Nicaragua en Marcha
"In 1979, Nicaragua had a violent civil war. In July of that year, the revolutionary forces of the Sandinistas defeated the governmental forces of President Anastaio Somoza and my family was forced into exile. I was three years old and do not remember much, but this event would drastically change my life forever, as it set my future outside Latin America."
Luis Mejia-Roman has few memories of the years he spent in Nicaragua has a child, since he was only three years old when his family left in exile from Nicaragua. Rather, many of the stronger memories from his early years are of living in the neighboring country of Guatemala, where the family fled after being forced into exile. Luis has fragments of memories left from the next two years he spent in an apartment complex in Guatemala City, saying that "my first memories were of my time with my nanny, a lady selling tortillas in the streets, and my kindergarden." He also possess more precious memories of this period in Guatemala, memories of "the first time I saw the Pacific Ocean, and my father taking me out at the age of four on a kayak."
Image Credit: Shutterstock/Lefteris Papaulakis
The reason that the Mejia Gonzalez's were forced into exile-- and had to eventually apply for political asylum-- was the bloody civil war in Nicaragua. It came to a head in July of 1979 with incumbent President Somoza fighting off the Sandinista National Liberation Front, also known by their Spanish acronym FSLN. Somoza, whose family had been in power since 1937, had some support from within the American government against the Cuban backed FSLN. Notably, however, the FSLN was not strictly communist, but rather a strong leftist organization. Luis explains that "at the time of my birth [in 1976], my father, Luis Mejia Gonzalez, was serving as the Vice Minister of the Economy for the government of Nicaragua." He served under Somoza, and Luis states that as "a Somoza loyalist he feared he would be imprisoned for political purposes, so he decided to leave Nicaragua, hoping to return to Nicaragua after a period of exile."
Grenada, Nicaragua (Image Credit: Shutterstock/Cnadaniel)
Additionally, Luis's uncle, Federico Mejia Gonzalez, was Brigadier General of the Nicaraguan National Guard. Luis explained that while "I did not feel much [about leaving] as I was quite young... [However] I know this affected my father much. He was a patriot and loved his country. He had spent his entire life serving the people of Nicaragua and at the age of 57 he was forced to leave." He also mentioned the effect leaving had on his mother, saying "my mother worried for her brothers and sisters who she had helped to raise after her mother died when she was 15 years old."
At the age of five, Luis and his family moved, this time being granted political asylum in the United States. In Houston, they stayed with an adult brother of Luis for six months, before finding a home for the parents and children. However, they stayed there for only six months again before relocating three hours away to San Antonio, Texas, where they stayed for only a year. These two years were strenuous on the Mejia Gonzalez's. Luis's father struggled to find any work, let alone work for a man of his age and experience, working as a security guard and a convenience store clerk.
Most of the family income came from the in-home day care run by Luis's mother. While Luis's father had the some advantage of being fluent in English from working at the Nicaraguan Embassy to the U.S. for ten years, none of the others had this advantage. Luis clarified that "we were not necessarily poor, but we did live very modestly." He added that "I found that my parents always provided for my brother [Fabio] and I, and my mother found ways to improvise. We received most of our clothes from church organizations or my mom, who had studied as a seamstress in Guatemala, would make our clothes." He recalled that one Halloween,
"my mother bought my brother and I a 50 cent mask and stuffed a pillow on our backs as our costumes; for Christmas, we would make our own ornaments out of construction paper and get simple toys like a baseball and we would be happy... I found that this made us very close."
Image Credit: Luis Mejia-Roman
At the age of seven, Luis and the Mejia Gonzalez's relocated for the final time of his childhood, arriving in Miami in the summer of 1983. It is here that the Mejia Gonzalez's seemed to settle in, with Luis himself staying in Miami until his graduation from high school. Luis's father found more reliable work-- work better suited to a man like him-- writing for newspapers in Miami. He wrote articles, and poetry, for institutions such as the Miami Herald and hosted his own cable talk show, "Nicaragua en Marcha." Various branches of the family began to use Miami as a base of operations, with both sides of the family also relocating to Miami. After passing the five year mark of living within the United States, the family also received their green cards. When asked about these times in Miami, Luis states that "for me as a young boy, it was a magical time as so many people would visit us. I saw how much people loved my father and paid great respect to him. My father was larger than life for me, and I loved him very much." He also noted of this time that "as a first generation immigrant, Nicaragua was an important part of my upbringing. My parents instilled many values, and told me many stories of life in Nicaragua from the 1930's through the 1970's... living in Miami with such a large Latino community and [during the] Nicaraguan diaspora it was relatively easy to keep much of our traditions and culture."
