From refugee to U.S. Soldier: A full-circle moment in Ghana
From left: U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Raymond Jackson, Civil Affairs (CA) Team Ghana CA noncommissioned officer, U.S. Army Staff Sgt. John Simone, CA team sergeant; [name withheld]; Ghanian Armed Forces (GAF) Col. George Boamah, director of medical training, U.S. Army Sgt. John O’Brien, CA team medic; and U.S. Army Capt. Peter Afari, CA team chief, pose during a CA engagement at the Medical General Headquarters at Burma Camp, Accra, Ghana, June 8, 2025. At another engagement on this date, Jackson met GAF Brig. Gen. William Kwabiah (not pictured), deputy chief staff officer of operations and training, during which they realized that their paths had crossed in 1998 when Jackson (2 years old at the time) and his family fled a dangerous situation in Liberia as refugees. Kwabiah, then a second lieutenant, commanded the mission that received them as refugees in Ghana. (Photo courtesy Ghanaian Armed Forces)