GHC student who carried a cross from Rome to Myrtle Beach turns to another adventure in Army National Guard
An impulse to serve has ingrained itself into the fabric of John Bessis’ mind ever since he embarked upon a journey from Rome to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, with a cross on his back in 2014.
Bessis, 23, of Buchanan, enlisted in the Georgia Army National Guard Monday.
“It very much aligns with who I am and what I’ve already done,” he said. “I see the National Guard as another adventure, as the cross walk was an adventure.”
From June to November of 2014, Bessis carried a handmade cross and confronted experiences that rattled the foundation of his ideas about the world and himself.
“I died on the cross walk,” Bessis said. “Only love remained.”
In the expanse between Rome and South Carolina he said he “experienced something … that breaks all the bounds of my previous experiences.”
Bessis originally intended the walk to be an opportunity to share the Christian faith with others, but quickly discovered he was more a student than a teacher.
“I never knew there were some many ways, so many walks of life,” he said. “Carrying the cross, I met many people along the way … ( but) nothing could prepare me for the multitude of perspectives.”
Whether it was sleeping under bridges with the homeless, sharing a meal with a Hispanic family, or meeting Muslims face to face, his trek divulged experiences unhindered.
“Life is raw, it is untamed, it is real,” he said. “I realized how very different an idea is from reality.”
Bessis confessed he was facing an identity crisis before the walk.
He quit school at Georgia Highlands College and was searching for answers from God on what to do with his life.
“I thought God would give me a calling for life,” he said.
However, Bessis didn’t get a reply.
“I didn’t have that epiphany where God said ‘John, this is your calling.’”
Witnessing the suffering of the homeless and families struggling to make their paychecks last, he questioned what he’d once believed.
“The ideas I had about God I thought were true in the beginning, I found a lot of them being irrelevant because they couldn’t help people where they were,” he continued.
Following the walk, Bessis opted out of returning to school, finding work waiting tables or stocking shelves.
That was up until the last few weeks, when he said something clicked in his head.
“I was looking at my situation and the situation of all my peers and realized there are only two ways to have a quality career — join the military or go to college.”
Wanting to avoid the trap of a “dead-end job,” he began reviewing his options on returning to school and how he could afford it.
Bessis said the National Guard was the one opportunity for him to join the military and maintain a civilian life as well.
“I can serve my community but still focus on individual goals and aspirations,” he said.
The National Guard will provide financial assistance for Bessis’ education, said his recruiter, Staff Sgt. Allison Davenport.
“He’ll train one weekend a month and he is planning on going to college full time,” she said. “He got an enlistment bonus and what’s called a ‘GI Bill Kicker’ — extra money to go to college.”
Bessis heads off to basic training at Fort Benning in October, but for now is researching colleges and applying for National Guard scholarships in the hope of securing more school funding.
Whichever college Bessis ends up attending, he said he wants to study political science.
He said joining the military might be the first step in a life of defending American values and promoting the rights of those who have none.
“Our way of life is something that is noble because it empowers all people, not just one,” he shared. “That is worth fighting for and protecting.”