Photo By Cpl. Timothy Norris | 1st Lt. Hubert Williams, Special-Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force Africa 13...... read more read more
Subscribe
NAVAL AIR STATION SIGONELLA, Italy – A common theme in novels, movies and even music is how life can come full circle. An individual goes through a unique series of events, and having gained experience and wisdom, returns either mentally, emotionally or physically to where it all began. Sometimes life writes a 360 degree plot line for an individual when he least expects it.
1st Lt. Hubert Adom Pete Williams is the Special-Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force Africa 13 adjutant. His family is from Sierra Leone, a country on the western coast of Africa.
Williams was born in Durham, N.C. A US citizen by birth, he grew up in Raleigh and recalls watching the evening news before being allowed to go out and play.
“My father cultivated an interest in politics and government when I was a young man, he always envisioned a life of public service for me,” Williams said.
In 1987 the family returned to Sierra Leone because his father was offered a government position. Williams had his life planned out: finish high school, study law at the University of Sierra Leone, work in a public law firm and run for public office when he was 25.
“That was the plan,” he said. “The civil war changed all that.”
Sierra Leone was thrust into civil war in 1991 by rebels, and the fighting slowly crept west toward the capital, Freetown, on the coast. May 24, 1997, a third successful military coup allowed rebel forces to overrun Freetown, throwing the city into chaos.
“When they arrived, they laid waste to the entire capital. I was a law student at the University of Sierra Leone in Freetown; the campus looked over the eastern side of the capital, where parliament, the state house and the supreme court are located."
Williams describes houses of worship hit with mortars, people pulled from their cars and gas stations set ablaze.
“I was able to see firsthand the destruction these rebels perpetrated on the capital,” he said.
Williams stayed at the school campus for four days with nothing but a radio. He heard over the radio that President Clinton had ordered American forces to evacuate NATO nationals from Sierra Leone.
“I didn’t know that it was going to affect me at all,” said Williams, regarding the evacuation.
Food was in short supply, so the remaining students abandoned the campus. Williams walked 12 miles to his parents’ home outside Freetown.
The next day he was walking his dog Lucky when a military convoy rolled past. Giving in to his adventurous spirit, he followed the convoy to the Mammy Yoko Hotel where the evacuation was organized.
“When I got there it was something out of the movies, there were swarms of people fighting to get into the hotel,” he said. “I was just going to take a look around, witness this adventure, go home and write a diary entry about it.”
In hope of just seeing the inside of the hotel, he forced his way to the front gate and showed his passport to the Sierra Leone soldiers patrolling on the opposite side. They immediately pulled him through the gate by the collar of his shirt. Before he knew the consequences of his adventurous actions, he was past the point of no return.
He was going to be evacuated.
The next morning he was taken to an evacuation site where several CH-53 “Sea Stallion” helicopters” from the USS Kearsarge landed with U.S. Marines pouring out of the back.
“When those Marines ran out and set up perimeter security I thought this is probably the most incredible group of people I have ever seen.”
He was taken to the neighboring country of Guinea and then London. He stayed there for ten days with an aunt who advised him to return to the U.S. since he was a citizen.
On June 11, 1997, 18 days after the fall of Freetown, he traveled to Brooklyn, N.Y., to stay with another aunt.
A new future had to be drawn up. He couldn’t continue his education in law because access to his transcripts from the University of Sierra Leone was impossible.
His aunt suggested he pursue a career in the military and use the provided GI Bill to pay for an education.
Two days later he traveled to the armed forces recruiting center in Harlem, N.Y. The recruiters were out to lunch, except one Marine.
“I saw an opportunity to establish my own identity,” he recounted about his decision to enlist. “My life would be transformed.”
He took the oath of enlistment two days later and began his journey in the Marine Corps.
He completed basic training, Marine Combat Training and went on to become an avionics technician for the very aircraft he was evacuated on a few months before, the CH-53 Sea Stallion.
Years passed and Williams went on to earn a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering degree and later commissioned as an officer in the Marine Corps.
Williams has deployed before, but deploying with Special-Purpose MAGTF Africa caused his life to come full circle.
“Sixteen years after I was a know-nothing college kid with nothing but the clothes on my back, what if as an officer of the very organization that saved my life, I can contribute to the national security of the country I was rescued from? I call that coming full circle in the most literal way.”
Special-Purpose MAGTF Africa strengthens U.S. Marine Corps Forces Africa and U.S. Africa Command's ability to assist partner nations, including Sierra Leone, in addressing their security challenges. The approximately 150 Marines and sailors conduct security force assistance, military-to-military engagements and are trained to provide support to crisis response.
“This deployment hits home in the most direct way possible,” he said. “Whether or not I go to the continent, this has been very fulfilling. Knowing that my efforts in some small way are contributing to the mission; you can’t buy that kind of fulfillment.”
| Date Taken: | 04.07.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 04.07.2013 18:16 |
| Story ID: | 104761 |
| Location: | SIGONELLA, IT |
| Hometown: | BROOKLYN, NY, US |
| Web Views: | 947 |
| Downloads: | 3 |
This work, The circle of life - Marine's personal and professional life comes full circle on deployment, by Cpl Timothy Norris, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT