About 85 miles north of the beautiful University Hill campus lies the over 100-acre army base: Fort Drum. Unlike Syracuse’s campus that is filled with students walking around in shorts, backpacks, chatting away while passing the historic buildings, Fort Drum is a big open field with bland buildings that houses army personal, other facilities where weapons are stored, offices, and etc. The brave men and women here are in their camouflage eagerly waiting to be sent overseas, something many of us, fear immensely.
This past weekend, I was at a party where I had the opportunity to meet some of the personal. I was eager to get to know more about them, their lives, how they ended up at Fort Drum, what they’re most excited for, what they’re nervous for. We spoke for a while at the dorm about their experiences and then went around campus. The stories you’ll hear in this article might be disturbing. In order to protect their privacy, their names have been changed.
“I didn’t really choose to be part of the armed forces," said Billy. “I was actually caught doing the wrong thing at the wrong time. My recruiter actually saw me do it. She told me to come into the office tomorrow. If I didn’t, I’ll be prosecuted.” Billy is from the south, grew up troubled, not trying in school, following in his now deceased brother’s footsteps in becoming a coke dealer. His brother died on the streets, a tattoo in his memory is visible on Billy’s body. After a grueling 16-week basic training which Billy didn’t even want to talk about, he was sent the opposite direction of home: Fort Drum. There, Billy said that 90% of his work right now is janitorial and 10% is actual militaristic work.
Sam is also from the south. He said he hasn’t spoken to his mother in a few months. He even went as far as saying “when you’re in the military, you lose your friends and family. You don’t really care to reach out to them, and they don’t care to reach out to you.”
While at base, visitors aren’t allowed. “I’ve never seen anyone, actually I saw one person, bring their mother to the base, but that’s something we don’t want them seeing and trust me, they don’t want to see it.” Surprisingly, the other two men agreed with him. Liam even went to the extent to say that he went back to the Midwest to surprise his parents for Christmas only to find that they were away elsewhere.
The gentlemen were surprised to see what a college dorm looked like. They asked questions about decorating our room, air conditioning, etc. They made comments about the size. When asked about their accommodations, it was interesting to learn that they don’t live in barracks, but apartments with miniature kitchens, a little living area, and of course, a bed. All the men also agreed on one thing: they all wished they took life more seriously growing up. “I wish I was here going to college”, said Liam. “I am 20-year-old and would be in college having fun.” Sam chimed in and said “We didn’t have a choice. What else were we going to do?”
With battles overseas slowing down, their deployment is looking further and further away. Currently, they’re set to be deployed in a year to a still unknown area; however, there are men and women who have been waiting for deployment for nearly three years. The possible locations they can be sent to include Afghanistan, Alaska, Africa, Hawaii, South Korea, and Germany. Many of these locations are volunteered work based. This means they’d be doing humanitarian work helping citizens out and keeping order.
While this might be rewarding, the servicemen want to fight. “I want to shoot someone”, said Billy. “I want to fight, shoot a real bullet. They don’t trust us with real bullets on the base.” This lead to a discussion about life on the base, which they wouldn’t share much about, yet Billy did disclose to a few of us that he was stabbed in the face. No details on the attack were given. Photos showed his nose butchered. He is left without the sense of smell in one nostril.
Talking to these men really encouraged me to work hard. I was given this great opportunity to attend one of the top 100 universities in the nation. I was given the opportunity that some would love to have. There are people out there fighting for us to be free, to be able to go to college, enter a field we want to join.
When I thanked them for answering my questions and for their service, a humble answer was received: “Don’t thank us.” Just when I thought the conversation was finished, they turned and went “So tell us about college.” An unorthodox and unexpected friendship was now formed.
