WEBVTT

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mhm . On the 16th of September 1999 I

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came to the United States with only $17

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in my pocket . Growing up in what is

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considered a third world country , the

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Commonwealth of Dominica , you have to

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make do with what you have . So

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remember , we'd actually go around

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picking up all males and straighten it

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out back again so we could reuse it .

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It almost came back full circle from

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being back home as a kid to right now

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in my career as an Army warrant officer ,

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I was actually the outstanding engine

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Warrant Officer of the Year twice , and

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I want the modern technology leader

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water three times with the most recent

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being . A few months ago , I was

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stationed at Arlington National

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Cemetery . I had the idea of a Why

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don't we design a solar like cards and

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just have a place where the folks could

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actually wait for the vehicles and

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recharging the cell phones of the press ,

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the electronics . So we implemented and

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we tried it and we actually bought two

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of those shelters . If you ever go to

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Arlington National Cemetery , if you go

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to the Kennedy and graveside , you will

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see a solar shelter there . That's part

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of my work coming to Hawaii , though I

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decided , um , I need to take it a step

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further . In 1999 I was here as a

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private like , um and it's almost like

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stepping back into the time capsule .

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All of the things that I saw the

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private is basically still here . What

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is different is that at the time as a

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private , I didn't have the authority

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or the power to do anything . But now ,

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as a subject matter expert , I think I

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have that platform where I could

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actually impact the change . So one of

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the things that I'm working on right

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now and I had a sketch on the design

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down up was , uh , solar zero for the

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soldiers . And I figured , Hey , I'm

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here . I have the platform . I can't

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impact the change . And I want to be

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that change . Someone told me once back

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back home that we were born before

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backs to the wall so we only have one

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way to go is forward . Deep down , um ,

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I believe in people , no matter what ,

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no matter what color , no matter what

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race , no matter what religion . Um I

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believe in people . So that's what

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drives me just my ambition to serve ,

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to help people and ultimately to give

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back .