Photo By 1st Sgt. Michael Daigle | U.S. Marine Pfc. Sam Stanford Watts repeats the oath of allegiance to the United...... read more read more
BAGHDAD - The country of Liberia entered its second civil war in 1999 when a rebel group, backed by the government of neighboring Guinea, overwhelmed the capital Monrovia. Invading rebels caused the death and displacement of thousands of people caught in the conflict. One U.S. Marine and his family were caught amongst the fighting but have managed to turn tragedy into triumph.
Marine Corps Pfc. Sam Stanford Watts was born March 9, 1986, in Monrovia, Liberia, where he spent the first three years of his life. From his birth, Watts has been on a trying journey that led him to Iraq, where he is about to become a United States citizen.
Watts, along with approximately 150 Soldiers and Marines, was naturalized as U.S. citizens in a ceremony held at Camp Victory's Al Faw Palace in Baghdad, Iraq, Nov. 11.
"I first entered the United States in March of 1989 at the age of three," Watts said. "My father had gotten me a visa to leave Liberia because of the rumors of imminent civil war."
Leaving his father and home behind, Watts left Liberia and, within three months, the civil war was being fought heavily in Monrovia.
Upon arriving to the U.S., Watts lived with his mother in New York for nine years until they ultimately moved to Massachusetts, where he now calls Lowell home.
Watts moved back to Africa when he was 15.
"I attended boarding school at Ghana International in Accra, Ghana. My stay in Ghana was short, I eventually moved back to Monrovia with my father," Watts said.
Shortly after Watts arrived in Liberia, while attempting to re enter school, another civil war broke out. This time he and his father were caught in the middle.
"The fighting was so fierce it forced us to leave our home and seek shelter and safety outside the city," he said.
For three years Watts and his father, along with thousands of other Liberians, became refugees.
"The three years of running, hiding and starving together forged a bond unlike anything I have ever experienced," he said. "We lived in whatever spaces we could."
Within the three years of running the number of refugees multiplied.
"They were all driven from their homes or their homes were burned to the ground, in some cases both," Watts said. "We were all ragged, hungry and beaten. The fear of death came not just from the possibly of being shot or fatally dismembered, from literally starving to death."
After the war came to an end, Watts and his father moved back to their house in the city finding it looted and badly vandalized.
"My father told me 'Sam, you have to leave Liberia and make something of yourself,'" he said. "I returned to the United States in March 2007."
Watts joined the U.S. Marine Corps in March of 2008 as a 0151 Administration Clerk and is currently attached to Medium Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 296th, based in New River, N.C.
"I believe that struggles make strength. The struggles of my teenage years in a war torn country, combined with my accomplishments as a United States Marine, have given me the confidence to overcome anything. My U.S. citizenship is more than just an accomplishment for me; it is a testament that any adversity can be overcome."
| Date Taken: | 11.11.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 11.11.2009 13:49 |
| Story ID: | 41418 |
| Location: | BAGHDAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 432 |
| Downloads: | 390 |
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