At the tail end of four years of immigrant hatred, I came across a story of the American Dream that speaks to all of us . . . and gives us hope. I was captured by the graduation photo of a West Point cadet from 2016. The photo and the story was recently published on Facebook by Daniel Larsen (from Vancouver, WA) of Veterans Group NW from a post by John Bishop.
“This recent West Point graduate is Alex Idrache. He grew up in a slum in Haiti, and he tells the story of how U.S. soldiers were deployed to his neighborhood following the earthquake there several years ago. He says their presence was the first experience of “hope” he recalls in his childhood.
He remembers looking at his dad and asking him who the people were that were helping. His dad looked at him and said, “They are American soldiers.” He looked back at his father and said, “One day, I will be an American soldier.” His father knew the situation in Haiti was unworkable and tried for several years to obtain a visa to come to the United States. After being denied for several years, he was finally granted a spot in Baltimore. He purchased a ticket on a boat for his family and left Haiti. They arrived and Alex, remembering his dream in the slum several years prior, looked for a way to join the U.S. Army. He found a national guard program that allowed him to join the Army in exchange for citizenship. He didn’t hesitate.
After a series of fortunate occurrences, he was given one of the few spots at West Point for prior enlisted soldiers. Despite his severe lack of formal education, he graduated as an honor graduate (top 5% physically and academically) and the top student in the Physics Department. This picture was taken just prior to tossing his hat in the air, the realization of a dream that began 10 years ago in a slum in Port-au-Prince.”
Dan Lamothe originally shared the information in the Washington Post – washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/05/25/the-story-behind-the-american-dream-photo-at-west-point-that-went-viral/
Hateful comments from social media drove Idrache away from publicity, but not his desire and dreams.
Writing for the Black Rifle Coffee Company on May 21, 2020, Maggie BenZvi updated the story of Alex Idrache: AMERICAN DREAM: THE JOURNEY OF A HAITIAN IMMIGRANT TURNED US ARMY BLACK HAWK PILOT
Idrache also became a pilot. “I fly the most versatile aircraft in the Army inventory,” he said proudly. “I fly a Black Hawk.” He was in Germany for the anniversary of D-Day and flew at Omaha Beach.
He was recently chosen to attend Marine Expeditionary Warfare School, which he had been aspiring to since he was in flight school. “I don’t like being comfortable at all,” Idrache said. Currently a platoon leader in a command control unit, his nature is not to sit on his laurels. “I think growth and discomfort go hand in hand. So I just try to put myself in the most uncomfortable situations and meet the challenge. I use the analogy of the snake shedding its skin all the time to my soldiers to explain that you can’t stay in the same shell and expect to grow.”
But in the end he credits his success to his childhood in Haiti and the example his parents set. “To be honest, I just wanted to do my father proud,” he said. When he graduated from West Point, he received an award for having the highest GPA in the physics department. “I gave it to my dad and told him, ‘I got this for you. For all the days of waking me up at 5 in the morning, studying, carrying me on your shoulders. This is payback. This is just to thank you.’”
The story of Alex Idrache is a great way to end our Thanksgiving holidays and start looking at a new world opening to us all in the new year of 2021.
Thank you Don, for recalling and sharing this person’s story, it’s a powerful reminder of the potential our Country, while still a work in progress, provides for us all.
Will,
Thank you for commenting. I do believe the potential is still there for making our country a shining example, but this means working together and accepting us all as a part of a better world.
Thanks for sharing.
Don
An inspiring story. I will pass it on to others who work with organizations here in our region who care about and for immigrants released from our local Detention Center (prison).
Nan,
Thanks for commenting. I always enjoy your input. Yes, please pass along the story. We need immigrants and new blood with their perspective and different outlook. We need their work ethic, their drive, and their longing for education.
Thanks for sharing.
Don
I don’t recall any problem with LEGAL immigration during the past four years. I also do not recall any country that does not protect the sovereignty of its borders.