"Growing up in Miami in the 1980's and 1990's was all about family, assimilating to the US culture, and the Miami Hurricanes Football. I grew up playing baseball, basketball, and hanging out with my friends." It was not all easy living in Miami, Luis added, saying "from an early age, my parents instilled a hard work ethic." He began working at the age of 11, "selling homemade clothes, washing windows at arcades, and delivering flyers for a pizza and submarine shop." Now in high school, Luis's family had become established in the community and felt at home. Consequently, it was during these years that the Mejia Gonzalez's began getting their citizenships. Five years after receiving their green cards, and ten years after entering the United States, the family became eligible for citizenship. Luis' father was the first, and his mother received hers shortly after. Luis received his citizenship at the age of 16, and his younger brother Fabio received his at this period as well. It is here that Luis adopted the official last name of Mejia-Roman, by placing this on his citizenship papers. Luis mentioned that while it was difficult for some members of the extended family to get their American citizenship, each time someone did get his or her citizenship, a big party was thrown to celebrate.
South Beach, Miami (Image Credit: Shutterstock/Pisaphotography)
After graduation, Luis began the next major saga of his life and enlisted in the US Army in 1994. He admitted that this decision was mainly because "I realized that I had messed around in high school too much and did not have a plan. I wanted to go to college, so I used the Army as a vehicle to get there" (US military service for a certain number of years will grant the serviceman or servicewoman a government grant to pay for college). However, I fell in love with the lifestyle, and applied myself to eventually attaining a commission as an officer." While at his first duty station to Waegon, South Korea, Luis began applying himself in his training and learning as much as he could about the Army. It was during this period that he also applied to the extremely prestigious United States Military Academy, more commonly known as West Point. After three months at a separate duty station to which he had been assigned in Germany, he received word that he had been accepted into West Point. He reported in the summer of 1997. Luis thinks fondly of this time, saying "I loved the culture and history, and knew I would graduate." And he did, graduating in 2001 with a major in Latin American Studies and a minor in Civil Engineering.
It was during this time that the Mejia Gonzalez's first had opportunities to return to Nicaragua. "In 1999, my father returned to his beloved Nicaragua and worked as a senior legal advisor to my brother Byron's law firm." Luis's mother joined him in Nicaragua in 2001, after selling their home in Miami, and the two lived in Nicaragua as American citizens. While he was ecstatic to return, Luis noted that "it was difficult [for his father to return to Nicaragua] as 20 years had passed since leaving." He told how, sadly, "the Golden Years" of his father's career had passed.
"My father was forced to work as an adult for 70 years in order to ensure his youngest children were educated and could survive on their own. At the time of his death, my father died with $1,100 in his bank account."
Luis himself has returned to Nicaragua thrice. Twice, during his schooling at West Point, and once in 2012 to attend the funeral of his father. After the death of Luis's father in 2012, his mother elected to remain in Nicaragua and work there. His siblings have returned several times, with Fabio getting his education in Nicaragua, and one sibling still living there. His uncle, Federico, opted to stay in the United States, opening a catering business.
After his graduation from West Point, Luis was commissioned as a Military Police Officer, known colloquially as MP's. When asked what exactly this commission entailed, Luis explained that "ss a military police officer, you are trained to plan and execute security, law enforcement, and confinement operations." He noted that in his career, he has focused his career around the security and law enforcement operations. Throughout his career, he has been deployed three times, twice to Iraq, and once on a peace keeping operation to Kosovo. It was before one of these deployments to Iraq that he met a Polish woman named Barbra in Bamberg, Germany. A month after their meeting, he deployed to Iraq, and the two wrote weekly letters to each other. Upon his redeployment, he would spend much of his time with her, and eventually marry her.
Currently, he is "serving as the Branch Chief for the Office of the Provost Marshal that is charged to advise the commanding general on how to deploy MP forces... This summer [of 2018], I will serve as Deputy Provost Marshal, or in other words the second MP advisor on the U.S. Army Europe Staff." He is serving in Germany, with his wife Barbra, and two children.
Image Credit: Luis Mejia-Roman
When asked if there were any parting words or sentiments he would like to share, Luis replied that he did have some final thoughts he wished to say. "The most [important thing to know] is that my father was my role model. Secondly, that my mother instilled a strong sense of family and religion which I carry to this day and teach my children. Lastly, the Army has been my life for over 20 years, and I am eternally grateful for the life the US and the Army has given me. I am who I am because of my family and America."
