In this latest episode of “A Tribute to Our Heroes,” we talk with Army Veteran David Campos.

David and Adrian discuss David’s time in the Army and the path to get there, his transition to civilian life, his time as a Soldiers’ Angels intern, and his current career as a teacher and professional wrestler.

You can view our full video interview with David below.

Q: What made you want to join in the first place?

A: It seemed like everybody had a plan, and I didn’t have a plan. I was actually getting into quite a bit of trouble. I either paid for this trouble I was in, or I did the right thing and joined the service. They don’t do that anymore, so I said “Hey, four years in the service, how bad can that be?” Low and behold, a few months later 9/11 happened.

Q: What were the initial thoughts of your friends and family members when you decided you were going to go?

A: My friends said, “Man you’re dumb, you’re stupid,” but I think it was because I was getting out of that comfort zone. My family was pretty proud, especially my grandpa who served as well. They said, “At least you’re doing something, you’re getting out of here, there’s nothing for you here, and it’s probably the best decision you’re going to make.”

Q: Tell us about your deployments, if you want to share, what was that like? You were deployed all over Iraq?

A: Yeah, it wasn’t a specific part, it was everywhere. As soon as we left Kuwait, we were all over the place. There were no camps really established. I know Al-asad Air Base, I’m not sure if it exists still, but we had to establish that Air Base. We had to go by and clear it up after whoever went in there and exterminated that place. That was shocking to me, we were coming across some crazy stuff. Just whatever you leave behind in war, we came by and cleaned it up. We established that safe base, and it had a hospital so we got it in working condition. With the help of the surgeons that were attached with us we made a lot of life-saving things happen. Instead of them flying to Germany right away they could come to us and we could make it happen, so that was pretty awesome.

Q: Given your time in the military and everything you experienced, especially at such a turbulent time in American history, what was that transition out like? What was it like coming home? What was it like getting out of the Army?

A: I was happy, but I just couldn’t show it. I knew I was getting out, I knew I wasn’t going to get into trouble like that anymore, but there was just something a little off. I wasn’t responding the way I thought I would be, and I had no idea I had PTSD, I don’t think any of us did. Just real skittish, emotions would flip at the switch of a light. One of the things that got me was driving. When I was driving on the road and I’d see a dead animal or a bunch of debris at the side I’d need to slow down or grip that steering wheel until my knuckles were white. I’d have no idea what was going on until things started popping up slowly. Whether it be in the news, the local VA, or us brothers and sisters talking to each other and being like, “What is wrong with us?”

Q: Tell us how you ended up finding us (Soldiers’ Angels)?

A: I was going to college online through Lamar University, and I’m not proud of this, but I was a functioning alcoholic when I graduated college. I don’t even know how that happened, but it happened. I said, “Alright, I got me a little degree, what do I do next?” I just happened to look on Indeed and I saw Soldiers’ Angels, a national service for Veterans and their families. They had internship positions open for like $1000 a month, and I said, “Oh, I’ve never heard of interns getting paid, let me try this. Let me ease my way into something like this.” It started with the Adopt-a-Family program, and Amy was here, she’s the freaking boss, still running it, and Jennifer who is not with us anymore, she gave me the initial interview. We just clicked. I got welcomed into the Soldiers’ Angels family, was told what my job was, and just fell in love with the program and what everybody was doing. From there, it was an internship to being hired and moving to another position, and it was great for the time I was here.

Q: Did Soldiers’ Angels help you get to the point of “I feel like I can move on?”

A: I can honestly say that without Soldiers’ Angels, I would not be sitting here in this spot and doing the things I’m doing right now.

Q: What was the next chapter after Soldiers’ Angels

A: I say this in a lot of interviews, but ever since I’ve been back I always needed to help somebody. That fills the holes that I have in myself, so I knew I needed to help. I felt like I had a great journey helping Veterans, their families, taking care of my own people, but I just needed to help others in a different way. My sister has been a teacher for more than 15 years, and seeing her enjoy her journey as a teacher made me say “Maybe I need to reach out to the youth of the South Side.” So that’s what I did. I started as a substitute and then they picked me up as a full-time sub because we were hurting for numbers. Then come the last year, which was my first official year teaching, I was a part of some partnership program at Harlandale School District and I was teaching government and economics. Fast forward a year later, and I’m working with the Harlandale Alternative Center with the more troubled youths because I feel that I can relate to those guys because I was one of those guys. So I accepted a position doing that for this school year.

Q: Aside from being a teacher, you have a dual identity so to speak. What are you doing outside of teaching hours?

A: It’s almost like a coping mechanism, I moonlight as a professional wrestler. I’ve been doing it for about six years, and it’s amazing. I’ve wanted to be a professional wrestler since I was very small. Never really thought I’d get the opportunity to do it. I’ve always watched it, I’ve kept up with it since I was little, every big moment in wrestling since like 1983 I’ve been watching it if not with my dad then with my friends. Now, I’m actually wrestling. I just got back from Mexico this past weekend, and that experience was awesome. Representing a promotion from the States/Texas in Mexico and getting to show off what we have here was awesome.

Want to watch more? Click here to watch more vlogs from the Tribute to our Heroes series.

---