while he was in the service that he met my mother: Helen. They married in 1983, and on the 11th of April, 1986, I was born; five minuets before my sister Eva.

Dad stayed in the Navy, and fought during the 1995 conflict. Most of his missions were ground attack, but he did score six and a half kills, three of them helicopters. His missions often took him over B7R, the infamous "Round Table."

Near the end of the war, while he was getting suited up for another mission, his ship was hit by five Exocet missiles. While the ship began to sink, my father went to help his fellow crew members by fighting the fires before they reached the magazines. Most of the crew got of before…

They said the explosion could be seen for miles. The flight deck peeled back, and the back half of the ship disappeared in a ball of fire and smoke. My father, along with five others, was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.

That day, I knew I wanted to be like him.

Mom, Eva, my sister Katie, my brother Geoff, and I moved to Bremmen after that. It was there I met the Davis family in 2005. I quickly became friends with their oldest daughter, Penelope, who is my age. He father, Jonah, was my mentor. He had been an ace pilot in a past war. He taught me how to fly, and fight, and how to control the anger that was inside me. I was also taking karate lessons, so that helped to calm me. There were tricks he taught me that he had used in his war to defeat an entire ace squadron. The leader of that squadron had been his nemesis during the entire war. It was his help, along with the help of my pastor and uncle, that got me into the Air Force Academy. But I am getting ahead of myself.

During high school, I was kind of nerdy. I didn't play many sports, except for running. I was on the chess team, which Jonah said would help me learn strategy. I was seen as a "Jesus freak;" a label I welcomed. And I was dating Penny.

Often times, I was in the principal's office; often with a bit of tissue in my nose to stem the bleeding. Whenever a bully of jock would pick on someone, I would stand up to them. Usually this ended with the bully backing down, or me sending a single punch to his diaphragm. Other times, I would get punched as well, though that was usually if there was more than one bully. There were times when the bullies, the jocks, and the "cool kids" would single me out for my faith. I had admitted to a friend that I asked God to give me the ability to be the world's greatest pilot. Somehow, the self proclaimed rulers of the school found out and thought I was some sort of pansy. Now, not only was I standing up for others, but I was standing up for God. That happened early in junior year. The confrontation was legendary. I walked away with a cut on my forehead that would need stitches. The six senior linemen players needed help to walk to the principal's office.

After that, my friends Seth Adams and Sora Nakahara would help me stand up as well. By senior year, we were the only "gang" at school, and we kept every bully and gang member in their place. At graduation, all three of us announced that we would be joining the military. Seth and I were going into the air force, and Sora was joining the Marines. (I always liked to tease him about being a Marine and having no hair, no brain, and no future out side of being a body bag model. He would fire back that "At least Marines don't iron their jeans and socks!")

While I was going to the Academy, Eva and Penny were going to Newton Medical University in Bana City. Eva was going to study trauma while Penny would study surgery. When I was not at the Academy, I was living with them in Bana. I didn't get home too much, but when I did, there was always someone who was happy to see me.

My time at the Academy was hard. Being one to always stick up for the underdog, I was often on the receiving end of a lot of fights. Consequently, this had an effect on my standing in the class, even though I was ranked number one in grade point average. Part of why I had such a high score was because of my sight. Prior to entering the Academy, I had simply 20/20 vision. By the time of the first solo hop, I had 20/5 vision! They were measuring my sight against radar. Some thought I was cheating. I knew better. God gave me a gift. And I had every intention of using it to protect my nation.

By graduation, I was third in the class, just behind a young lady named Kei Nagase, and my friend Seth, who was (who'd have thought!) number one. I was to report to Sand Island Air Base on the 1st of June. Graduation day was the 21st of May. That did not leave much time to celebrate.

My story begins one week before leaving for Sand Island.