SFC (R) Yogi Wallace

Sergeant First Class (Retired) Yogi Wallace sat down with me for Heroes I Know.

Lakewood, New Jersey. Recruiter said two years. Get some discipline. Come back and play football. It turned into twenty-four. His dad was an Airman. Yogi would not go Air Force. He took air defense off the disk. Stinger. They signed him airborne and he still did not know what the word meant.

Fort Bliss. November 1983. The day before his birthday. Drill Sergeant Washington called him the Army birthday kid. Basic was a joke to him. Wrestler. Football player. AIT was the Stinger. Then Benning. 42nd Company. Black hats. He watched a jump on the horizon and still did not care. He was looking at the infantry road-marching and wanted no part of it.

Deems. Geisler. Stickney. They kept him in the airborne platoon. His cousins were in Columbus. Dairy Queen right outside the company. That is where his head was. Later he was a jumpmaster. Maggot talked about him all the time. I never served with Yogi directly. Maggot did.

His given name is Joseph. Mom is the only one who used it. Yogi was his dad's friend. It stuck. Yearbook. Then Flag told the whole unit. Flag. Stout. Green. Pittman. Sergeant Major Miranda. The names came back while we talked.

High school he was a monster on the field. Now he has a room full of coaching trophies. His son went to Wingate. Joseph Damian Wallace the Second. They call him Damien. Brandon too. Grandkids want their own wall.

He rides a motorcycle. Solo. When he wants to stop he stops. Audacia. By daring deeds.

He called a unit to attention and signed out. I could get in formation with him tomorrow. That is why we hit record. Get the story on tape before we are too old or too sick to tell it.