DD214 Honorable Discharge

Before I changed my name to Isaac, I served as Sergeant (E-5) Logan Mehl-Laituri in the United States Army from August 2000 to November 2006 — over six years of active duty — with nearly four of those years spent in overseas service, including a combat deployment to Iraq. My primary specialty was 13F2P; an airborne-qualified Fire Support Specialist, a role that puts soldiers on the ground with infantry and special operations units to call in artillery, mortars, and air strikes with precision. This is not a desk job. Fire Support Specialists are the people who coordinate lethal firepower in real time, often from the most exposed positions on the battlefield, and doing it well requires both technical mastery and the kind of calm under pressure that either exists in you or doesn't.

My decorations tell the story plainly: an Army Commendation Medal (with two additional awards), an Army Achievement Medal, two Army Good Conduct Medals, the National Defense Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, and a Combat Action Badge — which is only awarded to soldiers who have personally engaged with or been engaged by hostile fire. I also earned the Expert Badge in Rifle, Parachutist Badge (airborne qualified), and Air Assault Badge, and served in a Designated Imminent Danger Pay Area. My character of service was Honorable and I completed my full term of service, and received a Selective Reenlistment Bonus — meaning the Army specifically wanted me to stay.

I didn't steal any valor, I earned it.