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Samuel L. Posey is no stranger to trouble, much to the dismay of
his mother Pamela. He recalls a time in the seventh grade when he
was hanging out at Quail Pointe apartments in Spartanburg, South
Carolina, a place his mother had warned him not to be.
“I
ended up in the middle of a shootout,” said Posey, a 22-year-old
with dark black hair and an easy-going smile. “When I got home, I
didn't tell my mom. She asked, ‘Where have you been?' I said,
‘nowhere,' with my heart beating out of my chest. The next day, it
was on the news and my mom came to me saying, ‘I know you were over
there.' It was like she sensed something I didn't.”
Eventually, Posey told his mother the truth and took her punishment.
April 7, 2016 - Lance Cpl. Samuel L. Posey, a rifleman with 3rd
Platoon, Company I, 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine
Division, Marine Forces Reserve, sights in through his rifle while
conducting room clearing drills during exercise Arctic Eagle at Camp
Grayling, Michigan Posey overcame a rough childhood to become a
Marine and serve his country. (Image created by USA Patriotism! from U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Ian Leones) |
“My mom didn't play games,” Posey said. “She was a
strong woman and she wanted to teach me to be a good person,
but not to be a pushover.”
By the time he reached
middle school, Posey had witnessed drugs, violence and the
gamut of troubles that come with living in a rough
neighborhood.
Posey, now a lance corporal in the U.S. Marine Corps
Reserve and a rifleman with Company I, 3rd Battalion, 25th
Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, Marine Forces Reserve,
believes these experiences have shaped the man he has become
and given him a reason to give back to the community.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, the middle child of three
boys, Posey bounced around between New York and Spartanburg
growing up. The son of an abusive father, Posey witnessed
his mother getting beat and took a few beatings as well.
“Every time my dad would fight us, we would be out on
the street,” Posey said. “But my mother was no bum. She
would get a job to support us and soon enough we'd be back.”
To escape this environment, Posey's aunt and uncle,
Joanne and L.C. Rogers, would take Posey and raise him for
months at a time in Spartanburg. Eventually, Posey's mom
left his father and moved to Spartanburg where she
remarried.
"I did have a lot of hatred for my dad for
a long time, but after a while I learned to let it go,”
Posey said. “He wasn't the best dad in the world, but if it
weren't for him I wouldn't have met the people I met or
became the person that I am."
Even though Posey
didn't always have his parents around, he had parental
figures in his life like his aunt and uncle.
“They
taught me to be a ‘stand-up guy,'” Posey said. “They taught
me to carry myself in a manner that, even though I didn't
have much, showed people that I knew how to act right.”
After graduating high school, Posey attended Morris
College in Sumter, South Carolina.
“When I went to
college, I was rowdy,” Posey said. “I was this kid from the
hood who still hadn't grown up.”
Towards the end of
his first year of college, Posey got into a physical
altercation with another student. After that fight, Posey
came to the realization that he needed to mature and college
was not the place he was going to do it.
“I asked
myself, ‘Why am I doing this?'” Posey said. “It was the end
of the school year and I knew I couldn't come back next
semester because of my grades and my attitude. I didn't want
my mama to ask, ‘Well, what are you going to do next?'”
Posey headed to a Marine Corps recruiting office.
“I remember I left my house in the middle of the day,”
Posey said. “I went down to the mall and went to the
recruiter's office. I didn't talk about it at all, I just
went there.”
Posey couldn't sign the papers that day,
so he came back the next day, and this time he brought his
mother as a witness.
“I wanted her to see me do it,”
Posey said. “She just sat beside me with big eyes while I
signed the papers.”
Attracted to the ideals of the
Marine Corps, Posey signed a contract for the Marine Corps
Reserve as an infantryman.
“I liked the fact that I
had to earn the title, it wasn't given to me.” Posey said.
While boot camp proved to be tough, Posey channeled
the lessons he had learned growing up to get through it.
“I knew I would make it because of my childhood,” Posey
said. “I knew no matter how bad it got, I had always been
through worse.”
Having been in the Marine Corps
Reserve for three years, Posey says he has grown from the
experience.
“I've grown a lot compared to where I
was,” Posey said. “My decision making is really different
than what it was before. The fact is that someone can
actually die in this job because of my failure to do
something correctly or my inattention to detail. This has
really changed how I look at other things in life.”
Other Marines in Posey's platoon have also noticed how he
has grown as a Marine.
“I've known Posey for three
years, since he got here,” said Cpl. Robert D. Ray, a team
leader with Co. I, 3/25. “He's a great Marine who is willing
to learn and he excels at what he does.”
Being in the
Reserve Component, Posey has an opportunity to serve his
community when he is not serving his country. Posey has been
dancing with a group called Dance Over Everything, which
helps less fortunate kids channel their frustrations through
dance.
“We go out to schools so we can show these
kids there is another way,” Posey said. “Why not take that
anger and frustration you have inside and put it into
something constructive. They are young and might go out and
do something stupid, but there is always time to fix it and
grow up to be somebody.”
Posey is now working toward
an associate's degree in business marketing at Limestone
College in Gaffney, South Carolina. As he looks to the
future, he only hopes that his contributions make an impact
on others.
“By the end of everything I do, I want to
be able to say I made a difference,” Posey said. “When
someone younger who looks up to you asks you the question of
what you did when you were younger, what can you tell them?
You can tell them you were wild, drank, smoked and were out
thugging in the streets. How many people get to say they
served their country?”
By U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Ian Leones
Marine Corps News
Copyright 2016
The U.S. Marines
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