 Originally from Laos, Viengan Laos, my family and I came to America in the mid-80s. Growing up, I know my parents wouldn't be able to help me pay for college, so I saw a poster in high school and said, hey, be all you can be, join the Army Reserve, we'll pay for your college. So I look at that poster, met up with a recruiter, and the rest is history. It's truly an honor and privilege for me to serve in this amazing country. It's filled with gratitude that I can be able to pay back the country that gave me so much. Thanks for me. It's truly an honor. What I can do, what I've been doing is I'm able to pass it to the younger generation and say, hey, if I could do it coming from Laos as a refugee, knowing a little bit of English, there's opportunity in America and opportunity in the Army to become something. And I've been pushing this advice to all the younger soldiers. Keep working hard, keep grinding. The Army is truly a land of opportunity where you can become something and make something of yourself. You don't have to be the smartest, you don't have to be the strongest, but you need to be the person that's willing to work the hardest, and you go from there.