By Steve Long, slong@cbs4qc.com
We all have goals in life. But sometimes those goals collide: and we have to choose one path, or the other.
In this edition of 'Rock Island Arsenal: Inside the Gates', we meet a QCA native, who's not afraid to lead the way. These days David Blaylock is a civilian; Branch Chief for the Arsenal's Testing Range. A hometown guy who's done anything but stay home.
"I went to Grade School there in Milan, went to Edison Junior High in Rock Island for a couple of years and then I went to Rocky," said Blaylock. Deep roots and clear goals. One: education. And it would mean breaking new ground for his family.
"No one's actually went off to a State University and actually got a Bachelor's degree," David says. So after graduating from Rocky High in '97, he went to Black Hawk College for 5 semesters, but school was not his only pursuit.
"I always considered military as an option, it was always something my family had been passionate for," David tells us. In 2000, he joined the Army, and went off to Fort Lewis Washington near Seattle. At the same time, working toward that elusive degree.
"Night school, online, weekends, whatever it took basically," Blaylock says. This man from Milan had a plan and it was all coming together.
Blaylock says, "My initial term was going to be 3 years. I was going to do my 3 years, hopefully get my college finished up by then come back home and start working." But that all changed, September 11th, 2001, when he and his fellow soldiers saw what we all saw and the terrible truth that went with it.
"It obviously wasn't an accident; it was an act of terrorism," he says. His first term would be ending in 2003. He could go home. Engaged to be married, and well on his way toward that degree. His decision was clear.
"I wanted to be part of what was going to occur in the very near future making a decision to re-enlist in Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, 101st Airborne Division. I knew they'd be part of the initial force without question," Blaylock says.
And so would he. "It's your duty, your responsibility, to defend this nation," he tells us. In fact he would be right out in front. Not only was David part of the initial invasion, he had a very risky job.
David would be a Forward Observer. He describes his role in the invasion when we conclude his story, in next week's edition of "Rock Island Arsenal: Inside the Gates".
