Summary, paraphrase, and quote

Summary:
Bidding Farewell to Arms by Roman Skaskiw is an essay about the time he spent in the army. He could not decide whether he wanted to stay in the army, or to resign. He spent most of his time as a name on a list, until he spent 545 days in Afghanistan. After leaving, he spent a year finding himself and his friends. He spent time with family and got a job. After a year he resigned from the army.

Paraphrase:
Decisions shape our lives in many ways. We make simple choices everyday that we often do not even think about. We brush our hair and teeth, go to bed, and decide what we want to do for the day. When faced with a hard question, we have to decide what is best for us. Roman Skaskiw discussed his choices with the army in a narrative titled "Bidding Farewell to Arms". He challenges himself to find what life can be like without the army, and after a year of trying to decide whether or not he wanted to continue to serve, he resigned from the army but kept all his memories with him.

Quote:
Roman Skaskiw made the decision to resign from the army after a year of waiting. He wanted to make it clear life was more important to him, and he wanted to live it to the fullest. He writes, "I would also say that greater than the adventure of fighting our government's wars is the adventure of pursuing your own happiness in the world." (Page 121, paragraph 18). This quote is important to the text because it shows that his decision is his own, and he wants to make himself happy where as being in the army did not cause him happiness anymore.