Father-in-Law and D-Day Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Father-in-Law and D-Day - Essay Example He signed up and volunteered to be trained as a paratrooper, following the footsteps of his older brother George, who was already in the Army and was fighting with the 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division. In August 1941, Chic registered at Fort Devins, Massachusetts and being newly-married and an expert meat cutter, he was told that he would be given consideration to work as a Staff Sergeant at a meat cutting plant in Chicago, preparing meat for the troops. Chic would not have anything of it. So the Army sent him to train as a paratrooper at Camp Taccoa, Georgia. Chic, chuckling during the interview, said that it used to be called Camp Tombs because the camp's site used to be a casket factory. Since he spoke French, was good at photography because of his father, could read maps and the compass very well, and had a good sense of direction, Chic was assigned to work in military intelligence and was trained to be a paratrooper who would be dropped behind enemy lines from a plane so they could check on the enemy, sabotage their transport and communication lines, and give information to American troops on where the enemy was holed up. It was dangerous stuff because these paratroopers would always be the first ones to fight the enemy so they could keep safe those who would come later during the attack (Encarta). From September to October 1941, the training at Camp Tombs turned Chic and thousands of other recruits into hardened young soldiers, preparing them for the tough years ahead. Then off they went to the Parachute School at Fort Benning, Georgia for more training, this time as paratroopers. Chic learned to jump from high altitudes, and shortly before coming home for the Christmas holidays in 1941, he earned his wings (paratroopers who complete their training get a set of golden wings that they proudly display on their uniforms) after his fifth training jump from an airplane thousands of feet up in the sky. The first two jumps were pretty scary, but Chic got the hang of it and found it pretty exciting that he got his wings ahead of the others in his group. In 1942, Chic underwent more paratrooper and combat training Camp McCall in North Carolina, where they practiced landing behind enemy lines, engaging in dangerous maneuvers, and jumping some more from planes. It was perhaps this long training program that kept Chic alive when he finally saw action, although some of his friends who trained with him never survived the war, and some survived but were seriously wounded. Anyway, during the whole time he underwent training, Chic and Lorraine, his wife of less than a year, lived in their own quarters just outside the camp, like other married soldiers did, and this may have been Chic's secret to learning the art of staying alive in the midst of danger. Having someone to come home to somehow sharpens a man's sense of danger and survival, and this made him sensitive to what goes on around him, preventing him from becoming careless (Ambrose). In 1943, Chic was

Money Management Final-1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Money Management Final-1 - Essay Example After analyzing own risk profile, the investment decisions will be made, that in which investment vehicle I need to invest. This report will focus on the investment strategy and objectives need to be adopted, difference between ETFs and the mutual funds and how to manage the portfolio risk in order to experience good flow in investing. Further, it will also take into consideration the financial instruments which are accessible for investments, the role and influence of the main players in the financial markets, relationship between the financial markets and the macroeconomic forces and the benefits and risks of investing in different investment vehicle. Analyzing Risk Profile All investors have contradictory attitudes towards risk, so when it comes to investing, it is essential that we need to judge our own risk profile including that the returns on my investments could fluctuate broadly from year to year and also how comfortable I am with the likelihood of losing money. Understandin g personal risk tolerance will provide assistance in selecting a suitable asset allocation. My asset allocation includes stock, mutual fund, cash and property. It depends broadly on the time horizon and my risk tolerance ability. So, in order to judge own risk profile, following points need to be taken into consideration: Investment Experience The investment experience will indicate my understanding of financial markets such as just started investing or know the basics of investing or investing for several years or have enough knowledge of financial markets and have been making investment decisions boldly (See Appendix A). So, my experience is that I understand the fundamentals of investing. Risk Tolerance In order to ascertain an investment strategy that suits my risk profile, first I need to think about the likelihood that my investment value may decline although this may be temporary and must be prepared to admit the probability of negative return at any time for the purpose of l ikely higher long term returns. It will focus on the factors that whether I will neglect short term losses or interested in collecting regular income from investment or long term growth in investment value or want protection against inflation. So, I consider neglecting any short term losses and if in any case, the investment value fell by 20% in a short time then I would like to hold the investment and sell nothing (See Appendix B). Investment Goals and Objectives The investment goals include capital growth, purchase of new car, to purchase a new plot of land, to get a house and a young child’s education in future. My investment goals are for long term, so I afford to take some risk for a higher return. My investment objectives include investing in mutual funds because of its diversification benefits, property and stocks because they offer higher returns than fixed interests. It also includes investing in cash because it is highly liquid