Dave,
Thanks for commenting. The problem with LEGAL immigration is the extents that Donald Trump went to to drum up support for him and the anti-people Homeland Security. Please, read: The
https://scroll.in/article/972673/the-history-behind-trumps-racist-and-anti-immigrant-law-and-order-campaign
and: https://time.com/5626498/trump-asylum-rule-international-law/
Protecting our borders was never an issue with anyone I’ve heard from. . . but seemed like the need was mostly used as fear mongering. In the end Trump and his wall destroyed people’s lives and property as well for roughly thirty-some miles of border wall for all his lies, chicanery, and diverting funds from other causes and projects.
Thanks for sharing. We all have our own opinions . . . and mine could be wrong.
p.s. Where are the parents of the five hundred children we still have in custody . . . and are they being educated or vegetated?
Don
Don, Good story, nicely found and told.
Bill,
Thanks for commenting.
Stories like that just make you swell up with pride and best wishes for everyone. We can all make a difference for ourselves and others.
Thanks for sharing.
Don
Don,
Thanks for commenting. I don’t recall any “problem” with LEGAL immigration. There is a legal process which allows people to apply for entry into our country.
Yes, we need to protect our borders. It helps to keep out those who might do us harm. It’s the same logic why we lock the doors to our homes.
Thanks for sharing. You are correct. We all have our opinions . . . and you have the right to be wrong.
p.s. I don’t know where any of those parents are located. Perhaps only God knows. In the meantime, they are being fed, clothed and housed.
Dave
Dave,
I never disagreed about LEGAL immigration, but as I mentioned Trump has gone against international rules. I also agree we need to protect our borders. Who says we shouldn’t? We both have the right to be wrong, but so what?. That the children are being fed, clothed, and housed dodges the question that makes their incarceration the most abhorrent: Are they being educated? I’ve seen and heard nothing about what lengths the state is going thru to protect these children. Are they learning English, are they learning history, mathematics, science . . . learning to read? Or are we simply watching them like a five hundred plus cages of doggie day care? Since we have assumed raising these wards of the state we are their guardians. If they suffer harm, we are liable. If they are later released without basic skills, if will be our problem . . . and it could be a big one.
Don
I didn’t get past the first paragraph of this divisive piece. The author’s intent is clear from that point. If it wasn’t and he cleaned up at some point, I could retract my comment. However, the author lost me as yet another voice of the hate that I am tired of hearing in this country.
Scott,
Thanks for commenting. I guess the hatred and fear of immigration continues. I’m sorry for you. The article is about an individual who followed all the rules to become an American. I even left out the part of his own suffering from hatred along with the fear he experienced from others. Unfortunately, the division is real and apparent.
Don
No, you obviously politicized a feel good story. You were referencing the republican president with your 4 years comment and 2021 new president comment. You’re the divisive problem. I feel sorry for you that you can’t just enjoy this great story of a patriot and a great human. That’s a sad statement about this “new era”.
Tim,
Thanks for your comments.
Perhaps, you missed my comment in the article: “Hateful comments from social media drove Idrache away from publicity, but not his desire and dreams.” Perhaps, I should have elaborated.
The divisive problem came during the reign of President Trump and his rants about immigration and his glorying of white supremists. As a person who voted Republican most of his life, I cannot identify Donald Trump as a Republican. He had been a Democrat and switched. I don’t think he ever adhered to either side. I believer he would have run as a member of The Green Party if he thought he could win with it. His true colors are flying now.
Thanks for sharing, however. Please, continue to read my articles and let me know when I miss-step.
Don
The Domans should stick with informing us on a daily basis about what, where and how much they eat.
Marty,
Thanks for commenting.
I’m sorry you were displeased with the article about a young man who came to America legally and became a soldier just like the ones he saw helping his people as a child. I hope my America will always be about people working hard, achieving their dreams, and sharing their stories.
Don