SAN DIEGO --
Growing up with only the bare necessities in another country can make a person thankful and appreciate the opportunities America has to offer.
Private First Class Abdi A. Mohamed, Hotel Company, 2nd Recruit Training Battalion, moved from Kenya to America at an early age and wants to give back by joining the Corps.
“I was born in a refugee camp in Kakuma, Kenya,” said Mohamed. “The Kukuma Refugee Camp was made by the United States to keep Kenyan’s safe from the warzones.”
He recalls his mother making food to sell and the rest of his family doing small tasks around the camp to provide for the family. Resources such as water were hard to get and required a lot of effort as they would have to walk about a mile with a bucket to fill up and carry back to their house. He said they would put the bucket on their head and carry it back.
In February of 2005, Mohamed and his family were allowed to fly to America and become residents. They first arrived in New York and got placed in Phoenix to live.
“I didn’t know any English,” said Mohamed. “I had a very difficult time adjusting to my surroundings, especially when I started school.”
The young Marine attended Tavon Elementary in Phoenix, where he was admitted to special learning programs to excel his speech and pronunciation of the English language.
As Mohamed grew older, he transferred from middle to high school in the same unified school district.
While attending high school, Mohamed was very interested in sports. He ran track, played football and soccer. He explains how he felt like life was so much different from his experiences in Kenya. He had his own group of friend in which he hung out with and shared similar interests.
While in high school, Mohamed worked at a local Chick Fil A, he moved up the chain first working as a cashier and then shortly after was promoted to team leader. He explained that his superiors admired his leadership skills and the way he worked with the rest of the works. Not even a year later, Mohamed was promoted to executive director of his restaurant where he worked directly under the owner, managing bills and sales.
He began looking into the Marine Corps but wasn’t sure if he wanted to leave his family. Once he knew it was what he wanted to do, he started working with a recruiter and shipped to Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego to be a part of Hotel Company.
“I knew that this is what I wanted to do because I wanted more challenge in my life,” said Mohamed. “Not only that but joining the Corps would make me a United States citizen, not just living her but having the rights to vote and being a part of the country is something I really wanted.”
On the Thursday before graduation, Mohamed was naturalized as a citizen before graduating recruit training as a United States Marine and also the guide, or the recruit with most responsibility from his platoon.
Following recruit training, he will move on to the School of Infantry for Marine Combat Training at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., and from there will go to his Military Occupational Specialty as a motor transportation specialist. He plans on getting as much as he can out of the Corps and give his service as a repayment for everything he has been given.
“I cannot express my gratitude to this great country and to the Marine Corps for the opportunities they have given me this far,” said Mohamed. “I am truly blessed.”