Andrew Tam
Lei Lani Michel
English 1001
09 October 2007
Always Faithful
Derrick Wilson, 30 years old, has accomplished and seen things that most people will never do or see their entire lives. Derrick was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and raised by strict parents. His father, Eugene Wilson was a manager of Capital Transportation in Baton Rouge, and his mother, Louis Wilson was a sheriff’s deputy. Derrick is the middle child, having two sisters, Lashandra Whitfield and Latoya Wilson. He went to private school from elementary to middle school at St. Anthony’s and Sherwood Middle School. After, he went to Capitol High School where he graduated from in 1995. He decided to join the United States Marine Corp after he finished high school which he was in for five and a half years.
Derrick wanted to join America’s finest fighting force, the Marines, because he wanted a sense of belonging, pride, and to be called a Marine. Marine boot camp is the most physically and mentally challenging training of all the United States armed forces and it was one of the toughest things he ever went through. During training, he felt confusion and fear at the beginning because he didn’t know what was expected, but towards the end he felt honor and pride. His military occupation specialty (MOS), or job, was a refueler. He received other cross-training and harrier pilot training and his job required him to do an extended tour to five and a half years instead of the average four years. Three years after high school, he was called up to go serve overseas. He went to Iraq in 1998 for Operation Desert Fox. During his war time, he felt restless and heavy adrenalin because he didn’t know what was going to happen, plus he was always on the move. This experience also brought a feeling of being lost upon him because he was alone, witnessed disturbing realities, and did some things that he didn’t want to do. Much of his military time was spent at various bases around the U.S. and the world. He went to four bases in this order: Edison Range in Camp Pendleton, CA, Miramar, CA, Camp Lejuene, NC, and finally Okinawa, Japan. His military job was the main reason he moved so often, but he enjoyed it.
After living through war and his past experiences, Derrick found God. He is a very devout man, he goes to Mass every week and he carries himself like many other Marines do by the phrase, “Semper Fi” which means always faithful. “D”, as some people call him, is a fun person to be around, he doesn’t care what people think and he is a nice, outgoing person. When asked about doing the interview for my English class Derrick asked, “What made you choose me?”, like he didn’t have anything good to say, but he helped me do it and he told a very interesting story of his life and his experiences.
Derrick works at AllStar Chevrolet during the day selling car parts, but his day is not over after that. He owns his own business, Wilson Entertainment, where he does a variety of different specialties such as, photography, artist consultation/development, and model development/sponsorship. An average day is about 17-18 hours long and he doesn’t get much sleep so he can keep up and stay on top of things. He has little time for his hobbies of fishing, art, and restoring classic cars, but he does a little at a time. Derrick has been to 13 countries around the world, not all of them through the service. Some of which include Brazil, Australia, and Belize for fun.
He was affected by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 while working at Auto Zone. He had to move down to New Orleans for six months to help reset stores because of the damage and vandalism. He said, “Katrina made me appreciate life for what it was, and be thankful for family.” He mentioned he witnessed Katrina help and hurt people and it made him appreciate what he has.
Derrick has accomplished many of the goals he has set for himself. Being a Marine and starting his own business were two major ones. In the future he wants to have a wife and start a family of his own. He talked about not really having a hard life, but the hardest thing was not knowing what to expect, what’s in the past is done. He said, “Take life as if it was a grain of salt. Don’t hold it too tight or it will melt, but don’t hold it too loose or it will blow away. Live everyday as it was your last, even if you fail, you tried.”
Lei Lani Michel
English 1001
09 October 2007
Always Faithful
Derrick Wilson, 30 years old, has accomplished and seen things that most people will never do or see their entire lives. Derrick was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and raised by strict parents. His father, Eugene Wilson was a manager of Capital Transportation in Baton Rouge, and his mother, Louis Wilson was a sheriff’s deputy. Derrick is the middle child, having two sisters, Lashandra Whitfield and Latoya Wilson. He went to private school from elementary to middle school at St. Anthony’s and Sherwood Middle School. After, he went to Capitol High School where he graduated from in 1995. He decided to join the United States Marine Corp after he finished high school which he was in for five and a half years.
Derrick wanted to join America’s finest fighting force, the Marines, because he wanted a sense of belonging, pride, and to be called a Marine. Marine boot camp is the most physically and mentally challenging training of all the United States armed forces and it was one of the toughest things he ever went through. During training, he felt confusion and fear at the beginning because he didn’t know what was expected, but towards the end he felt honor and pride. His military occupation specialty (MOS), or job, was a refueler. He received other cross-training and harrier pilot training and his job required him to do an extended tour to five and a half years instead of the average four years. Three years after high school, he was called up to go serve overseas. He went to Iraq in 1998 for Operation Desert Fox. During his war time, he felt restless and heavy adrenalin because he didn’t know what was going to happen, plus he was always on the move. This experience also brought a feeling of being lost upon him because he was alone, witnessed disturbing realities, and did some things that he didn’t want to do. Much of his military time was spent at various bases around the U.S. and the world. He went to four bases in this order: Edison Range in Camp Pendleton, CA, Miramar, CA, Camp Lejuene, NC, and finally Okinawa, Japan. His military job was the main reason he moved so often, but he enjoyed it.
After living through war and his past experiences, Derrick found God. He is a very devout man, he goes to Mass every week and he carries himself like many other Marines do by the phrase, “Semper Fi” which means always faithful. “D”, as some people call him, is a fun person to be around, he doesn’t care what people think and he is a nice, outgoing person. When asked about doing the interview for my English class Derrick asked, “What made you choose me?”, like he didn’t have anything good to say, but he helped me do it and he told a very interesting story of his life and his experiences.
Derrick works at AllStar Chevrolet during the day selling car parts, but his day is not over after that. He owns his own business, Wilson Entertainment, where he does a variety of different specialties such as, photography, artist consultation/development, and model development/sponsorship. An average day is about 17-18 hours long and he doesn’t get much sleep so he can keep up and stay on top of things. He has little time for his hobbies of fishing, art, and restoring classic cars, but he does a little at a time. Derrick has been to 13 countries around the world, not all of them through the service. Some of which include Brazil, Australia, and Belize for fun.
He was affected by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 while working at Auto Zone. He had to move down to New Orleans for six months to help reset stores because of the damage and vandalism. He said, “Katrina made me appreciate life for what it was, and be thankful for family.” He mentioned he witnessed Katrina help and hurt people and it made him appreciate what he has.
Derrick has accomplished many of the goals he has set for himself. Being a Marine and starting his own business were two major ones. In the future he wants to have a wife and start a family of his own. He talked about not really having a hard life, but the hardest thing was not knowing what to expect, what’s in the past is done. He said, “Take life as if it was a grain of salt. Don’t hold it too tight or it will melt, but don’t hold it too loose or it will blow away. Live everyday as it was your last, even if you fail, you tried.”
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