Bronx Pride Still Strong - Even In Iraq
Efrem Williams, a civilian contractor and proud former Bronx resident, keeps up with goings-on in the borough from base in Iraq.
You can take the boy out of the Bronx but you can’t take the Bronx out of the boy - even if he’s in Iraq, by way of Hawaii, Japan and Australia.
Efrem Williams is a civilian contractor in the war-torn country, in the city of Mosul. He went to work there for ITT Global Communications Systems a year ago this week.
He grew up in Soundview, went to Adlai E. Stevenson High School and City Community College, and graduated from New York University in 1981. He has been living all over the globe since. From halfway around the world, on a military base in the restive area about 200 miles north of Baghdad, he keeps up with his beloved Bronx.
“I periodically browse the Daily News, keeping updated on the goings-on,” he e-mailed me recently.
He enjoyed a story in this space about Nisa Rodriguez, a teen and fellow South Bronx resident who is fighting in the Golden Gloves finals this week.
“I came across your article about the female boxer going for sports fame at the Golden Gloves and gold medal aspirations,” Williams wrote.
“It does my heart good to read a story with a positive theme, and a progressive direction.”
We began a correspondence by e-mail.
The Bronx Boro News is available in this borough only. But it’s on the Daily News’ Web site, so this column regularly hears from people who left the borough for upstate, or Florida, or California.
These expatriates just love to read about old friends, or the old neighborhood, and share memories. They also revel in the changes and successes of the present.
But Williams’ missives, coming from a place so distant, truly show a love of his childhood home and a longing for particularly New York things.
“I miss the Bronx, Yankees, pizza, calzone, New York television programming, all the nuances of the city,” he wrote.
“And most of all the hard working/law abiding/salt of the earth New Yorkers. Good people are hard to find, which I suppose is a good thing in a way. Because of the rarity, I appreciate them more.”
Williams joined the U.S. Navy out of college, and during his 24 years, he said, he circumnavigated the globe three times. He has always worked in the communications field.
He lived on military installations in the Philippines, Japan, Middle East and Australia.
He retired from the Navy in 2005 and resides in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Now he’s in Iraq, a far cry from the placid environments and lush scenery he’s lived in, but just as fascinating.
“Mosul is a very interesting and historical place in history … in fact, this area was originally called Nineveh, the cradle of civilization, and the birthplace of Abraham the prophet,” he wrote. “My scope on life has been and continues to be broadened immensely, and my humble beginnings remain a special chapter in my heart,” he wrote.
When asked about the volatile situation over there, he answered, “I tend to take a little of my ‘Bronx instincts’ with me as they come in handy when conditions warrant survival mode to be engaged.” The forward operating base he lives on, outside Mosul, has seen its share of danger.
Insurgents have fired shells over the base perimeter. They’ve planted improvised explosive devices (IEDs) along the nearby roads. Read more..
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