Photo By Sgt. Christopher Johnston | Spc. Yamilet Terry, a motor transport operator from Acapulco, Mexico, assigned to the...... read more read more
CAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait - To many, citizenship is more than a status. Citizenship is action; it is something you do. It was Andrew Jackson who said, “Every good citizen makes his country's honor his own, and cherishes it not only as precious but as sacred. He is willing to risk his life in its defense and is conscious that he gains protection while he gives it.”
Spc. Yamilet Terry, a motor transport operator with the 203rd Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, is not a U.S. citizen, but swore to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”
Terry is one of many soldiers who are pursuing their citizenship by becoming “a guardian of freedom and the American way of life.”
Terry was born in Acapulco, Mexico, Nov. 5, 1983, and lived there until she was 8 years old. Her family moved to Colorado Springs, Colo., where her father received his citizenship and the rest of her family received their Green Cards.
Her uncle, Army Sgt. George Lopez, visited her and her family just after the events of 9/11. He expressed how much he loved the Army and the pride it gave him. Having listened to her uncle she felt it was her duty to serve the country she already felt a part of. She entered the Army’s Delayed Entry Program, not yet old enough to enlist, and on Feb. 2, 2004, she joined the Army.
Terry attended basic training at Fort Jackson, S.C., and Advanced Individual Training at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. After AIT, she was assigned to 64th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, at Fort Carson, Colo. Her unit deployed to Taji, Iraq, in November 2008.
Terry volunteered for many convoy missions, which were high risk assignments due to improvised explosive devices, throughout Iraq. Her Palletized Load System vehicle was hit by three separate IEDs throughout the day, during one of her missions.
“The first one was on the right side of my PLS and it hit us from underneath,” said Terry. “The second hit a few inches away from my cab. The IED was placed in between two barriers. The last one, I was on my way to drop the barriers we were delivering, and it literally felt like we went up and came back down; the doors swung open; we started getting small arms fire.”
Medics asked Terry if she could drive her vehicle to safety, and she said yes.
“All I could think was I needed to get back to where my platoon was,” said Terry. “I felt safe there.”
Terry received an Army Commendation Medal with Valor Device for her actions.
Terry, now assigned to 203rd BSB, 3rd ABCT, 3rd ID, Fort Benning Ga., began the paperwork to receive her citizenship prior to the unit’s National Training Center rotation at Fort Irwin, Calif.
Terry was told she was deploying to Kuwait and thought her application would be delayed for another year.
“When we got to Kuwait, I asked my NCO if there was any way I can still get my citizenship papers,” said Terry. “That is when I was linked up with Staff Sgt. Davis.”
“I was glad to help Spc. Terry,” said Staff Sgt. Gregory L. Davis, an intelligence analyst with 203rd BSB. “She is a hard charger and great at her job.”
Davis contacted Third Army/U.S. Army Central’s operations office, at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, where Terry filled out her Application for Naturalization, submitted her fingerprints, and took pictures for her citizenship.
“He helped me out so much,” Terry said of Davis. “There are a lot of people out there that don’t know that we get help with this in the military, and that it is free!”
“When I got the word that my application had been approved and that I will be going to Arifjan Sept. 19, to become a U.S. citizen, my roommate and I were so excited, we were screaming and jumping up and down,” said Terry.
With the presidential elections rapidly approaching, Terry is looking forward to being able to vote for the first time.
“Being able to vote is very important to me,” said Terry. “I believe that every vote counts and I want my vote to count.”
On Feb. 2, 2004, Terry swore to “obey the orders of the President of the United States” and this year she will have a say in who those orders will come from.
| Date Taken: | 08.21.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 08.21.2012 10:18 |
| Story ID: | 93566 |
| Location: | CAMP BUEHRING, KW |
| Web Views: | 200 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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