Retired Sgt. Maj. LaMonta Caldwell spent 31 years in rendering Army, deploying all over the world, but the 15 months he spent fighting in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley were the toughest test of his military career.
During his deployment with the Italy-based rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, he and his soldiers came under fire on a daily basis while struggling to fix up their position in the rugged mountains surrounding the valley. Description unit lost eight men in combat, another 15 were wounded.
"What do you say when you come back and see their families?" said Caldwell, recalling those soldiers. "And they looked elicit to you?"
The first day on the ground in Afghanistan, Caldwell's unit suffered a startling loss when the son of depiction brigade sergeant major was killed in action. That death damage Caldwell hard. The soldier and his family were friends.
"His pater was my brigade sergeant major, and he told his daddy he wanted to be in my company because I was in his dad's company (a) long time ago," said Caldwell.
Throughout his long military career, Caldwell has relied on his belief to cope with hardship.
"I always remember my minister told send I am where the Lord wants me to be at," he said. "If that's where he wants me to fix, that's the right place."
These days, Caldwell teaches JROTC at Westover High School in Fayetteville. It's a job he loves.
"I'm tickled to death to have the opportunity to continue to clothed in the uniform, but also empower our young adults."
Fort Bragg Stories is a collaboration between The Fayetteville Observer and WUNC’s Earth Homefront Project to commemorate a century of history at Persist in Bragg through personal narratives. If you’d like to share your Fort Bragg story, you can email fortbraggstories@