ROCHESTER, N.Y. — News10NBC is proud to highlight this year’s ESL Heart of Service Award winners. A Vietnam veteran who survived homelessness and addiction, Emil Anderson has dedicated his life to spreading a message of hope and love.
News10NBC’s Emily Putnam spoke with Anderson about his story. Anderson stepped into a life of service when he was a teenager.
“Back when I was in high school, they had the draft,” Anderson said. “By the time I was about to turn 19 they dropped me in the jungles of Vietnam, and I had to grow up quick at that point,” he said.
Transitioning back to civilian life was a challenge for Anderson.
“While I was in Vietnam, because of what was going on and what I saw and did, I started using drugs and alcohol,” Anderson said. “And I struggled with medicating my pain that I was going through. And when I came home, the struggle continued.”
Anderson became homeless and had a hard time finding a job. But with help from the Veterans Outreach Center, he turned his problems into purpose.
“As I was staying clean and I just had bought my house, I went to the VA one day and they was like there’s a room over there and there’s some veterans having a meeting and I need you to go in there, and I was like what is it about?” Anderson said. It was a men’s group that Anderson would later lead. Now, he is dedicated to mentoring his veteran brothers.
“In the service we say leave no man behind, so I don’t leave anybody behind,” Anderson said.
He also helps the next generation get off on the right foot. He coaches a step team at Nativity Prep and speaks to students at McQuaid Jesuit, sharing his story.
“He encourages us to speak with kindness and be respectful to each other,” said August Dewdney, a eighth grade student at Nativity Prep whom Anderson coaches on the step team.
“He makes sure that we’re leaders and not followers, and we’re examples to everybody else around us,” said Taylen Gibson, a seventh grader at Nativity Prep, also on the step team.
“We all need to find a way to give back in some kind of way, any way you can, just give back to life,” Anderson said. Anderson’s faith is a driving force, filling his heart with a love for service. “I can never, ever, ever repay god for what he’s done for me, but I keep on trying,” he said.
To learn more about the Heart of Service Awards and see other winners, click here.
ESL Heart of Service Awards: Veteran Emil Anderson turns personal struggle into message of hope WHEC.com.
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