Special Report: From Sierra Leone to Army Sergeant - kcentv.com - KCEN HD - Waco, Temple, and Killeen

(KCEN) --  Every soldier has a story but sometimes one is so remarkable that you just have to stop and marvel.

And that's certainly the case with Sergeant Junisa Sesay.

He came from Sierra Leone a war torn African country.

When he arrived to America, he decided to join the army.

It's a war that took the lives of more than 50-thousand people.

Images from Sierra Leone's civil war are enough to haunt you; 100-thousand civilians mutilated, 10-thousand children forced to be child soldiers.

And thousands of dead bodies lining the streets all at the hands of the rebel army.

Unimaginable violence that thousands like Junisa Sesay lived through.

SGT Sesay of the 224th Brigade 1st CAV Alpha Company says, "There were people getting killed, peoples hands getting chopped off, people's heads getting cut off so it was pretty rough."

But from that carnage came inspiration. Sergeant Sesay desperately wanted a new start.

He managed to make it to the United States on a refugee visa, eventually got his green card and then set his sights on his long-time dream of joining the US Army.  

"I wanted to come to the United States and fight for freedom that I didn't get to enjoy while I was down in Sierra Leone. "

He's now been in the army for less than 3 years, already impressing higher-ups.

First SGT Daniel Gomez, 1st CAV 2nd Battalion 12th CAV says, "He also sets the bar for people who came in either before him and a bar for newer soldiers that look SGT Sesay has been here for 2 and a half years and he's already a SGT."

Motivated soldier who often leads physical training and keeps defying the odds.

Something SGT Gomez believes will eventually take him to the top.     

"It won't surprise me that once I'm retired and sitting on the rocking chair and I'm looking at the newspaper and he could be the next SGT Major of the Army."

Living through a decade-long war would be enough to discourage and traumatize anyone.

But for SGT Sesay it led him to his true calling.

"Being in the Army is not about killing people, its all about helping people. Those who need freedom which is what I think I love about this job.'

SGT Sesay and his wife just had their third child and the family is gearing up for his upcoming deployment to Afghanistan.