#10
York Daily Record (US)
November 27, 2001
Russian past follows young man to basic training
By SHAWN LEDINGTON
Daily Record Staff
At U.S. Army basic training, Vladimir Brockmeyer, 21, falls asleep some nights with a pen in his hand. Sometimes he writes to friends in St. Petersburg, Russia. He was born and raised in orphanages in the USSR.
And sometimes he writes to the family in Shrewsbury that adopted him not long before his 15th birthday.
Vladimir went into basic training camp the week of Sept. 11. In letters written to the York Daily Record, Vladimir, whose nickname is Volodia, said he could have gotten out of joining the Army reserves at that time because he hadn’t actually signed his papers. But he chose to enlist and is now at Fort Jackson, S.C.
He doesn’t have many reasons for joining, except to do something creative in his life, he wrote.
And the decision, he wrote, would also help him in his dream to move out of his Shrewsbury home, where he has lived with adoptive parents Joe and Gina Brockmeyer since February 1995. The Brockmeyers also have four other adopted Russian children.
Vladimir also wanted something “more than Shrewsbury” around him, he said, adding that he is grateful for Shrewsbury and his family.
Growing up in St. Petersburg wasn’t difficult, he said.
“Could be so much better, but I am very happy how my childhood turned out to be,” he wrote. His young mother gave him up for adoption at birth.
“Even now, I still have what I gain as a child,” he said, “so, overall, I am very proud of my childhood.”
But to Gina Brockmeyer, what he went through growing up seems hard. She said Vladimir had a big adjustment to make when he came to the United States compared to how he was living in Russia.
“Ten minutes in Russia is all anybody needs to grow an appreciation for America,” she said.
When Gina picked him up in St. Petersburg in 1995 to bring him home, he was skinny. He was so dirty that he smelled. He had acne. He couldn’t speak English. He was wearing a blue suit that was too big for him.
“I’m sure it was the nicest thing he had,” she said, adding that she made him change into jeans and a turtleneck she had brought for him from America.
She still feels a little guilty about making him change, though.
“It was obvious he had gotten himself all prepared for his new American mamma and I make him change his clothes,” she said.
When they left Russia that day, Gina said it was one of the saddest things she’s ever seen.
“All the (orphanage) kids were lined up on the street to say good-bye,” she said.
He went back to Russia at age 17, when he became an American citizen, she said.
It was his hardship in Russia that makes Gina Brockmeyer feel Vladimir would be fine in the military.
“I don’t think he’ll find the conditions unbearable,” she said.
Yet, she realizes he doesn’t enjoy following rules.
“We went around and around with him in high school,” she said. “Russia is not real structured. It was hard for him to come into a family with structured rules and who cared about what he was doing.
“He was very streetwise.”
And Vladimir’s first few weeks in basic training were very hard, he said.
“When I got here to boot camp, I hate it so much,” he said.
As a result of his behavior, he was punished with 21 extra duty days. He said that took away all of his personal time.
“They yell and scream at you, trying to make you better soldier,” he said.
The key, he said, is to figure out early on that the higher-ranking officers are trying to help, not hurt.
Once he started learning how to be a soldier, his attitude changed. He was taught to shoot weapons, grenades, learned about the gas chamber and fighting.
“I am still strong about being a soldier,” he said. “Maybe me being a soldier will pay back everything that USA gave to me. I am proud to be a soldier, a U.S. soldier, even though I am from Russia.”
He said he has great pride for this country because “it is the greatest nation on earth.”
But he has just as much pride for Russia. If he would have stayed in Russia, he would have been sent directly into the military because he was an orphan.
“I love Russia,” he said. “I hope in future the economy and life will get better for people like me.”
As for the war on terrorism, on one hand, he is afraid, he wrote.
“I am afraid because I am not as good a soldier as I can be,” he said.
On the other hand, he’s not afraid.
“I am not scary,” he wrote, misspelling the word scared, “to die at the war. I am not scary to take bullet in my body if I knew that I fought (hard) for USA, for world, for my family, for the people I love.”
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