“There’s a lot of traveling that I’d like to do, but I’m retired military, and I like being in the continental United States where you can be free to go and do whatever you want to do. You go to another country, and you’re kind of bound by their rules. A lot of people don’t know how free we really are until they go someplace else and then try to get back home. There’s enough stuff here in the United States to make me happy.” – Shirley Rawls of Selma

Rawls, a veteran of the Iraq War and the Gulf War, served in the U.S. Air Force for 26 years.

Shirley Rawls is an Air Force veteran. (Amber Sutton / People of Alabama)

These are the faces and stories of people from all walks of life who call Alabama home. People of Alabama is a Red Clay Media and Alabama NewsCenter partnership.