Jamaica violence groomed sarge for US Army
Published:Wednesday | May 12, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Daraine Luton, Senior Staff Reporter
GROWING UP in the tough community of Rockfort, which sits just east of capital city Kingston, was never easy for Simone Berdoe.
There were nights, she recalls, that her family had to lie flat on the floor of their house because being on the bed was too dangerous. Bullets from the guns of warring men were flying through the air and it made life, at times, a living hell.
"We went through a lot, coming from Rockfort, but it actually prepared us for life. I actually got my drive and determination and boldness from that to become a soldier," Berdoe said.
Now a decorated member of the United States Army, Berdoe was recently honoured by the City of Mount Vernon, New York, and Mount Vernon Veterans Service Agency for her contribution to the war on terror in Iraq. Jamaica, she said, prepared her well for that assignment.
"There were nights in Rockfort when there were shots after shots after shots. That actually prepared me mentally to know that if I hear gunshots firing around me, then I know I need to draw cover. Back home in Jamaica, when we heard shots we had to hit the ground," the army sergeant told The Gleaner.
Shining example
When Clinton I. Young Jr, mayor of the City of Mount Vernon, spoke at the ceremony honouring Berdoe, he described her as "a shining example of what Mount Vernon residents have to offer our nation".
Berdoe told The Gleaner yesterday that while she had always been fascinated with the military, her sights were fixed on other things as well. The field of hospitality and tourism seemed appetising and she dabbled there for a few months before leaving Jamaica, and also got formal training in the area after migrating.
The spark that started her burning desire to serve in the military started from a tender age when she was given a photo of a marine.
"It was a picture that was hanging on my bedroom wall. The person in that picture was so militant and he looked so sharp, and he looked like someone who meant business. That whole persona of that person made me feel that this is what I want to do," Berdoe said.
In November 2003 she enlisted in the Maryland National Guard, which was to kick-start a well decorated career as a soldier. In 2005, Sergeant Berdoe was activated for duty in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom.
She was deployed to Iraq in January 2008 and, on her return in 2009, she was assigned to Fort Dix, New Jersey, where she is training soldiers who are leaving for combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Berdoe left Jamaica at age 19. She attended Excelsior Primary, Holy Trinity Secondary and Durham's Business College before leaving. She continued her education and graduated from Katherine Gibbs Business College in September 1998 with an associate degree in hotel and restaurant management.
Having served seven years in the military, Berdoe is looking at another 20 and, at the same time, is hoping she can influence fellow Jamaicans not to be victims of their circumstances.
"I hope that whatever I have done so far will open the eyes of individuals who are doing what they are not supposed to do, so that they will do the right thing and make things better for themselves, their families and the country," Berdoe said.