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Serving in the New York Army National Guard helped Sgt. First Class Alex Williams, a Queens resident, become a United States citizens sooner than he would have otherwise.
Now he is out to help other immigrants achieve their goal of becoming a citizenship by helping them join the National Guard, by serving as a recruiter in the Jamaica, Queens recruiting office.
When he was 10 years old, Williams’ family immigrated from the Island of Jamaica to the United States. Although they were excited to be in a new country, tragedy struck almost instantly, he recalled.
When he was 10 years old, Williams’ family immigrated from the Island of Jamaica to the United States. Although they were excited to be in a new country, tragedy struck almost instantly, he recalled.
“My family was fortunate enough to immigrate here to the States, you know, to provide a better opportunity for me…and within my first month of being in the country, September 11 happened. So again, a little bit bittersweet to have the opportunity to emigrate, but then simultaneously, something so traumatic happened to the country,” Williams said.
In 2010, Williams saw service in the Army as a way to earn citizenship for himself and his family. In particular, he wanted to join the National Guard for its focus on community.
“We have people that are in the communities, we have people that are in colleges, we have people that are just, they're stationed here, right, working in their community, and simultaneously working in the military,” Williams said.
Through a close family friend, Williams was able to enlist and begin his path to citizenship.
After thirteen years of service, Williams said he is grateful for what he has received through the National Guard.
“I think about what the guard has offered me, right? The opportunity to better myself, career training, leadership experience, leadership opportunity, you know, and the opportunity to change my family's life,” Williams said.
On top of bettering himself individually, and his family’s life, it also helped him start a family of his own.
“Both of us were able to attain our citizenship and immigrate to the United States. We've been blessed enough to have children and essentially, to a degree, fulfill the American dream. I think that's just some of the ways the military has helped my family,” Williams said.
Now for his full-time job, Williams works to provide others with the same opportunities he was given when he came to the United States, as a recruiter in his home town.
“The opportunity of being able to help people get into the guard, help people with their citizenship or through the guard process, it's near and dear to my heart for that reason,” Williams said.
“Having immigrated, having gone through the immigration process through the military, seeing the ups and downs of it, and being able to help people expedite that process and just navigated has been really great,” he said.
| Date Taken: | 01.30.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 02.07.2023 10:12 |
| Story ID: | 437442 |
| Location: | QUEENS/NEW YORK, NY, US |
| Hometown: | QUEENS, NY, US |
| Web Views: | 45 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, NY National Guard recruiter aims to help others achieve their goals, by SSG Andrew Valenza, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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