It was this journey and a desire to serve that led Jeanpierre to join the Army National Guard at age 23 in 2010. I was used to the islands, not the cold New York weather.” “I remember getting to New York and it was so cold. “My aunt came to the States first and got everything set up,” said Jeanpierre. That and political instability solidified their decision that it was time to go.
His family decided to immigrate to the United States in 1996 following the destruction of Hurricane Gordon, which caused massive floods and mudslides and killed more than 1,100 Haitians. There is a vast financial disparity between the well-off and the extremely poor. Since being discovered by Spanish explorer Christopher Columbus in 1492, Haiti has experienced occupation, war, turmoil, countless natural disasters and hardships. “I still remember the images, the sounds and the smell.” “We never went without, but it wasn’t the best situation,” said Jeanpierre. He had a good life in Haiti, but his parents had wanted better for their children. Jeanpierre, a carpentry and masonry specialist with the 176th Engineer Company out of Snohomish, was a 9-year-old when his family immigrated from the small island nation just east of Cuba. “I remember leaving in the middle of the night, getting on the biggest airplane I had ever flown on and landing in New York City.” “We came from Haiti, which by the time we left, our country had fallen into a bad situation,” said Jeanpierre. His smile widens when he explains his time in the Washington National Guard helped him achieve full U.S. Osse Jeanpierre, JP for short, about immigrating to the United States, he smiles and talks so vividly about how it helped his family.
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