Anthony Cardoza, 23, of Jamaica, Queens participated in the Search & Rescue (S&R) operation that saved the life of the informant who identified the whereabouts of Saddam Hussein’s two sons: Uday and Qusay Hussein. 13 Americans died in the mission, and seven suffered injury. Anthony found himself in an military hospital for five and a half months following the ordeal. His life narrative is awe-inspiring and, in my humble opinion, there is much wisdom to be learned in listening to his story and other young veterans of the Second Iraq War.
I met Anthony in line at the Apple Store. The picture above was taken by a photographer based in New York as I spoke with him Wednesday afternoon. Anthony was the fifth person to arrive. He currently works as a manager at a fast-food restaurant, so after claiming his space in line, he started passing out packages of food he had brought with him from work. He and I became fast friends, and after a few minutes he disclosed a bit about his background in the Air Force. When I learned of his participation in the S&R Mission for the Uday/Qusay Informant, I felt compelled to take notes. When I asked him if he had interviewed with professional news organizations, he said, “No one from the press has asked me to tell my story.”
When the CNN crew arrived, I directed them to Anthony and encouraged them to enter into an in-depth interview with him. From what I’ve heard, they instead recorded a short video clip and asked him superficial questions related to his service.
I’m launching a new blog provisionally titled “Greetings, Stranger.” The first post will be the first installment of Anthony’s story.
I met Robert R. on 5th Ave. as he was trying to find his way to the New York City Public Library. He asked for help from the pedestrians around him, and the only one who knew how to respond to his call was Anthony Cardozo. Without any hesitation, Anthony offered his arm and asked Robert where he needed to go. I moved as quickly as I could toward Anthony to assist. I volunteered to walk alongside Mr. R. wherever he wanted to go, so Anthony went back to the line to watch over his spot and I took over responsibility for taking Mr. R to the Library.
When we arrived at the Library, he asked me to guide him to the second floor Children’s Department so he could check out three books: The Fortunetellers, The Cat Who Wished to Be A Man and Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz. You see, Mr. R is a professional storyteller who teaches history for a living at the high school (Cathedral HS) level, and oral history at the graduate level. He’s in the process of writing an article on animal protagonists in folklore and fantasy literature.
Oh, and I almost forgot: He also happens to be completely blind. When I asked him about his vision, he said to me he feels he can experience 95% of what a visioned person can see. “I never had vision, but I have very good awareness.” He happens to be a fan of the Chicago Bulls & Chicago Bears. In fact, he said he has been a Chicago Bulls fan since the days of Michael Jordan. Robert told me several stories about Chicago that I had never heard before, including the story of the 1979 Chicago Mayoral Election (the only mayoral election in American history to turn on the weather).
Needless to say, Mr. R is excited about the upcoming Harry Potter launch. For him (and hundreds of millions of others around the world), the release of the last installment of the Harry Potter series is far more exciting than the Apple iPhone release. (If it weren’t for my involvement with Taproot and my father’s birthday this weekend, I’d be inclined to agree.)
So Mr. R. asked the librarian, Mr. Peters, if he could do a query on the number of reservation requests that have already been filed in the NYC Public LIbrary system for the latest book. As of 10:47am on Thursday, June 28th, there were 30 copies ordered for the library branch, and 958 requests for those 30 books. The release date is weeks away, and Amazon has received over 1 million pre-orders. Mr. R speculated with the librarian over the likelihood of Dumbledore returning from the dead. Mr. R claims he has a friend who sat shiva (7 days of mourning) for Dumbledore when she learned that he died.
I understand that Jim Dale is going to make an appearance at midnight at the Union Square Barnes & Noble. Jim Dale is the narrator of the Harry Potter audiobooks. He’s a legend in his own right, for he has the ability to use any of 45 distinct voices for the novel’s characters.
Mr. R has a 6 room rent-controlled apartment on the Upper West Side, where he pays roughly $600/month. His family has been in the apartment for 47 years. Next time I’m in New York, he said I could crash with him. He lives alone at present, so there’s plenty of room. He left me his phone number so I could call him anytime I am in town.
Last thing: Mr. R. also sings in an a cappella group. He performs sea chanties. I told him how I had dressed as a pirate for my fraternity’s year-end formal this year. He grew excited, and said he’d be happy to send me a compilation CD of his favorite sea chanties to learn so I could be 100% in character for Halloween next year. Bangarang.
My first day of work at Inforte is tomorrow (7/1). I am already back in Chicago, working from a computer lab at the University of Chicago’s Regenstein Library. I left my iBook at home to limit the distractions of the net. I am going to post one more profile of an amazing person I met on my trip — a man named Robert Rodriguez. The rest will have to wait for now. No matter… the personalities of those I met are timeless, and can only improve with age.