San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Veteran follows through on vow to serve others
While recovering from injuries suffered in Afghanistan, Henry dedicated his life to giving back
The explosion by insurgents in Kandahar, Afghanistan, blew the soldier and his comrades a dozen feet away from their entry control point.
Dazed, he rose on unsteady feet, seemingly uninjured. Two hours later, he completed an after-action report and took a bus shuttle to his sleeping quarters.
Later, he found his uniform pants soaked with blood. After being treated by medics, the soldier was flown to the hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, an eight-hour flight he feared he wouldn’t survive.
His travels home to Fort Campbell, Ky., landed him in the Wounded Transition Unit and hospital for a year. He underwent back and gastric intestinal surgeries and rehabilitation.
It was a time to assess his life, family and the unfinished legacy of service he promised his three sons, Charles Jr., Armani and Marcelo.
During his recovery, the soldier made a vow — he’d take up a life of service to others as his ancestors before him.
Charles Mario Henry founded the House of Henry Foundation, a nonprofit that offers mentoring and scholarships to young minority men. He exchanged his Army uniform for the tailored suits he wears as founder of Henry & Co., a financial consulting business.
He’s received several honors, including the San Antonio Business Journal 40 Under 40, 2020 Veterans Hero, and 2023 Veterans Excellence awards. His work has taken him to Nicaragua, Mexico, Honduras, Europe and Dubai.
“I grew up in a culture of giving,” Henry, 37, said. “We’re doing this to inspire others. We must spread the word. It’s an obligation.”
Born in Flint, Mich., and raised in Chicago, the youngster and his siblings grew up proud of their family’s African American and Hispanic bloodlines. His uncle Paul Vasquez marched with Martin Luther King Jr. His maternal great-grandfather Trinidad Vasquez rallied with César Chávez.
His Catholic grandmothers raised him to kneel and say his blessings in times of triumph and turbulence. Service wasn’t a choice but a duty. He’s raising his children with that same spirit.
“My sons are the reason for all these things,” Henry said. “They are the key behind it all.”
Henry’s work ethic comes from his parents, Florence and Kenny Johnson.
They taught him to use every minute of a 24-hour day.
He calls his mother and grandmother Mary Delfina Tapia every morning for guidance. His mother is the president of Marbach Christian Church, where his foundation hosts food drives. She pushes him to consider what else he can do for others.
His stepfather, Kenny Johnson, worked two jobs and hired Henry at his Taco Bell restaurant in Chicago. He taught the teen how to audit and balance the books, skills that proved beneficial years later.
After graduating from Zion-Benton High School in 2004, the family moved to San Antonio.
Henry worked at McDonald’s, managing five stores before moving on to manage 12 Jack in the Box stores. Unlike other supervisors, he wore suits tailored by Phil Zavala instead of company uniforms — a style choice he’s well known for.
But Henry needed a change. The long hours pushed him
further from his goal of pursuing a college education. He didn’t want to work 15 hours and always be on call.
When his best friend Jermaine Ward enlisted in the U.S. Army, Henry took notice. It inspired him to visit a recruiter, who told him a program could help pay for school.
One week in 2008, he quit his job, enlisted in the Army and got married. His family was shocked and in disbelief.
In 2010, Henry was assigned to the 101st Airborne Air Assault Division at Fort Campbell. That March, he was deployed to Afghanistan.
His rapid deployment unit arrived at Kandahar in full gear, welcomed by 100-plus degree heat. He was assigned to an entry point and worked 16-hour shifts.
Henry worked with an older Afghan man who did mine detection work to provide for his family. Though poor, he was happy and always offered Henry a piece of naan bread.
The man’s willingness to share what little he had inspired Henry’s humanitarian work.
Henry was injured when combatants crashed the compound’s gate tower with an improvised explosive device on a vehicle. After he was airlifted to Landstuhl, Henry
received a backpack from a Wounded Warrior Project representative. He was surprised to find a blanket and a $250 gift card to buy clothes.
“That’s why I advocate so hard for veterans,” Henry said. “It’s my obligation to try to be a champion for other people.
Henry said mentors and people he advocates for have helped him on his journey.
“I’m just a piece of all of them,” he said. “I’m just a collection of other people who poured into me.”
At Fort Campbell, family kept him going. His ex-wife cared for his sons. His mother’s tough love helped him pull through. She said he didn’t have time to fall off. Too many people depended on him.
Lying in his hospital bed, he nursed one thought — serve and give back. Business, politics and community are the three pillars of his philosophy.
In 2011, Henry was medically retired as a sergeant.
His toughest year was 2016, when he experienced a divorce, multiple surgeries and the death of his biological father.
“Nothing prepared me for those triple blows,” Henry said.
He earned a bachelor’s in public policy from the University
of Texas at San Antonio, a master’s degree in business administration from Texas A&M University and an associate degree in network administration from ITT Tech.
The idea for a foundation came when he learned funding was needed to help his nephews’ speech therapy classes that shut down when the money ran low.
Advice from small business administrator Rupert Gresham changed his life. His late mentor suggested Henry work for himself first, using skills he learned working for his father.
In 2021, he used business funds and donor support to start the nonprofit that offered young African American and Hispanic youth etiquette, entrepreneurial, financial literacy and education classes.
“It was all through partnerships that we could assign young men mentors who look like us and talk like us,” Henry said, “so they will know that they can make it out too. We’re trying to raise future leaders of Texas.”
He’s a national advocate for veterans, lobbying on their behalf. Henry was chosen as one of 70 veterans for the Service Leadership Corps of the Mission Continues to share leadership sessions in
communities across the nation. He’s helped further veteran legislation through the Wounded Warrior Project, Storm the Hill with Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America and Common Defense.
Locally, he’s served as director of military outreach and finance with the nonprofit Elevate Our Veterans.
Army veteran Andrea Strong served with Henry in the Mission Continues, a national nonprofit that offers veterans opportunities to continue serving the nation. As San Antonio platoon leader, Strong said she could always depend on Henry, whom she’s known since
2019.
She recalled he showed up at a Christmas gift event in a suit and rummaged through a storage unit beside casually dressed comrades.
“He was getting dirty like the rest of us,” Strong said. “He was there to get the job done well. His heart is a heart of service.”
His message to fellow veterans is to focus on the work they can do.
“I tell veterans, ‘Don’t let your disabilities define you,’” he said. “Your story isn’t ending. It’s just beginning. There’s so much you can do. That’s what I want to show my kids.”