Former Tigers' Football Star Sal Guerriero Serving With Honor

Over the years, I have covered young men and women who have served or are currently serving in the armed forces. Just naïve teens looking forward to college and adulthood, many grew into men and women sooner than expected. Many, like former Tuckahoe High School football team Captain Sal Guerriero, have risked their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan during the troubling and dangerous last decade since the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

Most of what you will read over the remainder of this column is in Guerriero's own words, which need little editing or amplification.

U.S. Army (A1C) Salvatore Guerriero, who was a standout four-year football player for the Tigers and a member of the 2006 Class C state champions, is currently stationed at Dyess Air Force Base in Texas. He has been deployed to Afghanistan for eight months, attached to two Army units—the 101st Airborne out of Fort Campbell, Kentucky and the 173rd out of Vincenza, Italy—at a small combat outpost in the Kunar province. He has also made stops in Turkey, Germany and of course Afghanistan.

"Since I joined the military a lot has changed," Guerriero wrote. "I remember having not much responsibility while in high school, now I have a lot of responsibility. Life has changed because it's the real deal now."

Guerriero explained that he recently came back from an eight-month deployment supporting army infantry soldiers on a day-to-day basis, where there were incoming mortar attacks frequently and small arms fire.

"The experience of just being in and serving is just something you do because you like doing it and not because you have to; that's the mentality you have to have serving. Now I am on my own. I joined young and I have to make all my decisions on my own and see how it plays out," he wrote.

Living an experience that most of us would avoid at any cost, Guerriero has had time to reflect on the road that took him from teenager in tiny Tuckahoe to a mature and hardened soldier in the Middle East.

"Being a high school football player definitely played a key factor —helped me in a way—to progress the past two years I've been in. I was four-year player at Tuckahoe, proudly winning the state championship in 2006, my junior year, which was all teamwork and dedication, just like in the military. Also my senior year I was elected team captain. Being captain meant a lot to me because it was me who lead the team and set an example for the freshman coming up. That dedication and hard work will pay off in the long run."

Just 21, Guerriero's sudden transition to full manhood required that he mature quickly, but the long months on a foreign battlefield—away from home and those carefree days in high school–haven't stolen his love of sports and his school.

"Yes, I still do follow sports from college to the pros to even my old high school team," he wrote. "I have been following up—whenever the opportunity comes up I would look up scores and highlights of games. I do follow Tuckahoe because it's where I am from and I'm proud to be from there and to have played for my school."

Guerriero said he would love to be able to see a Tigers game in person this 2010 season, but duty has him deployed.

"I have (seen a game last year, but not this year)," he said. "I will be taking leave in December, but the season will be over. I wish I could because I would definitely give them a speech that they can take to the field and home. Watching the younger generation play ball is inspiring because that was me starting out as a freshman at 105 pounds, running around tackling dudes twice my size, or at least trying—through my senior year weighing in at 205. Motivation is the key. You can see who has it and who doesn't just by looking."

Since he can't be in Tuckahoe to personally inspire the 2010 Tigers, Guerriero wanted to offer a few words of advice to his young protégés:

"First, I'd like say, good win in the season opener–a resounding 46-13 victory over Hastings. Also, to the seniors, make sure the job gets done and you show the younger freshman coming up that in order to be successful you need to put out as much as you can each day at every practice —even when you are tired as hell—keep pushing forward. With everyone giving all they have, they will have no problem winning it again. Also high school football is just the beginning of life—it gives you the discipline you need to get started, and the work ethic to succeed. "WIN STATE"!

A special thanks to Tuckahoe High School assistant coach John D'Arco Jr. who contacted his former player for Patch.com.

And to Tuckahoe Tigers 2006 State Champion Captain Sal Guerriero–currently A1C Guerriero—you are still a champion. This column is dedicated to you and all of the young men and women of the armed forces that you represent.

Stay safe.