Local Bronxite Christopher Perkins, a staff sergeant with the National Guard, returned home a couple of weeks ago after finishing his second tour of duty in Iraq.
On Sunday, Nov. 18, Perkins will lead Bronx Vets as the grand marshal at the upcoming Veterans Day Parade in Throggs Neck.
Perkins, 34, a member of the 145th Maintenance Company, once based out of the Kingsbridge Armory, served his first tour from November 2004 until January 2006. He worked mostly as a mechanic, fixing vehicles and air conditioners.
But in February of this year, because of his medic skills, Perkins said, “They called me to fill a hole.” Perkins was sent back to the Tallil Air Base, where he had spent his first tour. This time, Perkins joined members of the 466th Area Support Medical Company.
At a celebration in his honor at the AmVets Post #38 in Throggs Neck, Perkins said he thought things in Iraq were changing for the better. “You could really see the progress being made in the country,” Perkins said. “The last time, it was like that feeling you get when you walk into a really bad neighborhood.”
The fortified base he worked out of was attacked several times, Perkins said, “but you felt better, like you didn’t have to look over your shoulder every 10 seconds.”
“This time it was a different experience,” Perkins added. “Maybe because the first time I was fixing ACs and this time I was helping people.”
Perkins was not planning on going for the second Iraq tour after the birth of his son, Christopher Anthony, now a year old. But he was laid off after 13 years as an employee at Lehman College and needed the paycheck.
As he now enjoys the things Bronxites take for granted every day like hot showers and a cold beer, Perkins contemplates his future, which he says might include joining the city’s Emergency Medical Service.
Perkins donated his National Guard uniform from his first tour to AmVets #38 and he says it proudly hangs there in a glass case on the wall of the group’s Shore Road headquarters. Now, Perkins has teamed up with the veterans group to collect CDs, DVDs and videos to send to fellow solders still in Iraq.
Ed. note: Anyone wishing to donate CDs, DVDs or other items to soldiers serving in Iraq can contact the AmVets at (718) 822-2003.
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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.