Spring Break
The Daily Orange'Real World' cast member discusses life beyond the camera
By Jackie Saunders
Posted: 4/10/06, 11:35 PM EST Section: Pulp
Huddled in the bunker amid a sea of camoflauged bodies, Rachel Moyal wondered if she should give up her spot in the cramped space and let her sergeant in. She remembered how she baby-sat his kids before the war and wished the overcrowded bunker could fit a few more bodies.
Iraq war veteran and former "Real World: Austin" cast member Rachel Moyal spoke last night in Goldstein Auditorium, an event sponsored by the Winnick Hillel Center at Syracuse University. SU actually brought back many good memories for Moyal, who auditioned for "Real World" at the university a few years ago in an open casting call.
Speaking to the small audience, the Southern California native gave a flashback into her childhood.
"We didn't have much money, and sometimes we had to take showers at the public pool," said Moyal. "I remember one time our car got repossessed in the middle of the night and my dad was chasing it down the street."
After high school with aspirations to become a nurse and lacking funding or good grades for scholarships, Moyal decided to join the Army and become a combat nurse in 2000. Moyal thought the Army would be fun being able to wear a cute uniform, tend to handsome boys and travel the world. Little did she know her unit stationed in Fort Drum in Watertown would be one of the first to be deployed to Iraq.
"It happened so fast; it was my worst nightmare," Moyal said. "I remember not wanting the plane ride to end and thinking about how I was here and for everyone else in American it was just a regular Thursday morning."
Kuwait was Moyal's first stop in the Middle East, where she learned quickly her life was going to drastically change. Armed with a 9-millimeter strapped to her leg, a flak vest and a gas mask, Moyal realized the Army was not what she expected.
Moyal was the sole nurse in her unit and only had an LPN, which is a two-year degree. Possessing only the Army's equivalent to a first-aid kit, Moyal had to trade and scrounge for any available medical supplies she could get her hands on. When Moyal's unit crossed the border into Iraq a few days later, it seemed like a completely different world.
Iraq war veteran and former "Real World: Austin" cast member Rachel Moyal spoke last night in Goldstein Auditorium, an event sponsored by the Winnick Hillel Center at Syracuse University. SU actually brought back many good memories for Moyal, who auditioned for "Real World" at the university a few years ago in an open casting call.
Speaking to the small audience, the Southern California native gave a flashback into her childhood.
"We didn't have much money, and sometimes we had to take showers at the public pool," said Moyal. "I remember one time our car got repossessed in the middle of the night and my dad was chasing it down the street."
After high school with aspirations to become a nurse and lacking funding or good grades for scholarships, Moyal decided to join the Army and become a combat nurse in 2000. Moyal thought the Army would be fun being able to wear a cute uniform, tend to handsome boys and travel the world. Little did she know her unit stationed in Fort Drum in Watertown would be one of the first to be deployed to Iraq.
"It happened so fast; it was my worst nightmare," Moyal said. "I remember not wanting the plane ride to end and thinking about how I was here and for everyone else in American it was just a regular Thursday morning."
Kuwait was Moyal's first stop in the Middle East, where she learned quickly her life was going to drastically change. Armed with a 9-millimeter strapped to her leg, a flak vest and a gas mask, Moyal realized the Army was not what she expected.
Moyal was the sole nurse in her unit and only had an LPN, which is a two-year degree. Possessing only the Army's equivalent to a first-aid kit, Moyal had to trade and scrounge for any available medical supplies she could get her hands on. When Moyal's unit crossed the border into Iraq a few days later, it seemed like a completely different world.
