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NYIT Grad Helps Rebuild Iraq
Sgt. Henry Chin-Hong (B.Arch. ’97) is home. After almost a year in Iraq, he is happy to hang up his U.S. Army Reserves uniform and get back to some sort of “normal” life. It almost didn’t happen.
“With just four weeks left of my tour, our trailer was hit by two mortars, killing my roommate and spraying my back and legs with shrapnel and glass,” Henry says.
In the months that followed the mid-November attack, Henry received treatment at a makeshift medical clinic in what was said to be one of Saddam Hussein’s former hunting lodges, then he was sent to Kuwait and finally back home to the United States in December to finish his recovery.
The loss of his roommate weighs heavily on Henry. He recalls how the 36-year-old father of three had been promoted the day of the attack. “We had dinner together in celebration. How sad could this be?”
This was Henry’s second stint in the Army. He first joined in 1985 when he couldn’t afford to go to college. He saw the military as the best route to earning money for school. He didn’t see combat that time, and after spending more than two years in Germany as a supply clerk, Henry was ready to pursue his dream of becoming an architect. He enrolled at NYIT and describes his years here as “a life-enriching experience.”
After graduating in 1997, Henry quickly put his degree to use, eventually becoming construction project manager for the New York City Housing Authority. But after living through the horror of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in downtown Manhattan, Henry felt the need to return to the Army. In 2003, after President George W. Bush had declared the major combat portion of the war in Iraq complete, Henry enlisted in the reserves. He wanted to help rebuild the Middle Eastern country.
Unfortunately, the war wasn’t as far along as Henry had thought. The battles continued, and he found himself in full body armor, weapon in hand. When he wasn’t pulling guard duty, Henry was able to put his architecture skills to use, designing a heliport, refugee camp and other small structures.
While in Iraq, he saw other service members taking pictures with flags from their alma maters, and Henry wrote to NYIT requesting one of ours be sent to him. President Edward Guiliano, Ph.D., was happy to comply. “You are making us proud at NYIT by serving in our armed forces during these volatile times,” the president wrote in a letter sent with the flag. “May God continue to be with you as your mission continues.”
Now that Henry is back home, he is thinking more about the future and starting a family. He says he knows now that life’s simple worries are inconsequential and that he has to go after his dreams. “My friends had plans also,” he says. “Unfortunately, they are unable to fulfill their dreams.”
— Angela Marshall
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