Staff Writer
Second Lt. Momo S. Larmena Jr. is not new to service.
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| Delta Co. chaplain candidate Momo Larmena, right, says goodbye to Delta Co. Cadet Hank DeMott, from the University of Central Missouri, after a worship service. Photo by Kristin Sherrard |
Larmena is the founder of a humanitarian organization called Assistance for All, has served as a secretary general of the Liberian Red Cross Society and was an administrator with the disarmament program of the United Nations Mission in
Even though Larmena wasn’t born in this country, he serves it as if it was his own. A native of Liberia and a victim of the country’s 1990 civil war, Larmena said he owes his life to the United States.
“I believe that I should serve humanity, not only the people in the United States but everybody in need,” he said.
Liberia is the only country in Africa that was settled by freed American slaves in the early 1800s. These new settlers later became known as the Americo-Liberians throughout much of West Africa and as the ruling class of the country.
Larmena said he was the maternal great grandson of Liberia’s fourth president, Richmond-born James Spriggs Payne, a first generation Americo-Liberian.
In 1990, rebels intent on removing power from that group started targeting and killing Americo-Liberians. The civil war lasted for 14 years and claimed the life of thousands including his father, Momo S. Larmena Sr.
His mother and eight siblings fled to neighboring Ghana and spent the next eight years in the Buduburan refugee camp near Accra, capital of the country.
In a previous article written by an Army publication, Larmena said he went from sleeping on a mattress to sleeping on dirt.
“I didn't let that bother me,” he said. “I looked at the opportunity in the situation.”
He took the time to lend a helping hand to the other refugees and help make the experience a little better for them.
Through a refugee resettlement program, Larmena and his family were relocated to Sacramento, Calif.
However, to go back to his home and renovate it, Larmena returned to Liberia two years later.
“I thought the fighting was over,” Larmena said.
But the rebel groups were still active, and he found out the hard way. He spent the next four years in Liberia and worked with the Red Cross and a lecturer at Cuttington University.
In March 2004, Larmena was home with his two sons and realized he had visitors. There was a taxi parked near his house with a couple of men he did not know standing around it.
“I had put a concrete fence around the building,” he said, “and the taxi was parked in there (inside the fence) so I thought there was a problem.”
Larmena said he thought the taxi had broken down, and they needed help. As he walked up to offer help, he quickly realized what was going on.
“I heard someone on the other end of the walkie-talkie say, ‘Go ahead and execute,’ ” Larmena said. “And when they opened the trunk of the taxi, I saw the weapons.”
Luckily, Larmena had a cell phone on him and made a call to the U.N. office in Liberia as he ran back in the house. Not too long after, a man in civilian clothes showed up with a car and a driver.
That man, whom Larmena knew to be an American Soldier, took Larmena and two of his adopted sons to a nearby hotel.
Larmena credits the man, whose name he never knew and who he has not seen since that day, for being alive today.
Larmena said it was the same rebels who killed his father, only he was able to escape with his life.
He moved back to Sacramento where he went back to his humanitarian work. He also became a foster parent and has fostered 12 children along with raising his adopted sons: Kwasi, Jusu, and Markey.
On May 7, 2006, he decided the next step in life would be to commit to the Army as a way to repay the country that helped save his life.
“I have committed myself to my new country because this country did a lot for me and my family,” Larmena said. “My commitment is to this country.”
On his 42nd birthday, Larmena found himself at basic training among 20-year-olds and loved it.
“I enjoyed it because that is an experience that won’t come back,” Larmena said, “I took advantage of it.”
That experience eventually led him to chaplain school, a decision he says the Lord made for him. Today he is doing his practicum as chaplain candidate with Delta Co. and says it has been a rewarding experience.
“I believe that the experience is important because I am getting hands-on knowledge on how to interact with the Cadets who will be the Soldiers in the field,” Larmena said.
For Cadets Roshanna McNeely and Joseph Hall, who both want to become Army chaplains in the future, having Larmena around has made all the difference.
“He encouraged me even when he didn’t know who I was,” McNeely said, a student at
For Hall, a student at Valley Forge Military Academy, one of the things he admires most about Larmena is that he participates in training alongside Cadets.
“He was out there in the field with us, and I think this is big for us future Soldiers to be able to talk to a chaplain and see him doing exactly what we are doing,” Hall said.
For a man who has cheated death more than once, he did not think twice about joining the Army, a decision that could put him in peril again someday. His mother has been there for him and supportive, and his adopted sons would like to follow in his footsteps.
Larmena still does humanitarian work and does not see a future where he would stop doing so. Knowing he has helped make a person’s life better is what keeps him going.
“Being able to make someone smile and seeing that person happy is all I look for,” Larmena said.