Alex Idrache grew up in a slum in Haiti. As a boy, he recalls how U.S. soldiers were deployed to his neighborhood following the magnitude 7 earthquake there in 2010. He says their presence was the first experience of “hope” he recalls in his childhood.
He remembers looking at his dad and asking him who the people were that were helping. His dad looked at him and said, “They are American soldiers.” He looked back at his father and said, “One day, I will be an American soldier.”
His dad knew this could never happen if the stayed in Haiti, so for several years he attempted to obtain a visa to come to the United States. After being denied for several years, he was finally granted a spot in Baltimore. He purchased a ticket on a boat for his family and left Haiti for Charm City.
Once they arrived and Alex, remembering his dream, looked for a way to join the U.S. Army. He found a national guard program that allowed him to join the Army in exchange for citizenship. He jumped at the chance.
Working hard, showing discipline, Alex was given one of the few spots at West Point for prior enlisted soldiers. Despite his lack of formal education, he graduated as an honor graduate (top 5% physically and academically) and the top student in the Physics Department.
He went on to become a US Army Blackhawk pilot and was recently chosen to attend Marine Expeditionary Warfare School.
I would say that is the face of a humble, grateful and determined man on a mission.
No prior formal education yet the top cadet in Physics ? WOW to say the least.
God Bless America, and those of us who strive for better.
He was able to pull himself up (spectacularly) by his “own bootstraps”. If a young man from Haiti can rise to such a height in America, should we have sympathy for our own citizens who CHOSE not to rise above poverty through hard work, but are satisfied with social programs and live off the labor (taxes) of our country’s active workforce ? I have no sympathy for them…