-Col. Charles: The Man in Uniform

The Man in Uniform

by Shawn Smith

Walking into a busy hallway full of JROTC cadets, I managed to squeeze through the hallway and get into the office. With a desk filled with papers and his glasses hanging slightly off his nose, a man sat in a chair in full military uniform. “What is your name?”I asked.

“F.O.O.L.” was the sarcastic reply from Colonel Eddy Luke Gerard Charles, the Senior Army Instructor at the I.E.K.H.S’ JROTC program.

Colonel Charles was born on October 18, 1952 and was raised in Roseau, Dominica in his mother’s house. Colonel Charles is married to Peturna Laura Richardson and has seven children if you include his stepson. Unfortunately, he has suffered the loss of his father recently and was dealing with business concerning the funeral prior to this interview.

In his youth, Colonel Charles was a very quiet child, but he had a very exciting childhood. He was considered the family angel and a gentleman. He obeyed his parents and hated thieves. Charles attended the St. Mary’s Academy for high school through the 6t form which is like one year of college. His hobbies include running, swimming, martial arts, and hiking.

I asked, “Hiking?”

He replied, “Yes, hiking. I’ll take off in the bush right now walking and just keep going, I love hiking.”

He counts his godfather amongst his role models growing up. He was also molded by Major Johnson, with whom he was in the cadet corps back in Dominica.

When he and his father first came to the Virgin Islands July 26, 1970, he didn’t favor the island much. “In Dominica, you can’t see the sea unless you’re on the coast. There was too much ocean here, and I didn’t like it. Compared to Dominica, the island was just too small.”

One moment that really impacted his life was the death of his godfather in 1963. People were jealous of his success. It was a carnival fire back in Dominica when three were killed and several others were injured. His costume was made of a highly flammable material, and they threw gasoline on him and struck a match. “I’ll never forget it. I stayed away from carnival for a long time.”

When asked what motivated him to join the military he responded, “Nothing could've stopped me from joining the military.”

Since then, Colonel Charles has served many years under the military and has seen and done many things that we wouldn’t suspect him of being capable of by just looking at his exterior appearance.

My curiosity arose and I had to know, “Colonel Charles, have you ever killed anyone in the line of duty?”

With a raised eyebrow and a serious stare he answered me after some time. He didn’t tell me if he killed anyone, but he told me he ordered the death of the enemy including Taliban and Somali pirates in Africa.

Many life changing experiences have come about in his life, good and bad, whether promotions or the death of comrades. His J3 Operations Officer was shot down in a helicopter and killed in Iraq. He and several other soldiers were confronted by the enemy at close range after being shot down and were killed.

They had shared a close bond. They went through divorce together, prayed together, and even sent prayers to Colonel Charles’ son who was (and still is) in the military. At that time Col. Charles was the Adjutant General of the Virgin Islands National Guard.

The story of how Colonel Charles became our Senior Army Instructor at Kean is pretty simple. He was semi-retired and there was a vacancy in our JROTC program. Dr. McCollum already knew of him before hiring him, because he had ordered the airlift to the V.I. of the body of the JROTC cadet who died in a JROTC summer camp years ago; he was selected to come to Kean in 2009 because of his outstanding qualifications.

“Well, it’s an exhilarating experience and my first time working with young people. There are some cadets that are good, bad, dynamic. Some that come bad and leave good. There are those who don’t care to take the opportunity to better themselves, and then there are the ones who are anxious to learn.”

Impacting lives and hearts at Kean, he felt he often had to play the role of a father: building character, molding leaders, counseling emotionally, physically, mentally, spiritually in some cases. He also preaches and believes in career and education being priorities before making children, “Especially if they're going to be ugly.”

Everyone has moments they wish they could go back in time, and change their past for an alternative future. Colonel Charles’ answer was somewhat different. “I wouldn’t change anything, but I would do things differently like study more spiritually. I was actually supposed to be a priest.”

Off the clock, he leads his Men’s Ministry in Praise and Worship every first Sunday. Once a Catholic, he is a born again Christian and he attends a non-Denominational Church.

From being at concerts held by the Music Department, most people have had the pleasure of hearing Colonel Charles’ unique voice. He learned from listening to his mother who “sang like crazy.” He enjoys listening to artists like Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, and The Supremes because of their powerful singing. He disliked James Brown because of his frequent screaming when he performs.

As much as we love our fellow Ray, he is closing in on retirement. “Closing in on retirement? Yes, that I am. I’m officially retiring from the army on October 18, 2012.”

But this man’s work is never done. He’s staying on at Kean until the opportunity arises to open a JROTC program at Educational Complex High School on St. Croix which he’d like to run for three to four years before retiring again.

When I asked him about his accomplishments, he didn’t answer directly; he just said, “Go outside and look at the wall,” and to my amazement, the wall was filled with awards and plaques for his outstanding leadership over the years.

Many accolades and awards were from the military; others were from colleges and institutes, including the New York Institute of Technology where he received his Bachelor’s of Science. More awards were from Kaplan University where he got his Master’s of Science in Criminal Justice with a concentration in Global Issues in Criminal Justice. One plaque was from the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.

Col. Charles once lived by a unique motto, “Live fast, love hard, die young.” Back then he thought he’d be dead at 30. When he hit 30, he was surprised and found a new motto: “Teach, mentor, coach, and give back, give back, give back.” His advice for young people? “Be all that you can be; be on the right road and stay on the path of righteousness, because the end is near.”