Another Face on the Wall: Jeff Garcia

Another Face on the Wall

November 22, 2010
Tags:
life rotc family
Everyone says being a military brat or growing up in a military family or household has its pros and cons. Honestly, with my experiences, I have seen nothing but pros. My family is huge, on both my mother and father’s sides and coming from my Puerto Rican heritage, increasing our size is something of a norm because Hispanics love big families. My father’s side of the family helped me to make the decision to join the Armed Forces and defend our Nation. In this side of the family, 9 out of 10 men all served in the military since before the time of my late “biciabuelo” or great-grandfather. This is shown by a wall in his house, where there are over thirty pictures of males in my family who all but one served in the U.S. Army, from their Basic Training Graduation photos, or other professional photos they had of them to be posted on his wall. As a child growing up, I always would ask questions about each of these and admire the stories I’d hear about each one, hoping to one day have my face on that wall and make my great-grandfather proud. Firstly, my father is currently serving in Iraq and this will most likely be his last tour. He has been in since before I was born and is currently a MSG in the U.S. Army. I have two uncles that are serving, one on Active Duty and the other in the National Guard. My Uncle Edwin is a SSG down in Ft. Bragg, and Uncle Freddy is a Major down in Columbus, Ohio. These men have also helped me make my decision to serve, but encouraged me to get my education first. So, I decided to join the Reserve Officer’s Training Corps and I will have earned my commission in about 6 more months. I have big boots to fill, dating back to even before WWII when my great-grandfather served, Vietnam where my grandfather served, and all the Operations since 1988 when both my father and Uncle Freddy served. If I can be half the man that these men have been while serving, I hope to earn my spot on the wall. I know that once I do pin on the Gold Bars, my great-grandfather is going to look down from Above and hopefully whatever it is I accomplish while serving our Nation, I make him, and the rest of my family proud.

Go Army

submitted by Cadet Jeff Garcia on Nov 22 2010