“Veteran’s Connect”

Fresh off the bus to basic training at Fort Jackson trying to hide my last cigarette (no smoking allowed in basic). Drill Sergeants no higher than my neck walking straight to the bus. Looks straight to the back to me demanding my presence off the bus. Time to train! The instant they all heard I was a Brooklyn native, the pressure begins. Having a bit of fun inside. This is the same post my dad was stationed and trained at before deployment, “Alpha Co.”

I was Bravo, passing Alpha Co. on post gave distant chills for some reason, so did Delta but they were a rough breed of soldiers. Starring up at passing aircraft reminiscing on old days at my grandmothers, not far from post. I could sometimes hear my pops in the woods pushing me, many times I just wanted to be home recording. Several years later the opportunity was presented to me to establish a veterans connect program where I would meet on a monthly basis with veterans with paperwork issues and housing issues. The real veteran connection I’m proud of is being the son of Samuel. Something that defies my existence and reminds me off who I am. He was deployed overseas where I was domesticated. Opportunity did present itself for my deployment but too many hardships kept me from excelling aside from ranking up, deployments are key. Everything I do in life is connected to the veteran who sacrificed to do the best he could for a wife and 4 children. A son always try to measure up to his father. In my case it’s to try and provide what he couldn’t.