SFC Hector Inocente Rivas.
I was born in El Salvador, during the early 80s, I was forced to leave everything behind in order to save my life; I decided to take an adventure traveling in search of the “American Dream.” I arrived in the United States on July 4th, 1982. Since then I have lived in different cities: Los Angeles, CA, Houston, TX, and The Bronx, NY… I worked in different jobs during the day, at night I was studying English as Second Language (ESL), since I wanted to be able to make a difference for myself and for my family. On December 12th 1992, I became a Naturalized US Citizen; I accomplished one of my goals by becoming a citizen of this great nation. I was heading in the right direction and I will always be thankful to the United States of America, land of opportunities for those who are searching for the American Dream… Finally, I decided to go against all odds, when I enlisted in the US Army on July 27th, 1994; no one believed that I was going to do it, mostly due to my age and out-of-shape condition, everyone was telling me that I was “Suicidal” and you are not going to make it. I personally took that as a challenge; I have to tell you it was not an easy task, just to add more spice to the challenge, my ASBAB score was so low that I was sent to the Infantry School in Fort Benning, GA., I suffered thru Basic Training and AIT, but on November 7th, 1994 I graduated and was awarded the title of “Infantryman” (11B). My first duty station was Fort Drum, NY (Land of the Frozen, Chosen). Later due to injuries, I went to the Medical Board and reclassified to become an Intelligence Analyst (96B), I went to Fort Huachuca, AZ. Leaving Fort Drum after over 7 years was hard, but I was ready to face another challenge. Upon graduation from AIT, I was sent to Wiesbaden, Germany. Then to Iraq for 16 months… I have been deployed to Panama (1995), Pakistan (1995), Bosnia and Herzegovina (1999-2000), Iraq (2003-2004), Afghanistan (2008 and 2012-2013), Argentina, Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica and Panama. I am preparing myself for retirement, I want every American Citizen who sees my Brick to know that I serve my country with Honor and if I had a choice, I would do it all over again… God Bless the United States of America, Home of the Brave, Land of the Free!!!
