Secret Cajun Man

07.14.2004

Courtesy Story

DVIDS Hub       

By Spc. Marc Loi

New Orleans. The hotbed for Cajun food, Mardi Gras and long, muggy summers is also breeding ground to something much darker -- something natives of the coastal city, just 110 miles upstream from the Gulf of Mexico, exclude when they talk about the pride and joy of their city.

Drugs -- marijuana, cocaine, ecstasy and a plethora of other mind-altering, life-changing, mood-swinging, future-ruining substances -- are the enemies of the state.

Just as America has taken a stand to fight back, so has the State of Louisiana.

Along with joining American service members around the world to combat terrorism abroad, Soldiers from the Louisiana National Guard also join local sheriff's departments and officials to combat this form of terrorism that eats away at America's future.

Staff Sgt. Al Schiro is one of those Soldiers. Deployed here to support the War on Terrorism, Schiro's job at home, as an active duty National Guardsman, is to augment local officials in drug busts.

He didn't kick down doors in the war on drugs at home, nor does he pull triggers in support of OIF. In both instances, Schiro comes in after the 'shock-and-awe." At home, after officials have secured a drug house and arrested the suspected drug dealers, Schiro came in to find the drugs. Here, after combat actions are over, he is the one who gives service members recognition. He is the one who does the paperwork to ensure they receive awards for their valor.

Whereas service members abroad fight hard to find weapons of mass destruction that may be a threat to America, Schiro also fought hard to find weapons of mass destruction -- namely drugs -- at home.

But his job, on both war fronts, is equally important as that of a door-kicker or trigger-puller.Along with following law-enforcement officers on search warrants, he also mentored at-risk teens. Along with giving service members their awards, as a non-commissioned officer, he also mentors them.

This is where the reward comes in. This is where the difference is made, he said. Whether a Soldier deployed in support of OIF or a suburban teen being lured into the drug culture, a person needs a role model, Schiro said -- and he works hard to be that model.

"In a way, they're both similar. On both sides, you've got to mentor young people," he said. "As a senior enlisted, I try to help as many young Soldiers as I can."

Together with local parish (county) officials, Schiro works with a program and workshop called Teen Spirit. The program brings teens from different parishes and gets them to work together. This allows them to get to know one another and teaches them team-building skills. The workshop also teaches them the benefits of staying off drugs, he said.In OIF, Schiro also works hard to ensure he serves a role model to young Soldiers.

"If a young Soldier sees a non-commissioned officer acting [belligerently], he will think it's okay to do it too," Schiro said.Perhaps his motivation for serving as a role model, Schiro said, is he can relate to the impact of drugs."I lost a nephew because of a drug overdose," Schiro said. "He left behind a baby."

But it was more than just a family member that prompted Schiro to be a part of the drug task force -- it's also children in his neighborhood whom Schiro said have died or ruined their lives because of drugs.

Schiro got to see the positive results of his works.After one workshop, a teenager walked up to him, Schiro recalled, and told him he never got to know his father. And if there were a person in his life whom he would want his father to be like, it would be Schiro.

Schiro said his job isn't to put away the "b This, too, applies for the War on Terrorism, he said.

It isn't so much about putting away and punishing those committing dirty deeds -- it's about giving Iraqis, particularly younger ones, reasons to hope.

"Whether it's the War on Terrorism or the war on drugs, we have to lead by example," he said.The change, no matter how little, is a positive change, he said. Be it one Iraqi child having an opportunity to live oppression-free, one child in New Orleans living drug-free or one Soldier becoming a better Soldier. One change, he said, will cause a 'snowball effect." In the end, a change for the better in just one many make a better collective change.

Leading by example, whether abroad or in the Bayou State, may just lead young people to a place called Hope.

• Date Taken: 07.14.2004
• Date Posted: 07.14.2004 11:16
• Story ID: 115